Saturday, December 31, 2016

No Respect: My Response to Mike Guy's Criticism of Nico Rosberg's Retirement

Photo: Firstpost.com
Yesterday, TheDrive.com's Mike Guy published an article slamming 2016 Formula One World Champion Nico Rosberg and his decision to retire. Guy called Rosberg "the Biggest Disappointment of 2016." As a whole, the article has not been well-received (judging by the comment section), nor was it well-received by me. Listen to some of the absurdity here...

"Nico Rosberg, the soft-handed Monagasque semi-royal born with a silver racecar in his mouth, hasn't just walked away from the sport—he's disgraced it by declining to defend a title bestowed upon him by a vastly superior car and, frankly, a whole lot of luck."

Um...

"These pundits don’t have the guts to call out Rosberg for what he is: a semi-royal too spoiled grind it out, too coddled to stick around and protect a championship that was handed to him by Paddy Lowe and deep-pocketed Team Mercedes AMG Petronas. Paddy & Co. built a car so completely dominant that any F1 driver could have driven it to a podium finish just about every week."

First off, this car was not handed to him. Not just any driver can get a ride at a team like Mercedes. Furthermore, Rosberg (along with McLaren's Jenson Buttonwas the longest-tenured F1 driver on any team. He had been with Mercedes since their return to F1 in 2010; this was his seventh year with them. He helped build the team when he was teammates with Michael Schumacher. If anything, Lewis Hamilton was handed the dominant car after stepping in when Schumacher retired. As Ross Brawn noted earlier this week, "Michael, for sure, contributed to the organization and structure that has gone on to achieve success at Mercedes." And since Rosberg was with the team at the same time, the same must be said for him.

He goes on...

"It’s telling that his dazzlingly talented teammate, Lewis Hamilton, ended up on the cover of Time last month. He’s the real face of F1 because he combines talent with an inexhaustible, you-gotta-kill-me-to-get-me-outta-the-cockpit need to race. That Hamiton [sic] lost to Rosberg in 2016 is because he had really [censored] luck: his ERS system failed twice, his engine blew out once, failed once more, and his hydraulics [censored] the bed in Singapore. All told, the reliability issues probably cost Hamilton 40 points in the race to the Driver’s Championship. Rosberg beat him by 5 points."

Mike, let me tell you something: every driver on the grid is going to have good and bad fortune in a given season. Rosberg was in the wrong engine setting in Spain, which led to the opening lap crash. He was passed on the final lap of Monaco by Nico Hülkenberg, falling to seventh. He spun out battling Max Verstappen in Canada. He drove into Hamilton in Austria (a race Hamilton himself won), falling back to fourth when the worst he should have finished was second. He was demoted from second to third due to an absurd radio rule violation, which would have been legal in the second half of the season since the FIA change the rules every twenty minutes. He spun out on the first lap at Malaysia and (miraculously) recovered to finish third in a race he surely would have won, given the fact that Hamilton lost his engine and that he drives, in your words, a "vastly superior car."

That's a lot of championship points lost if you ask me, not to mention that fact that Hamilton can only blame himself for all the botched starts he had this season.

Also, let me remind you that if you argue like that, you must admit that the only reason Hamilton won the title in 2008 is because Felipe Massa drove away from the pits in Singapore with his fuel hose still attached to his car. Or that he retired from the lead in Hungary after an engine failure. Or that Timo Glock's slick tyres just couldn't hold up in the damp conditions in Brazil. If the field were frozen at the time Massa crossed the line in Brazil, he would have been the champion. That's how close it was.

Yeah, Hamilton's been on both sides of the coin...

Continuing on...

"Rosberg knows all this, and he’s getting out while the getting’s good. The chassis on the F1 cars will change significantly this coming year, which will place added emphasis on aerodynamics, and could chip away at Mercedes’ massive horsepower advantage."

No, Mike. He's getting out to step away from the stress of the sport and spend time with his family, not because he's scared Mercedes might not have as big of an advantage next season.

And finally...

"And Valterie [sic] Bottas, the [likely] incoming Mercedes driver, will easily fill Rosberg's small shoes with his prodigious talents."

Okay, I have to laugh at you here. "Valterie"? "Hamiton"? Really? If you can't spell the names of two Formula One drivers correctly, what business do you have criticizing Rosberg for making a difficult decision that he believes is best for him and his family, let alone calling it "betrayal"? Did you even proofread your article?

To argue that Rosberg is "betraying" Formula One is absurd. He is a great story and a great champion for the sport, and he doesn't need to be on the grid to keep serving that role in 2017.

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Keep Fighting, Michael

Photo: Sky Sports
Has it really been three years since Michael Schumacher's life-changing skiing accident?

Yes, it has, and there's still virtually no update on his condition. Schumacher was skiing with his son, Mick, when he crashed and hit his head on a rock, resulting in a traumatic brain injury. The impact was hard enough to crack Schumacher's helmet, but the fact that he was wearing one likely saved his life.

On the one-year anniversary of the accident, Motorsport.com released a timeline of news and updates since the tragedy. Since then, however, updates have become increasingly sparse, with Schumacher's family keeping his condition a private matter as much as is earthly possible in this day and age. The most recent news regarding Schumacher is his family's launch of the Keep Fighting initiative, which "aims to unite the people who are inspired by the career and character of Michael Schumacher, and to encourage them to keep fighting and never give up."

It's hard to believe that Schumacher drove in Formula One for two decades and, in the words of Luca di Montezemolo, "a ski accident has broken him." Personally, I wish him nothing but the best and hope we can see him back in the Formula One paddock soon. On that note, Mick himself may be a more common sight in the paddock soon. He's climbing up the single-seater ladder quite quickly and will be racing in European Formula Three next year.

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Why Felipe Massa's (Potential) Retirement U-turn is Not as Bad as it Seems

It's been a little more than a week since Felipe Massa announced his agreement to return to Williams in 2017, contingent on Valtteri Bottas' move to Mercedes. Since then, some journalists, fans, and even Brazilian faithful (go to 9:08 here) have criticized Massa for this decision. Massa, of course, announced his retirement from Formula One in September before Williams signed young Canadian Lance Stroll to compete for the team in 2017.
Photo: Motorsport.com
To be honest, I understand the criticism. This isn't like Michael Jordan coming back to play for the Wizards after taking a few seasons off, nor is it like Michael Schumacher's return to Formula One with Mercedes in 2010 after retiring from Ferrari in 2006. It's not even like Jeff Gordon's return to the NASCAR cockpit this season after Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s concussion issues, which drew some criticism from ESPN's Ryan McGee.

This is a situation where the athlete won't even miss a single game (or, in this case, race) after coming back from his "retirement."

However, I'm not entirely convinced Massa actually wanted to retire. What virtually none of the mainstream motorsport journalists are talking about is that Massa told Motorsport.com in March of this year that he wanted to keep driving "for two to three more years." The article also noted how Massa was "adamant" he still had what it takes to stay in Formula One.

But Stroll's promotion was imminent, and of course, Williams were right in thinking it's smarter to keep Bottas over Massa, given the former's youth and the fact that the latter is beyond his prime. In my opinion, Williams gave Massa the opportunity to retire before they had to let him go, with both parties knowing the odds of him finding another (semi-)competitive ride in 2017 were slim to none.

So after Massa made his announcement, he was given a wonderful sendoff, including an emotional pit lane tribute in Brazil and a gift from Williams themselves.

And then, in a move no one saw coming, Nico Rosberg announced his own retirement, breaking Twitter and shocking the motorsport world in the process.

As I noted in a previous blog post, Bottas is a strong candidate to replace Rosberg. So what should Williams do in this situation?

They should do the same thing Rick Hendrick did when he needed a fill-in driver.

Sorry Ryan, but Gordon was one of the best possible options to replace Earnhardt. He knew Hendrick Motorsports better than any other driver and was obviously comfortable with the team. Why shouldn't he be at the top of Hendrick's list when it comes to the replacement search?

Massa's situation is virtually identical. A surprise opening (may have) just occurred at the team he recently "retired" from. He's still familiar with the team and personnel. What's the problem with Williams wanting him back? Furthermore, what's the problem with him accepting their offer?

To me, there is none.

Keep in mind, Williams can't just sign another young development or test driver, for multiple reasons. Most importantly, they need one with experience to mentor the young Stroll. Autoweek writer Sam Hall also points out Williams' need for at least one driver over the age of 25 since Martini is their most notable sponsor.

Also, here's the obvious disclaimer: the entirety of the post I've just written is completely irrelevant if Mercedes choose to sign someone other than Bottas. The deal isn't even close to official yet; it's all contingent on Bottas' move to Mercedes creating a need for a second driver at Williams. If Mercedes go with someone else, Massa doesn't come back. As nothing has been confirmed just yet regarding the Mercedes seat, the FIA's provisional entry list still has Stroll and Bottas as Williams' 2017 drivers.

If, however, Mercedes do sign Bottas, Massa has an offer to drive a Formula One car in 2017. And given what he said back in March and what he's given to the sport the last 15 years, he has every right to accept it.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

I've Got a New Blog! Again!

Ten years ago last summer, the Pixar movie Cars was released. While it was not Pixar's most critically acclaimed production of all time, it certainly had a major effect on my life. If you know me well, you probably know where I'm going with this...

I started out as a huge NASCAR fan. That's probably unsurprising, since that's the racing series on which a major portion of Cars is based. The movie came out in June 2006, but it wasn't until October 8 of that year that I watched my first NASCAR race, the 2006 UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. I even wrote the linked Wikipedia article on the race, promoted it to Featured Article status, and got it onto the Main Page this fall as "Today's Featured Article" on the ten-year anniversary of the race. (Yes, I have way too much spare time on my hands.)

Photo I took at Dover in 2012 of Kurt Busch
driving to the garage after an engine failure
Next Memorial Day, May 27, 2007, my dad flipped the television to ABC to show me the 91st Indianapolis 500. It didn't take long for me to get hooked to IndyCar either.

It wasn't until a couple of years ago, however, that I really started to get into the true pinnacle of motorsport worldwide, Formula One. I had always had a slight idea of what was going on but I wasn't truly following the sport nearly as much as I do now. For example, I knew Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were rivals at Red Bull Racing, but I would have had no clue what you were talking about if you had told me "Multi-21." When I visited my relatives in London over Easter Break in 2015, I found out Formula One was (and is) just as big of a thing over there as NASCAR is in the States, if not bigger. Once I started learning the basics of the series, all the teams (or constructors), and all the drivers, I was hooked again.

Nowadays, I'll watch anything with four (or two) wheels that goes fast, but these are the three series I follow most. So I decided to start (yet another) blog where I can give my opinions and two cents on what's going on in the world of racing. (I don't want to fill up my personal blog, Schneider Speaks, with nothing but motorsports posts.) Welcome to a new room in my Internet house. Pardon the dust while I work on some formatting...