You know that F1 is not really doing much when the lead F1 story on the news-clopping services is “Tamara Ecclestone puts her cleavage on full display in bikini in Mykonos”.
Given that the story is repeated (at different venues) on a fairly regular basis, I cannot say that this did much for my passion for the sport. Still, in this age of celebrity I guess one needs to keep strutting your stuff if you wish to stay famous for being famous. I don’t get it, because it seems to me that the goal of today’s celebrity is to get rich, using the fame to sell your brand of knickers/gumboots/nail varnish (etc). If you are already rich beyond the wildest dreams of almost everyone, I don’t see the point of fame. It just means that people will rush up and mistake you for a Kardashian, when you’re in the checkout queue in Tesco…
Anyway, I’ve been sleeping on the flight to Budapest, as catching it required a start at ridiculous o’clock. I’ve not been in an airport (deliberately) since Canada more than six weeks ago, having driven to the last few races. One forgets how little fun flying is in the summer holidays, when everything is blocked by amateurs of the bucket-and-spade brigade, sniffling kiddies, large-bottomed African ladies, minor celebrities, such as former Presidential mistresses, and normal folk to whom airports are not business tools but rather more baffling than Demotic script.
It’s hot here in Budapest, so with a wiggly track perhaps Ferrari will mount a strong challenge to the boys in silver and turquoise…
Let’s hope.
I got the overnight train from Munich. I nearly melted. Got to Budapest – nearly melted. Going to track today for open pit lane thing. Will probably melt.
Queue the caustic comments accusing Joe of being politically incorrect at best, in 3, 2, 1…
Yes, please, let’s have Ferrari beat Mercedes fair-and-square this weekend. However, I would not bet my lunch money on it.
Never dream of it
Have fun, Joe. A fascinating city. Sue and I spend a few days there before the 2002 Hungarian Grand Prix and before moving on to Vienna, another wonderful destination.
It’s a sad day when the weather and shape of the track determines who might win. But then I expect someone will tell me it’s always been the case!
They will. Because it has. The form of Motorsport in which neither the weather nor the shape of the track has a bearing on the outcome is drag racing!
@Robert, of course it has always mattered where and when the races took place – sometimes you have a driver who loves the rain, whilst there are others who’re scared silly of it. And some tracks suit some drivers and cars, and others do not. Otherwise we’d be able to stage a whole season at one circuit … now wouldn’t that be fun!
Yes, differences in car design philosophy will make different car react differently to the weather and track layout.
My last sentence was intended to deter such replies rather than invite them, it would seem I am too subtle.
So to be more accurate, it used to be that the weather could inject some randomness into the result such as Vettel at Monza or Button at Hungary (?) or someone (in a Jordan) at Interlagos.
The inference from Joe’s post is that the weather and the track might allow one specific team (Ferrari) to beat another specific team (Mercedes). That, in my opinion, is hardly random.
It’s strange, but I haven’t missed watching F1 racing in these four weeks for the first time since I started following F1 in 2000. Am I losing it?
Same here (though I’ve been following longer). I think it’s losing us.
Can relate to that, sadly…..
I am of the same opinion. As only half the races are on ” Free to air TV ” in Australia now, I have lost interest. Silly looking cars, and tracks with acres of run-off area. The cars just look like little dots on the screen. The Tour de France has been more interesting.
le Tour is the best sporting event for some, myself included.
re the almost non-broadcast of the F1 races to Aus audiences, i have almost stopped watching them. the “1hr” broadcasts are miserable; no grid line up details & the first we see the cars, they have already started the race. the one positive is we don’t have “Crofty screaming out in support of Hamilton” masquerading as commentary.
now, back to the Tour, where we hear the “Peter Sagan” cheer squad aka Phil&Paul incessantly & inanely telling us how good he is. (he is a good rider, as are many others)
@gearsau
“Silly looking cars” – I couldn’t agree more. And it’s a forgone conclusion it would either be a Hamilton or a Rosberg who’d win, though the Hungaroring should present some opportunity for the competition.
Here in India, Star Sports broadcasts the Sky Sports coverage (which is much better Star Sports’ own commentary which it used to do before). The problem is the audio is always low when the coverage begins. I crank up the TV volume to maximum and yet it isn’t great enough to experience the sound of the cars…too bad! But we do get to watch all the races…unless some cricket or tennis event comes up in which case the coverage of the practice sessions or the qualifying sometimes just vanishes…
No one cares…most people here like cricket and football anyway. As much ire as I have regarding F1 I have the same frustration towards Star Sports…it has 4 channels plus two HD channels but its motorsport coverage is pathetic…And the F1 coverage it does give is with low quality audio.
@ PT
Funny I’ve never had a problem with the sound. There were times last year during qualifying when the engine noise was louder than Brundle and the annoying Englishman (“Lewis Hamilton WINNNNNNSSSSS the xxxxx grand prix!”) but it hasn’t happened of late.
More annoying is the idiotic 30 second commercial break they insert into the broadcast to advertise their own channel. Do I really need to see Virat Kohli/ MSD’s face every time I expect a pit stop!? Even as a cricket lover, that gets old fast.
Strange you haven’t had the audio issue. And the commercial breaks are an age old symptom of the channel’s coverage…. “Annoying” is an understatement…
@Rich2
Yeah, that’s the right way of putting it…
@Rich2
Since when have you been following F1, pal?
Dear Joe, all
PT- seconded. It is Friday, and, I haven’t been bothered checking whether it is a full race on Aussie FTA, or, the Monday morning ‘lowlights package’.
To be honest, I find Joe’s blogs far more entertaining than the FTA dross, and, couldn’t be bothered forking out the money for PayTV.
It’s kind of like it was here when I first fell in love with motor racing in 1969- happy to read about it on GP+.
The money I save on PayTV might help me to save up for a Rolex:-)
Cheers
MarkR
Mark,
Agree with you 100%. No way will I get Pay TV…. Had it years ago, and canned it.
I will still read Joes blog ( naturally) , and subscribe to GP+🙂
Joe,
I hope that Connie St Louis does not read your blog – you might get Twittered.
Who?
+1
Professor Tim Hunt FRS, a Nobel prize winner, made a joke about women working in laboratories. The aforementioned woman took exception to his comments. He lost his post following the ensuing Twitter storm.
Her appearance is not dissimilar to that of some of Joe’s fellow passengers.
I was not making a joke. I was describing real obstacles encountered at Orly… Including the ex-mistress of the President!
Which one – so many to choose from!
Joe:
I will never mistake you for a Kardashian.
Cheers
Good
What’s a Kardashian?
One of these…
http://en.memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Cardassian
Alien species found in the Alpha quadrant, brutally occupied Bajor for a long time before the Feds got involved. Got funny necks… that’s who we’re talking about, right?
Alien species found in California infecting the airwaves with mind numbing crap. The sad part is the consumer/viewer dictates the level of success achieved by these programs. Can we set the bar any lower?
Political correctness these days forbade me from commenting on large bottoms from certain parts of the world. But I think you got away with it. Forza!
Joe I have a few questions for you. Is the twisty and and narrow Hungaroring too long in the tooth for f1? If there weren’t Finnish fans support in Hungary supporting Raikkonen and Bottas would there even be a Hungarian GP . Why do you think there has never been a Finnish GP given the country has had 3 WDCs that have won 4 titles?
“Finnish GP” was the 1000 Lakes rally🙂
Stephen
Who would pay. WDCs don’t get races CASH gets races. If FOM does not pull in the cash the teams will have no “Bernie” money to pay the bills with. Given the sort of places FOM will deal with all Finland needs to do is build a track and offer say $50M a year for min 5 years and the could get a race no problem. (FOM would love an other big paying race in Europe)
Apparently, and our esteemed host would know better than I would, there was a Finnish Grand Prix on a circuit near Helsinki in the 1930’s.
Not a Formula 1 event. There was a regular Finnish GP on a street track at Eläintarha. It was a 1.3-mile course which started in 1932, although only around one third of the track was paved, the remainder being on gravel. The races would continue in the area through the 1930s and then again in the late 1940s and these continued until 1963 when two Formula Juniors collided at the start and a driver was killed. There was a non-championship F2 race at another track later, won I think by Jim Clark
Thanks Joe. I thought that a Grand Prix historian would know the facts.🙂
Could be quite interesting on studded tyres.
I flew on Monday from Heathrow and was nearly in tears trying to check in my bag via the ‘Quick bag drop”.
So many families flying off on their hols getting in the way of decent working folk!😉
Hi Joe,
Wondering what you think about McLaren Honda claiming they’re aiming to unleash the full potential of their ERS in Hungary? Likely to make difference, or just more positive sound bites for the media?
Cheers
As they say in Scotland, the proof of the pudding is in the eating… When it happens I will believe it.
What else is Eric Boullier going to talk about at the moment? Job applications perhaps.
I reckon they’ll show a really quick lap time on Friday. And with any luck, they’ll manage another lap on Saturday.
I’d say good luck to them, would be nice if they were able to make good on that promise, but we’ll see!
Unleash the full potential maybe, but for how long…
One good blast ought to do it.
Check The Potential…
Welcome, Joe! See you on Friday (perhaps).
Hot and wiggly? Brakes and tyres. Suspension with some movement.
We read elsewhere (Reuters) that the choice of Tyre supplier has been passed to Bernie. This is outrageous! Todt failing to to his job again! When it is clearly in the Regs that the FIA will select the tyre supplier.
“Michelin motorsport head Pascal Couasnon told Reuters last month that the French company also had no interest in supplying tyres to Formula One unless the sport agreed to change the specification from 13 inch to at least 18 inch.”
Did not the WMSC recently reject the larger wheels?
So it will come down purely to how much each tyre supplier is willing to pay Bernie, the rules will be fudged later.
There is only one thing worse than being stared at – not being stared at.
Merci pour ce moment
Joe,
Long time reader, first time commenting.
Heading to Budapest today from Dublin, my first GP since Valencia in 2009, hopefully I will avoid the airport travails you speak of.Really looking forward to it !
My dad and I going, he is amazed by the new engine technology and cannot believe it is not being more positively publicised.
Any tips/insights on best places to eat/visit whilst in Budapest ?
Hoping McLaren can get out of Q1 and maybe score some decent points on Sunday.
Enjoy the weekend
It’s a great town. Lots of good places
Where is Kardashia?
Somewhere between the eyes and the knees….
That’s brilliant; cue drum roll and rimshot!
In a galaxy far, far away – visited by the USS Enterprise. Sadly Capt Kirk failed to vaporise them with his Phasor gun.
I’ve been asking the same thing about Symbion since 1974.
“If you are already rich beyond the wildest dreams of almost everyone, I don’t see the point of fame.”
Status and attention. Once achieved they seemingly can never let go.
it’s nothing to do with her status, more her mind set: like many celebs… shallow, insecure, and she craves being noticed
“Blocked by amateurs of the bucket-and-spade brigade”, lovely one Joe, but not quite up there with the Secretary of the Littlestone Golf Club in Kent.
At the public inquiry for the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway back in 1926, he pompously declared that the Railway, which incidentally was initially concieved by Count Louis Zborowski, would “bring trippers of the paper bag and orange peel variety” to the area.
Zborowski, now there was an interesting racing character!
Indeed. And line has two tracks so the locomotives could be raced.
Wasn’t Zabrowski also the money behind the Thomas Land Speed Record machine (Babs)?
There were two Zborowskis. The first Eliot, married an Astor but was killed on the La Turbie hillclimb in 1903. The second was his son Louis, killed at Monza in 1924. Louis was famous for funding Clive Gallup’s Chitty Bang Bang (and Bang 2) and the Higham Special, which became Babs.
Thanks for filling in the gaps.
Great article Joe. It demonstrates that you have no deep seated insecurities that crave for attention. Alas, it is a shame such rational thinking is not so pervasive, particularly among the celebrity community.
I re-read that more than once before I spotted the Tamara bit…. I did wonder why anyone wanted to look at Bernie’s torso to be honest….
I must say that Tamaras ample cleavage is much better looking than the current F1 cars, fwiw.
Wife and I are here in Budapest but just cannot get excited about attending the race which saddens me as I’ve been an avid F1 fan since 1990 and never thought I’d feel this way. Had a similarly hassled experience as Joe transiting here from Prague via Heathrow (don’t ask!) and really not feeling like mixing it with more drunk/brain-at-home crowds at the circuit. The free buses apparently drop you off 40 minutes walk each way from the circuit (why? – is this down to pressure from the taxi “mafia”?) which is not fun in 36 degrees. Then there are the trains which are packed and leave you 20 minutes away, which leaves a 70-80 Euro roundtrip in a taxi which is not ideal when repeated over 3 days.
Might go on Sunday if qualifying looks promising as we could just turn up and buy a general admission ticket on the day but right now am missing the organisation and relative calm of prior F1 events we attended in Malaysia, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. Might just end up watching it on TV in the hotel room and enjoying the city at other times but feel a bit sad about this. The FIA website and circuit website schedules make no mention of a meet-the-drivers session or any other events going on over the weekend – something which was handled very well in Bahrain. The organisers really could do a better job of communicating/marketing. Hard to face the temperatures and crowds when asked to pay so much and without knowing what the entertainment will be.
In the meantime thanks for another entertaining piece Joe – and keep up the good work.
Ah, don’t you love being sleepless at 3am… Graham (over the) Hill… Kardashia is next to that other great country, Pike. 13 Mattb, loved the comment about drag racing. And Patrick McLaughlin: try Bag Olivar (think that’s close enough to its real name), tucked away round the back of Heroes Square. Great place, nice food, dodgy accordionist.
Forza McLaren-Honda this weekend. They’re racers, and they don’t give up.
Gundel is a celebrated Budapest restaurant, near Heroes Square. However, the best kept secret in the city is next door. Bagolyvár, Gundel’s second restaurant. Brilliant place. Been going every year since 88… And before Canehan pipes up about fogas (Lake Balaton perch), that is the local speciality, along with goose liver and cold cherry soup…
Aw…spoilt my line ! BTW, it’s pronounced fogash…🙂
By the way, I hope that fans out there noticed that DT posted at 01.57 and I posted at 04.30. What does that tell you about the lifestyle of an F1 journalist in the modern era…
DT manages his time better?
I think you may have missed the point
Oh I understood the point. Look forward to the Sunday magazine from you guys.
Looking from the outside though, they’ll lose a brit fans if Jenson doesn’t get re-signed for next year. All the better for Williams if that is the way it’s looking (although I’d prefer Kimi to get the shove from Ferrari, at last).
Yes Forza McLare-Honda! The experience has a late “1983” feel for me.
Domination 2016 for McLaren.
yawn