The Ben Evans column: Donington Park

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Strangely for a year that has been so political (again) most of the politicking has been going on off-track and has had little bearing on any of the races. Apart from the eeny-meeny-miny-mo approach to qualifying penalties. At Silverstone last weekend the two major elements of political discussion were the proposed Formula Two category and … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: Donington Park

The Ben Evans Column: F1 and tennis

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If there was any doubt before France that Lewis Hamilton’s F1 honeymoon was over there certainly isn’t now. In a weekend where the McLaren team was subject to some extremely harsh penalties (why was Heikki Kovalainen penalised but not Kimi Raikkonen during qualifying?) Hamilton’s race was effectively over midway through the first lap.

The Ben Evans column: Dallara

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Last weekend I had my first Italian motor racing experience: complete with drivers refusing to leave crashed cars, excessive discussion about every aspect of the weekend, and some absolutely stunning girls in and around the paddock. It is often said that on the driving side Italian motorsport never delivers to its potential. Italy hasn’t produced … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: Dallara

The Ben Evans column: Piquet, Moto GP, and the star F1 driver of 2009

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Only a handful of races into the season and already the doom mongers are out for the scalp of Nelson Piquet Jnr The Renault driver’s erratic start to the year is, in some people’s view, enough to cost him his seat should he disappoint again at Monaco. Now, though I have never been the greatest … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: Piquet, Moto GP, and the star F1 driver of 2009

The Ben Evans Column: Rubens Barrichello and Riccardo Patrese

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At the Turkish Grand Prix Rubens Barrichello will set a new record as the driver who has started the most Grand Prix, with 257 starts eclipsing Ricardo Patrese’s monumental 265 races. In many respects Barrichello and Patrese have had rather similar careers. Both enjoyed meteoric rises to F1 courtesy of some stellar performances in junior … Continue reading The Ben Evans Column: Rubens Barrichello and Riccardo Patrese

The Ben Evans column: qualified failure

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Another week, another qualifying rules change, as F1 strives to create a made-for-TV-extravaganza that also produces a good race. The one-hour, 12 lap, sessions used to be cracking TV and a rare opportunity to see what the teams and drivers could conjure up when they focussed their efforts on a single banzai lap. Problem was … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: qualified failure

The Ben Evans column: ITV aren’t bad

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Another early start for the UK’s armchair fans unfortunately didn’t equate to another exciting race last Sunday. Ferrari dominated and McLaren floundered – with Lewis Hamilton struggling get close to Mark Webber’s Red Bull and Jarno Trulli’s Toyota, let alone actually make a move. Yes he may have been driving for points (in the second … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: ITV aren’t bad

The Ben Evans column: A race worth getting up early for

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F1 2008 started with a bang in Australia – and as a weekend did more to vindicate the views the armchair enthusiast (you and I) have held about F1 for a long time. Before the action even kicked off, I thought that Bernie Ecclestone’s comments demanding that Australia move to a night time race to … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: A race worth getting up early for

The Ben Evans Column: Taking safety seriously

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I recently picked up a copy of Nigel Roebuck’s Inside Formula 1, a collection of his columns from the 1980s. He sticks to his usual themes: Villeneuve, Smoking, Villeneuve, evil left-wing politicians and Villeneuve. But as ever it’s worth keeping with it for the nuggets of pure gold. In particular I was drawn to his … Continue reading The Ben Evans Column: Taking safety seriously

The Ben Evans Column: I’d rather be Raikkonen

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Over the weekend I found myself running through the various scenarios that could play out in Brazil on Sunday night. Obviously there is the boring maths bit, who needs to finish where to clinch what. But I was more interested in the different strategies that can be employed by the drivers. On reflection I concluded … Continue reading The Ben Evans Column: I’d rather be Raikkonen

The Ben Evans column: Hamilton’s Mansell moment

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Watching Sunday’s Chinese GP, I found that Mark Blundell’s summation ‘I believe Lewis did nothing wrong’ – bordered somewhere between the scarcely credible and utterly preposterous. Is that ‘nothing wrong – aside from crashing in the pit lane and dicing with Raikkonen when it was totally unnecessary’? Much as Nigel Mansell did in Mexico in … Continue reading The Ben Evans column: Hamilton’s Mansell moment

The Ben Evans Column – DTM’s lesson for F1

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I was delighted to see on Sunday that the DTM bosses truly showed where their priorities lie, by depriving the fans in Barcelona together with a large TV audience of anything approaching a race. Yes, withdrawing all your cars makes a statement. Unfortunately for Audi that statement is not ‘Vorsprung Durch Technich’ but rather ‘We … Continue reading The Ben Evans Column – DTM’s lesson for F1

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