11 May – Just Having A Little Fun
Although blogging is a relatively new hobby of mine, I have been watching Formula One for many years. During the time Michael and Mika where going at it tong and hammer beginning in 1998 right after Jacque Villenueve won the championship for Williams, I have been either at my place of residence or at someone else’s inviting my friends, girlfriends, my parents, co-workers, people I meet on the street, basically anyone that is willing to put up with a bunch of loud, obnoxious miscreants, to watch the race and all of its drama. Of course we record it when it airs live in the middle of the night and play it back at our convenience. Sadly, it’s not difficult to avoid hearing about F1 race results during the day on Sunday before we watch the race because most of the country doesn’t know it exists.
There was a time that we gathered for every single race, made a whole day out of it, completely wrecking the abode of whoever was the unlucky one to host that day (mostly me), and then spending the entire race screaming at the TV and hitting rewind 100 times (you have to rewind a lot when you are entertaining 30+ people due to the fact that by the time the red lights go out everyone is already smashed and no one is really paying attention anymore or at least not paying attention at the same time. I can assure you that many of us were paying for it at work the next day. Those kinds of F1 parties are a thing of the past. However, for the last few years I invite people over on race day for selected Grand Prix during the season. It is definitely not as crazy, yet we still manage to wreck the place. Tornado is what comes to mind when I have woken up late and enter the kitchen for the first time in the morning. Because we gather less often, I like to rev people up a little with the email invite and get them up-to-date on what they’ve missed since the last gathering. This is in fact how the idea of blogging came about! As this is one of two home GPs for Fernando, and he will have a heavily revised car we thought it was a good weekend for a get-together. Here is the invite I sent out for this past weekend’s GP, I thought you might enjoy reading it:
Here is the deal–a mere 10 points separate the top five drivers in the championship. What does that mean? (multiple choice)
– That Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel are already the season favorites. NO, compared to last year at this time, definitely not. We have only seen the finger once so far and if that were the one and only time it would suit me just fine. That however probably will not be the case.
– That Lewis finally has a car that can challenge for the championship. NO, he has not won yet which is bad for him, but on the positive side he has not crashed into his teammate or Massa yet. However the season is still young.
– That Mark Webber will have a breakout year now that there is a ban on the blown diffuser that favored his teammate. NO, he is still a number and that number is a 2.
– That Jenson (soon to be the birth name of my first or second child depending on which twin wants to get out of the belly first), who has already won a GP this year, will beat Lewis to a championship in a team that most would consider is Lewis’s team. It would not be overstating the fact that if McLaren were re-named McLewis, most people would not give it a second thought. Uh, but back to the point. That is a big NO.
(Here we go with the fun part)
– That the best and most complete driver on the grid, one Fernando Diaz Alonso, in a car that is quite literally a piece of crap (thanks again Ferrari for producing such a stinker) is still in the hunt and was one of the four different drivers to reach the top step of the podium. If your answer was similar to, or actually was this very statement, then you would be correct.
– That we are in for something special because this race is in Alonso’s home country of Spain would also be correct. And of course it is Alonso.
– That Ferrari is introducing for the most part a completely different car that should be a much-needed step forward and should allow Alonso to challenge for a podium would be correct as well.
– That Alonso is still the best, no matter where he finishes, I will buy that.
– That Alonso could drive an F1 car upside down and underwater, that is how good he is, ok I can see it happening. Just kidding on that one. Hee hee!
It also means that this Sunday (yes, on Mother’s Day) you are invited to watch all possible outcomes of the Grand Prix of Spain (I really don’t care about any other possible outcomes except for Alonso being P1 at the end of it, but whatever). So, go hang with moms in the morning/afternoon and get to my house after. Pre-race show at 430, engines at maximum RPM 5ish.
You know the deal, bring something to drink if you want or a bag of chips, etc.
and GO ALONSO!!!!!!!!!! YEE HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AmerF1can 