Remember Monaco 2006, when Michael Schumacher parked his car at Rascasse, robbing Fernando Alonso of his speed and thus his pole? Schumacher was punished for that, but if he wasn’t, ITV are reporting that

Alonso planned to lie down in front of Michael Schumacher’s car on the starting grid at last year’s Monaco Grand Prix if the stewards did not penalise the German for intentionally stopping his Ferrari at Rascasse during qualifying.

Now that’s the way to protest! None of this appealing to the FIA International Court of Appeals garbage. Settle your disputes on the racetrack, literally!

[tags]formula one, fernando alonso, michael schumacher, monaco[/tags]

Formula One has consistently shat on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, producing some of the finest debacles in sport known to history. As such, it’s not much of a surprise that Bernie Ecclestone‘s extortion-like demands for fees were turned down by IMS CEO Tony George, and Formula One will not be returning to Indianopolis in 2008.

Good. The “track” at IMS was without any charisma and pizazz. Oh boy, it’s got the hallowed yard of bricks. Whoopee. Forgive me for not getting excited.

Maybe now F1 can go to more exciting tracks like Laguna Seca. But Ecclestone seems to have a hard-on for Las Vegas (presumably so he can cozy up to a showgirl or three), so odds are good that we’ll have some boring street circuit to get bored by. Hurray. Look for Hermann Tilke‘s name to come up in the near future.

[tags]formula one, f1, indianapolis, bernie ecclestone, laguna seca, united states grand prix[/tags]

My previous post included a video of Robert Kubica’s crash in the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix. A horrific crash, Kubica hit one wall at around 280kph, barrel-rolled once or twice, slid across the track, eventually ending up in the monocoque with most of the car lying in pieces behind him. His only injuries were a slight concussion and a sprained ankle. I posted this as a testament to the safety pushes made by Formula One — there aren’t many situations where you can hit a wall at 280kph in an open-topped tub with wheels and survive with minor injuries. Truly Formula One has done an amazing job in protecting their drivers, and this video is an excellent example of this.

Without the video the impact (pardon the pun) wouldn’t be as great, and people wouldn’t be as amazed at the safety considerations that go into these cars.

Obviously Formula One Management (FOM) would want this sort of publicity, right? And imagine if you could see it for free, without FOM having to do anything?

It turns out that they don’t want the publicity, as FOM is forcing YouTube to remove videos from Kubica’s crash. If you load up my previous story and you can’t see the amazing crash, that’s why.

Clearly protecting your copyright is more important than getting out the word that safety is a good thing.

[tags]formula one, robert kubica, canadian grand prix, montreal, crash, copyright, youtube[/tags]

Watch this video:

Reminiscent of Greg Moore‘s fatal crash in 1999, Robert Kubica touched the back of Jarno Trulli‘s Toyota at 280 km/h (175 mph), resulting in the crash you just watched.

His injuries?

A slight concussion and a sprained ankle for which he had to stay overnight in the hospital for observation.

A true testament to safety in Formula One.

Edit: If you can’t see the video, this is why.

[tags]formula one, robert kubica, jarno trulli, montreal, canadian grand prix, safety, motorsport[/tags]

Twenty-five years ago today, Gilles Villeneuve was killed in a horrific accident while qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix. F1Fanatic takes a good look at his six victories, including the first at the Montreal track that would later bear his name. Mark Hughes makes the point that he could have been a multiple world champion. It’s impossible to say what his career would have done, but it would have been majestic.