F1 Spring Cleaning

With another F1 Season over it's an apt time to salute those who will no longer be racing with us in the future. I'm not talking about anybody dying just those who let's just say "haven't met the standards" and who are now being quietly asked to leave. This week the fickle spotlight of F1 stardom focuses on the unloved Virgin; Luca Di Grassi. The now former Virgin F1 driver has been replaced by Jerome D’Ambrosio and even the sub bench that is the test driver role has been taken by unknown quantity Luiz Razia. So what now for Di Grassi? It's sad to think how excited he must have been when Virgin F1 gave him the call last January to say he had reached the pinnacle of motorsport. He had an impressive few seasons in GP2 and tested for Honda and Renault before joining Virgin F1. In January 2010 at the initial tests at Silverstone he said excitedly "I'm really happy and our first impressions of the car are very positive". His best result of the season was 14th in Malaysia but he crashed before the Japanese GP on his way to the grid (main pic). Would he have thought that when he finished 18th at the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi that it would be the last time he would race an F1 car? After the race he said in desperation "I am ending the year with a feeling of ‘mission accomplished’ - I did the best I could with what I had and only one or two mistakes during the whole season, so I feel that the effort and quality of my work have been much better than is reflected in the raw results". Now, instead of a new contract he has got one of those abhorrent corporate blurbs from the team; “Finally, I must thank Lucas Di Grassi for the important role that he also played in establishing the team. He contributed a great deal to our development and we wish him every success in his future career, which we have no doubt will be an exciting one.” Oh what tosh! Poor Di Grassi; maybe he'll get a last minute seat with another team although frankly Virgin F1 was already pretty much bottom of the pile so options are limited. Like the ghosts of oh so many drivers through the years it looks like Di Grassi's is just the very latest. In one interview he was asked how would like to be remembered as an F1 driver. He replied "As the guy who was completely focused and who did everything he could to have the best performance he possibly could". Hmm. sadly I doubt we'll remember him at all, good bye Luca, best of luck.

Piquet not that bad after all

Despite being central in one of the most despicable acts of unsportsmanship of all time young Nelson Piquet earned back some credit after fighting Renault all the way through the courts to quash allegations against him that he intended to blackmail Renault into offering him a new contract. To explain the background briefly; Piquet agreed to crash on purpose at the 2008 Singapore GP in order to bring out a safety car which would result in his teammate, Alonso, winning the race. Renault issued the order vicariously through Renault boss Flavio Briatore, since banned. Renault issued a statement claiming Piquet intended to reveal Renault's dastardly plan unless they gave him a contract for the following season. Renault were telling lies. It turns out Piquet was quite happy to crash to simply help the team and had nothing to do with securing a new contract (which he never got in the end). So anyway all this simply means that Piquet was vilified even more than he should have been thanks to Renault's accusations. Its all a sorry mess really but there is a modicum of relief in the knowledge that amongst all the mudslinging, including hyperbolic claims that lives were put in danger because of the intentional crash, the truly outrageous stuff can be filtered out.

See the crash:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZrCVbU6pWQ

Drug Testing the Racers

A sad revelation came about this week with the very rare news of a race driver being banned for doping. To make matters worse it occured to an Irishman engaged in a sport which is steadily improving in Ireland. John Reilly was banned for 2 years after testing positive for boldenone at Mondello Race Track this September subject to his right to appeal. Details available are thin so it is important that the incident is put in context. Was it intentional or was it accidentally taken via a prescribed medicine? The real question in all this however; is how it hasn't happened more often in the general sporting world. Relative to athletics or cycling those competing in Motorsport are not subject to much drug test at all. One would assume that the lack of testing in all sport in general would mean that there is very little way we would find out if somebody were consuming a banned substance. The other question is what kind of advantage would doping truly give to a race driver? Physical endurance is an element of motorsport but it is guile, an eye for detail and racecraft that plays a far more critical role. This leads one to assume that the little known John Reilly was either misinformed or foolish. Either way he has been unfortunate enough to become an example to every other competing racer in the country of what not to do.

Budget - Scrappage Scheme

Looking through the swathes of awful headlines in this year's budget there is relief (pardon the pun wha'?!) that the Scrappage Scheme has been extended by 6 months until June 30th. "In the light of its success, the car scrappage scheme introduced last year will be extended for a further six months to 30 June 2011. The VRT relief provided in that period will be up to a reduced maximum of €1,250". Car dealerships throughout the country will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of shifting some new metal this January. There is also good news for those of a green demeanour with the news that relief on hybrid vehicles and flexible fuel vehicles is to be extended to December 2012.