I Don't Get It - A Confession Of An Orphaned Fan

When I started writing race reports here a few weeks back, I solemnly promised Sam not to ever be biased. However, I did not promise not to be personal. And here comes the moment to be personal. I have no intention to be smart, revealing or innovative. My only purpose is to share some feelings which strike me every year at the beginning of May.

As April was drawing to an end, I thought I would sit down and write a few simple sentences about Ayrton Senna. But where to start? Not even for a moment did I consider writing about his achievements and life. This belongs to encyclopaedia and biographers and I am neither. What occurred to me then was that the most important thing about Senna is not necessarily connected directly with his achievements. It doesn’t mean that his achievements aren’t important, but rather that his true greatness was concealed in his character and attitude and not in simple number of pole positions or wins. So the answer to the question about Senna’s phenomenon does not lie in his results as such (which you can list dully like a menu in a restaurant) but rather in his imperceptible spirit (which enabled him to achieve so much). So I thought I’ll simply catch this spirit.

I couldn’t watch Senna in his prime as I was too young then and could hardly know what F1 was. Lack of proper coverage here in Poland surely didn’t help either. As Rafał, a Polish F1 fan, wrote about the late 80s: What kind of following was it…? Access to Eurosport and RTL only, with practically no knowledge of foreign languages. Any pictures of Senna or articles were only available in German Sport Bild or sometimes in Auto International magazine. I had no access to other sources.

Having no personal memories of Senna, I started looking again through old videos of his races, listening to his interviews, searching for others’ opinions about him and simply reviewing his life. I knew that Wikipedia would not give me a true answer to the Senna phenomenon question, but I still naively believed that I can catch his spirit, so I decided to turn to his fans for help.

I asked José, a long time F1 fan from Spain, to write a few words about Senna for me as he was watching the sport in Senna’s times. He picked one of the most controversial moments, namely 1990 Japanese GP and wrote:

I clearly remember the discussion the day before, after qualifying. Senna was the pole man, but he wanted to swap the sides of the grid, as it was well known that in that track the pole was off the racing line. FIA (JM Balestre) denied the drivers’ proposal, and it was ruled that the starting positions on the grid were to be the original ones. 

I remember Senna saying “I will not let Prost overtake me into the first corner. I am the pole man and I will take the first corner first, that’s it.”

So I thought “ok, he’s barking, he will not be able to cause an accident, he will try it before the first corner and if he can’t, then he will try to overtake during the race.” 

But Ayrton had said that he will not yield, and he meant it. He went into the first corner and crashed into Prost’s car, causing both of them to be out of the race and therefore winning the WDC. Since that day, I started to watch F1 from a different point of view. It was so shocking. Ayrton was ready to do anything if he thought he was doing right.

Paweł from Poland mentioned Senna’s intense rivalry with Alain Prost and Linda from Australia said: he raced dangerously, did not care much for rules, racing was his passion.

Words like shocking, controversial, ruthless but also best, phenomenal, spiritual were coming back all the time in most of the opinions and quotes, buzzing in my head. And, ironically, the more I read and heard about Senna, the more lost I felt. On a theoretical level, I perfectly understand that Senna’s greatness overshadows his controversial nature or, in better words, that controversy was an indispensable part of his greatness (after all I’ve always believed that nice guys do not become multiple champions and every great needs to be ruthless to some extent). So when asked about Senna in general, people will repeat after Niki Lauda: He was the best driver who ever lived. But when asked about specific moments they will turn to the most controversial ones (alongside the 1991 Brazilian GP win with a broken gearbox or his 1993 wet Donington Park drive).

Everyone sharing their memories expressed hope that they helped me. They did (and I’m grateful to you all), but, contrary to expectations, not in a straightforward way, but rather inversely. Reading fans’ comments about Senna, I fully and relentlessly understood one inevitable thing – I will never get it. I will never understand the phenomenon of a driver who was great enough to amaze even his biggest rivals’ fans, who evoked huge controversies, but despite it all is remembered mostly for his talent (ruthlessness and controversy come only next) and whose tragic death contributed to an already great legend*. I know that no matter how much I try, I will never fully get it. It doesn’t really depend on my mental capacity or my F1 knowledge, but rather on the simple fact that I wasn’t able to watch Senna race. So I can ask fan after fan for their memories (and I’m sure I will), I can impatiently wait for Senna movie to be shown in theatres so I can watch it, I can rewatch races and all the interviews with Senna or read tonnes of opinions about him... I can read various inspired comments by Senna like the one about feeling as though [he] was driving in a tunnel like a person possessed and being on a different level of consciousness [...] in a kind of unending spiral. Faster and faster, closer and closer to perfection. I have shivers down my spine when I listen to it, I’m thunderstruck with the elusive power of such statement, but it will never be enough.

The problem is – I still know how each race or controversy would end and as a result it all lacks the emotional factor. The small, yet crucial thing that is surprise and unknown (whether positive or negative) will always be missing. Thus, e.g. shocking decision to get the championship at any cost and crash into your rival, will not be so shocking to me – after all I already know Senna did it, I’ve seen Michael Schumacher doing it and though it’s not common any more, I already know that such an idea can dawn upon somebody. I’m sure there are lots of fans from my generation who would simply say that Senna was great – period – and they get it. Yet I’m convinced we (and I mean F1 fans that started watching the sport after 1994) will never fully understand Ayrton’s phenomenon. People watching Senna will always say what a great tragedy an enormous loss his death was. What I feel, is a huge hole down my Formula 1 fan soul, a gap that can never be filled. And I feel like an orphan, who has never met their parents. Just like a child that doesn’t know their father, I can ask hundreds of questions about Ayrton, I can get as many answers as I only wish, but all the theory in the world will never compensate for the lack of empirical experience. I love F1 and I believe we’re blessed to watch an enormously talented crop of drivers lately, but there’s still a part of my heart that remains empty. There dwells the shadow of Senna, who even 17 years after his death is still present in Formula 1, whether in as tangible thing as F1 safety (which, though always important, became an even more key factor after May 1994), in simple memories of fans, in Lewis Hamilton’s yellow helmet or in Ayrton’s nephew, Bruno.

Some time ago, I came across the picture that accompanies this note. I’ve had it on my desktop since. I watched 1991 Brazilian GP once, thought (simply) what a great racer Ayrton was and closed my Internet browser. Then I looked into Senna’s eyes watching me from my monitor, I looked at the sad boy next to him and I realised that this child is F1 – squeezing the too big yellow helmet in his little hands, a helmet that, paraphrasing Senna, hides feelings that cannot be replaced**.

* I’ve always considered Senna to be a kind of equivalent of a medieval knight. The worst thing for a knight would be to die an old man in his bed as each knight was supposed to be killed like a proper hero during a battle. Senna himself once said: If I ever happen to have an accident that eventually costs me my life, I hope it is in one go. I would not like to be in a wheelchair. I would not like to be in a hospital suffering from whatever injury it was. If I’m going to live, I want to live fully, very intensely, because I am an intense person. It would ruin my life if I had to live partially.

And so it was.

** The actual quotation by Senna: You will never know the feeling of a driver when winning a race. The helmet hides feelings that cannot be understood.

Great thanks to (in alphabetical order): José, Linda, Liz, Margo, Paweł, Rafał and Sam.

P.S. It looks simple, but when you compare the length of the text to the amount of emotions it evoked, it was by no means an easy thing to write.

Chinese Grand Prix 2011

Just one week after great Malaysian GP, we saw yet another, even more entertaining spectacle. I would love to describe the race as faithfully as possible, but with the amount of action, overtaking manoeuvres and changes of situation, it is simply impossible to transfer it all in writing. While in Sepang Vettel’s win was pretty certain, in China nothing could have been taken for granted. Right after the start, Jenson Button seemed to be the man, then one might have expected that Nico Rosberg would take his long anticipated first ever F1 victory, there were also moments when the two Ferraris were about to take advantage and in the end it was Lewis Hamilton who finished the run of Sebastian Vettel’s four consecutive wins.

Hamilton was actually lucky to have even started the race as he had problems with his engine and the mechanics pulled an enormous effort to fix it right before the start, making it possible for the Briton not to start from the pit lane.

Red Bull proved that they still haven’t solved their KERS issues (which was supplemented this week by a broken team radio in Vettel's car as the German's engineer couldn't hear his driver for the majority of the race). Sebastian Vettel was slow off the line and was swallowed by Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. Behind them, Rosberg kept his fourth position, while Fernando Alonso had yet another bad start and lost position to his team mate Felipe Massa, but managed to defend from di Resta’s Force India. The two McLaren drivers were now leading, but were unable to build a gap over Vettel, who managed to pass Hamilton on one of the opening laps.

Jaime Alguersuari was the first driver to enter the pit lane as early as lap 9 and he was also the first (and only one) to retire as his wheel fell off soon after he rejoined the track. Nico Rosberg finished his first stint earlier than other front runners and he was leading the race after the first dose of pit stops. The Mercedes team tried to copy this strategy pitting him earlier once again, but it didn’t work and Rosberg was unable to keep his lead. On the closing laps of the race, he struggled with his tyres and as his engineer told him that the fuel was critical, Mark Webber and Jenson Button got through.

Lap 14 saw two leaders – Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel pitting and the viewers could only expect a duel between the pit crews. Button was however too hasty and he entered the first pit box he saw on his way. It turned out to be Red Bull’s and as Button drove past the astonished mechanics to get to his own crew, it was clear that Sebastian Vettel would leave the pit lane first.

Ferrari pitted Massa earlier than Alonso. The Brazilian rejoined having clear track in front of him and was able to chase the leaders, taking P1 for some time. He was once again in a good shape, matching Vettel’s pace at some point and finishing the race before his team mate. Alonso came back from his first pit stop behind Michael Schumacher. The Ferrari driver was fiercely trying to get past his former nemesis and the TV replays even showed him using his moveable rear wing outside the overtaking zone, but it was left with no further sanctions*. Being stuck behind the Mercedes driver probably compromised the Spaniard’s race as he lost some valuable seconds, yet it provided the viewers with a magnificent fight between the two world champions with Alonso finally pulling a cheeky move on the inside of turn 14.

By lap 40, the leading drivers were Vettel, Massa and Rosberg. Hamilton, who managed to get past his team mate without particular problems a few laps earlier was catching up and as Rosberg had problems with fuel, the Briton took P3. One lap later he was already in P2. Hamilton was now chasing Vettel, who was on a 2-stop strategy and was struggling with tyres. Being told to look after his tyres, the 2008 world champion preferred to rather look after his first victory this year and managed to secure it just a few laps from the chequered flag after a nice fight with the reigning champion.

When all these fights and twists of action were taking place, Mark Webber was making spectacular progress. The Aussie hit trouble in the final free practice on Saturday and didn’t manage to get to Q2 in the qualifying session. However, despite being even P20 at the beginning of the race, thanks to good pace, right 3-stop strategy and some good overtaking moves (among others on Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, Button) he managed to climb to the podium. His early exit in the qualifying session let him save some sets of fresh tyres, which was also a significant factor influencing his Sunday performance.

Most front runners opted for three pit stops. Ferrari decided to change their tyres only twice. At first, it seemed to be the right choice, but in the last stages of the race both drivers were struggling and were unable to defend their positions from much faster 3-stoppers. Felipe Massa was overtaken by Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber, while Fernando Alonso had to give his place to Webber and was forced to fight with attacking Schumacher until the finish line. Thus, what was expected to be a better race for the Italian team, turned out to be another disappointment with their drivers finishing in distant 6th and 7th place. Renault also didn’t meet the expectations of their fans. After two podium finishes in Australia and Malaysia, both drivers struggled and were unable to keep pace with the front runners. Petrov this time didn’t try to fight Fernando Alonso and let the Spaniard through without much troubles. Heidfeld couldn’t defend his position either and was overtaken at one point by Schumacher and Alonso simultaneously. The Renault drivers tried to fight each other later on and it almost ended up with a collision. Petrov finished the race in 9th and Heidfeld in 12th position.

At the back of the field all last year's newbies managed to score double finishes with Lotus' Heikki Kovalainen crossing the line in P16 in front of Sauber's Sergio Perez (whose race was compromised by a drive through penalty after he caused a collision with Adrian Sutil on lap 47) and Williams' Pastor Maldonado.

 DRS and KERS once again passed test and provided us with lots of action. Also the Pirelli tyres contributed to the excitement. Though one may argue that the KERS/DRS overtaking is artificial and that the great number of overtaking moves takes it source (above all) in huge differences in tyres degradation rather than in the drivers’ skills, the amount of entertainment provided cannot be questioned. There were yet again those moments when I, as a common viewer, was a bit lost and didn’t know who could end up where, but in the end, these are still the fastest cars that win races. As a result today’s top places were taken by: Hamilton, Vettel, Webber, Button, Rosberg, Massa, Alonso, Schumacher, Petrov and Kobayashi.

Because of Lewis Hamilton’s win, the championship fight became open wider, with Sebastian Vettel still leading the standings with 68 points. Lewis Hamilton is now second 21 points behind. Further positions are occupied by Jenson Button (38 point), Mark Webber (37), Fernando Alonso (26) and Felipe Massa (24). After first this season double podium finish, Red Bull Racing are still in the lead of the WCC with 105 points. Behind them, we’ve got McLaren (85 points) and Ferrari (50).

I hope you enjoyed the race as much as I did!

Cheers,

Ewa

* Alonso using his DRS ouside the overtaking zone has caused much uproar. BBC's crew explained that the driver was not penalised as he gained no advantage and was actually harmed by the situation. It turns out that Alonso's DRS was activated by a mysterious error, which is now investigated by the FIA officials.

Malaysia Grand Prix: 2011

Malaysia has always been known for its unpredictable weather and though this weekend the probability of a rain was high yet again, nothing of that sort happened. The drivers were informed a few times that a rain was about to come “soon” but all we saw was a few drops here and there. It doesn’t still change the fact that the race was fascinating with tyre degradation making up for the lack of the rain.

Sebastian Vettel might have won second Grand Prix in a row, leading undisturbed from the start to the finish line, yet the race was everything but a dull procession with the order changing constantly behind the German’s back, great (sometimes tragic) fights and bold overtaking moves.

Vettel had a clear start and took the lead with no apparent problems. Meanwhile, behind him both Renaults started very well with Nick Heidfeld jumping a few places and taking P2 on the opening lap. Massa overtook Alonso again at the start (the Brazilian was now P5) with the Spaniard dropping to P7 and finding himself behind his old friend Petrov in the third race. Webber had a disastrous start which saw him back to 10^th, Nico Rosberg also dropped (from P9 to P13), but Michael Schumacher evened out Mercedes results at the start by making up a few positions. Button was one of a few drivers who managed to keep his place and stayed as he started – P4.

The situation seemed to be calming down after a few laps, but not for long. Petrov soon made a mistake, allowing Alonso through and so we saw a familiar sight of a combo composed of Button and the two Ferraris fighting for a position (although this time, compared to Australia, the order was different with Massa behind Button).

The tyres, as expected, didn’t last long and so we saw first part of pit stops as soon as lap 10. It has been yet again (after Australia) confirmed that the tyre degradation (though bigger than in case of Bridgestones) is not too big and it perfectly spices things up. Thanks to many pit stops, the situation on the track was changing constantly and one could never be sure what the final outcome would be. The only thing that was certain was that Vettel would most probably win his second race as he drove easily at the front, but the rest of the podium remained a mystery till the very end.

By lap 30 the leading three drivers were Vettel, Hamilton and Button. Hamilton was now first to pit from the McLaren duo and as a result he lost his place to Button, when the latter one pitted soon afterwards. However, catching Button was not the main task for Hamilton at this stage as he had to defend his position from Webber. Luckily for the Englishman, both Red Bull drivers were unable to use their KERS system. Apparently, the team is still not confident with it, despite their previous assurances that everything was fine.

Webber changed his tyres to the hard compound on lap 32 and it seemed that he might try to keep them till the end of the race which would definitely help him make up for some positions lost at the start. However, he was forced to pit for the fourth time on lap 42 which sent him back again.

Most of the drivers opted for the third (and last) pit stop around lap 40 and it seemed that the situation has calmed down yet again. Vettel was still leading, followed by Button, Hamilton and Alonso. The Spaniard was much faster than Hamilton, but as his DRS wasn’t working properly, he was forced to try a conventional overtaking move in a corner on his former team mate. After an exciting and fierce battle, Alonso hit Hamilton’s rear left wheel damaging his front wing. He was now forced to pit for the fourth time in order to get a new nose. This sent him back to P7 behind Massa and Webber.

At this stage of the race, Vettel was cruising to the finish line with Button comfortable in P2. Hamilton, on the other hand, seemed to be struggling with his tyres and so he lost his P3 when he was overtaken by Heidfeld with a small help of DRS. The McLaren driver soon went off the track and so we saw him back to the pit lane. He came back behind Alonso. In the closing stages of the race, Webber managed to pass Massa and finished the race just behind the podium (Vettel, Button and Heidfeld), in fourth.

There was one more scary moment, when Vitaly Petrov left the track two laps from the finish line. He hit the curb and jumped as if he was driving in WRC. When he touched down, his steering wheel literally fell off and he drove through the grassy side of the track unable to control his car until it came to a total halt somewhere in the banners.

After the race, the stewards found Alonso and Hamilton guilty of breaking the rules and they were both handed a 20 second drop penalty: Hamilton was penalized for changing direction more than once when defending his position, while Alonso was found guilty of causing a collision with the Briton. As a consequence, Hamilton lost his 7^th place to Kamui Kobayashi, while the Spaniard managed to keep his 6^th position.

I found the unfortunate in consequences fight between Alonso and Hamilton, the pinnacle of all the fights (maybe because of the history of those two), but the race was full of other exciting overtaking maneuvers. In the middle of the pack, Schumacher was fighting with Kobayashi, who once again proved to be an entertaining driver as they kept on passing and re passing each other. Massa also seemed to be in a pretty good shape, overtaking Webber and then fighting fiercely with the Aussie, only to be overtaken not long before the finish line.

Vettel is now leading the WDC with 50 points, 24 points ahead of Jenson Button. With 72 points, his team Red Bull is also enjoying a comfortable margin in the WCC over second McLaren (48 pts.) and third Ferrari (36 pts.).

Cheers,

Ewa