F1 cars are so fast there is almost no chance to see how they actually move. Check out a great video provided by Toro Rosso: it's raw footage with no sound but recommend going full screen and enabling 1080P mode.
You can see slip angle, wheel spin, every drop of water kicked up off the Misano track by those Pirelli intermediates clawing for traction....even a lucky butterfly that somehow survived getting run over. Awesome, check out a second clip after the jump.
Bonus video, a tour of the Toro Rosso factory in Faenza, Italy. Faenza is just south of Bologna, in Emilia Romagna, the land of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Ducati and of course Minardi, which is what Toro Rosso used to be.
It didn't take a genius but we nailed it today when we said that the top guys were going to have a tough day and there would be a surprise on pole.
What Formula 1 fan is not delighted to have Minardi, I mean Toro Rosso, on pole today?
Monza is the perfect place, most of the team is Italian, the engine is Italian and Sebastian Vettel always thanks his team in their language first, endearing him to a whole country. He may be the youngest driver in F1 but he is certainly one of the smartest.
He said, after qualifying, that he concentrated on steady quick laps rather than shooting for one fast lap. That way he did not risk tripping over his balls like some did. In a recent interview with Autosprint, Ross Brawn said good strategy is no secret, you just drive the condition you face not the ones you think you will have to. For some reason known only to himself Hamilton thought he could drive in driving rain on intermediate wets, he tripped on that one.
Honestly I was surprised because Hamilton looked fantastic on track, he attacked the curbs like no other. In fact if you drop all partisan consideration you will have to agree that all drivers earned their pay today.
Tomorrow will be a hell of a race.
A high light video for you. before you complain about the music, the song fits perfectly and there nat.sound sucked so... address all complaints to fearlessfreep@stfu.com!
So figures Giancarlo Minardi, certainly someone who has seen a driver or two around a race track....
"I think at the moment there are four drivers better than Hamilton" Minardi told a group of journalists " Kubica has not made any errors up to now, his only incident was not his but Nakajima's fault (Melbourne, ed.). Without that incident he would be leading the championship still."
"Alonso is another, he seems to always pull something positive out of a non competitive car, Finally Raikkonen and Massa."
"(Lewis Hamilton)...is clearly talented but he's making some grave errors that show his inexperience and a little nervousness. It will be interesting to see if in the coming Grand Prix he will be able to learn from these negative experiences"
Now those who accuse us of being the first to dare express some doubts about Lewis can direct your hate mail to Faenza.
The UK press has of course slammed poor Lewis to the point where he seems convinced there is a "plot" to get him. Lewis has really only one option now, a good show at Silverstone and if that happens, to simply say "Team was great, thank you, great race...see you in two weeks" and move on.
In a spectacular case of NOT STFU and drive, Lewis Hamilton compares himself to Nelson Mandela. That raises so many issues I'm not sure I even want to go there so, here is the quote, decide for yourself:
Sounds like another chapter for his next autobiography, likely to be published in July, titled "My life since last October".
Only Honda's stunningly bad choices can top that. You can read extensively about the Super Aguri fiasco elsewhere, I just wanted to share the words of Giancarlo Minardi to Racingworld.it:
"Sadly in such a competitive Formula 1 environment there is little interest for a small team with funding issues.
It happened in the past with Minardi and other teams. They use you when they need to fill in the grid or to create interest and promotion. This happened last year when Super Aguri was born to mask Honda's choices when that team found itself without a Japanese driver and at odds with the home fans.
Perhaps now that marketing operation is obsolete and the team principal is not interested in a satellite team any longer.
Presently Formula 1 does not show the fights at the back of the grid and as the level of reliability of cars has become so great, the need for survival of little teams becomes secondary"
