Nick Wright previews this weekend's clash between York City Knights and Hull FC
Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
James Tompkinson reviews an excellent pre-season victory for the York City Knights against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos
If there’s been one reason to watch Formula 1 this season, it’s for the dark delight to be had in seeing a consistently superior Red Bull car do everything it can to throw away the title. Here, this weekend’s Korean Grand Prix did not disappoint. They had secured their eighth one-two in qualifying this season, yet the unravelling of the Red Bull weekend was something to behold
The race was off to an unsure start under the safety car, followed by a lengthy postponement under heavy rain, and was only liberated from the safety car on lap 18. In this sport, rain tends to throw even the most finely tuned and technically sleek teams and cars into chaos, and Webber’s error just two laps into the race post-safety car saw him swan broadside across the track and straight into the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. Mark Weber, championship leader, had cruelly earned himself a DNF in the anti-penultimate (apologies for the use of this term) race of the season. Teammate Vettel can feel justly aggrieved that his race ended through no fault of his own, his engine spluttering to a smoky mess ten laps from the end. And so, 25 potential points for the German became none. This left Fernando Alonso to take the victory, his third of four races, the Red Bulls having parted like the Red Sea for his triumphal march to the top of the standings.
The world of F1 can often seem a distant realm of Pussycat Doll girlfriends and Monaco-mansioned tax avoidance, but what has made this season one of the best is the particular attention to the human story at the heart of it. Watching the five leading Top Guns battling each other, with the resultant victory leap out of the car or desolate, mildly irate post-crash interview, is great fun for us mere mortals. After Webber’s disaster here at Korea he was escorted ever so slowly and pathetically back to the pit lane on the back of a scooter by a track marshal, a symbolic emasculation to compound his misery.
Likewise, Button was reduced to the incredulous, despondent Jenson of old, huffing and puffing at the cruelty of the F1 gods after a frustrating race which saw him embarrassingly fighting a losing battle against usually weaker rivals, coming home twelfth. When asked if he still has a chance in the championship, he replied “Not really. Everyone else needs to have failures”. His reaction to his position, feigning complete ignorance at the car’s performance, seemed sadly indicative of a man who knew his title would not be retained. Alonso’s momentum now seems irrepressible, and his proven mental strength as a champion provided telling juxtaposition against Webber this weekend.
If Red Bull do emerge from this season without the driver’s championship, it will be a harsh lesson to the young pretender of F1 that any owner of a trusty old Fiat Cinquecento will appreciate: the need for good old reliability.
You must log in to submit a comment.
