Formula One 2013: Shanghai Qualifying

Well if a Lotus win was surprising, a Red Bull 1 – 2 is exactly what we’ve come to expect.  The only thing remotely interesting is that Vettel passed Webber against team orders and that’s all anyone can seem to talk about.

Wait- that’s boring too.

McLaren has decided to stick with their slow, new, and wastefully expensive chassis instead of unparking their 2012 car like every other team.  Money in the pot now I suppose, those development dollars are spent.  The major change seems to be they went with a push rod instead of a pull rod suspension and I guess they’ll spend the rest of the season proving to everyone that’s a really stupid idea.

Mercedes is running very low fuel loads to get their speed which is why they’ve been fading at the end.  The harder the compound the better for Red Bull and no one can figure out why.

Speaking of- Mediums and Softs.

The surface of all the tires has been scrubbing off more quickly this year which has been limiting the racing line.

Well, it’s been a busy, busy week for me, make that a month, and I’m just too tired and distracted to focus on Formula One so I’ll leave you with this for tonight-

The reason I cover sports is because it’s metaphor for politics, both a distraction and a way to make a point.  Sometimes, especially in the games of the super rich, they intersect.

Damon Hill challenges FIA president Jean Todt to clarify Bahrain stance

Paul Weaver, The Guardian

Wednesday 10 April 2013

Last year’s Bahrain race was a public relations disaster for both F1 and the country’s authorities. Almost everyone in the paddock did not want to be there, but the race still took place against a background of pro-democracy demonstrations, with stones and petrol bombs being thrown, while riot police fired teargas and birdshot and beat opposition activists. Hill, who now works as a Sky Sports F1 analyst, was one of the few people in the sport to question the wisdom of the race taking place a year ago.

And he voiced his concerns again when he said: “Jean Todt’s approach has been to say nothing, because otherwise you’re being critical, and I think that is a mistake. Because he’s being used, or the sport is being perceived as being used, by its engagement in the economy and the reputation of the country.”

…

Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone said last week that he had no concerns about the race becoming a target for anti-government protesters.

MP Richard Burden, who chairs parliamentary groups on motorsport and who was outspoken against last year’s race taking place, says: “The messages I’m getting from various people in the opposition – and there have been pretty regular street protest over the past three weeks – is that the F1 race will be more of a focus than it was last year. That’s what they anticipate happening.

“The quotes [Ecclestone] came out with is that everything will be fine. I just do not buy that. It is not the same evidence that I am hearing. Opinion is not difficult to come by in Bahrain saying either that the race should not go ahead and, if it does, there will be trouble.

“If anything happens it will be a tragedy for all concerned. I hope in the next few days that people will understand that words do have an impact.”

But Formula One shows no signs of having learned anything from its painful lessons of last year. They will probably say something trite about keeping politics out of sport next week – even though, contrary to the FIA’s charter – the Bahrain government promoted last year’s race as a way of unifying its people.

• Chinese Grand Prix
• Shanghai
• Guardian Interactive Track
• Formula One Interactive Track

• Formula One Official Site
• NBC Sports Motor Sports