https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K469WuoDJTw
Vettel really needs to take over from Masi when he hangs up the boots. Daniel Ric’s radio couldn’t have summed it up better
Lord Sir Lewis Hamilton of Stevenage
Max Verstappen
Evil Daniel Ricciardo
Less Evil Sebastian Vettel
There was something in the air that night Fernando
Sharl Leglerg
MSC mk2
Alex Albon
Alex Albon
Alex Albon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K469WuoDJTw
Vettel really needs to take over from Masi when he hangs up the boots. Daniel Ric’s radio couldn’t have summed it up better
I thought Sainz might be getting a seethe on, as he was arbitrarily given no chance to challenge for P2 or P1 at the restart.
Realistically he had no chance with his tyres, but if Max and Lewis had collided/gone wide, he could have potentially nabbed the win without lapped cars in the way.
Tsunoda's overtake on Bottas was pretty immense. I know he had the tyre advantage but he is ridiculously late on the brakes.
Have we noted Sainz being best of the rest?
Consistently great this year with a very meh car.
He's a very good grand prix driver, sort of in the old-fashioned sense, in that it isn't all about one lap pace (which it very much is with a few of the more 'highly-rated' talents). Has improved massively during this season at Ferrari. Kind of makes me root for them for the first time in about 25 years.
Yeah, Ferrari have the most likeable duo with mclaren just behind.
As a VERY casual observer, well, someone who is vaguely aware of F1, I never warmed to the guy. I'm very #woke and loony lefty and would love to love Hamilton to own the gammons, but I just can't get on board. I mean I don't HATE the guy, but I sort of see it.Originally Posted by Offshore Toon
Maybe I'd like him if I cared about F1 but he has that hyper-focussed and super driven personality that aimless lazy pisstakers like me always find scary.
We should find out today if Mercedes will continue with their appeal, they haven't turned up for the end of season prize giving thing with either the F1 or FE team and they've been pretty much silent on all channels (apart from asking people to take down videos of Toto crowd surfing). Plus the FIA released a statement yesterday essentially blaming the viewers for all the controversy.
Of all the drivers switching not just teams but engines, he's been the most impressive.
Are they being run by Vince McMahon now?
They did keep beating Verstappen in the run up to him winning the title so that actually fits.
AND it was a nonsense finish by officials acting weirdly that everyone hated so yes Vince is 100% running F1.
I look forward to 90% of races ending with the top drivers being disqualified next year, or slowing down to look at a nice cloud they've been distracted by and a nobody sneaking the win.
No appeal.
The FIA are going to take a long hard look at themselves apparently.
If Merc get next year's car even half right he'll probably win it by 100 points.
I haven't followed, but it seems like a ridiculous clutch finish from Hamilton in the last few races (which should have been enough), so is there a chance next year that he gets his act right from the first race and just obliterates the opposition or is that being too kind to him?
It's possible (he has done that for about 5 of his 7 championships), but there's a lot of uncertainty about next year as the car design rules have changed significantly, so nobody really knows where they are going to be come the first race.
As drivers minus car, he and Verstappen are streets ahead of the competition to a laughable degree, think Messi and Ronaldo.
It's a brand new set of regulations next year so nobody knows who will have made the best car yet. Mercedes and Red Bull spend the most money so they are the most likely but we won't have a clue until February testing.
There are plenty who think Red Bull concentrated more on developing this year's car than Mercedes (who are thought to have stopped working on it very early this season) which might compromise them next year but I reality nobody knows.
It will all come down to which team manages to circumvent the rules most effectively and the length of time it takes for the field to either copy the cheating or for the cheating to be officially stopped (and then how much 'grace period' is given for the cheating to be curtailed).
Merc may make the better cars, but Red Bull are better when it comes to cleverly getting round the rules I reckon.
Would be amazing for some midfield shit kicker to come up with another double diffuser type ingeniousness but I doubt that is even possible any more.
I'd quite like to see Ferrari or McLaren get a lot closer, and I don't see why it isn't possible, aside from the former's comedy tendencies.
Not sure McLaren have the budget (unless the Audi buyout happens) to compete but closer would be good, unfortunately new regs tend to spread out the field rather than bring it together. Hamilton and Verstappen aside this season has actually been surprisingly close.
I thought there was a spending limit coming in?
I think the cost cap applies to R&D but not to people's salaries. Could be wrong though as I tend to nod off at first mention of the words 'cost cap'.
And the only way they could get the teams to agree was to make it high enough that it doesn't curtail the big boys spending very much (yet). Driver salaries and I think one or two top execs are not included.
Part of me wants Red Bull to be shit at building engines, but it'll just be the same Honda blokes in different tracksuits.
Messi and Aguero maybe.
Senna and Prost were basically Pele and Maradona.
Fangio is Pele. Senna/Maradona is a very good comp (and both have the fawning Asif Kapadia movies to go with it), but Prost is more like Beckenbauer.
On a change of subject I was thinking the other day about the log jam we’ve got with young drivers trying to get on the grid.
I would say Ilott, De Vries, Schwartzman, Ticktum, Vips and Liam Lawson all have good arguments to be given a chance. But the icing on the cake is that Oscar Piastri won back-to-back F3 and then F2 and can only get a reserve role. Criminal that he has to sit on the sidelines while wank like Latifi, Mazepin and Lance Stroll get seats.
We could easily add two more teams and keep the driving standards extremely high. It’s a shame really.
Whenever you're ready.
If only he had the chance to unlap himself.
@7om Ticktum has burned too many bridges within the paddock to get his seat now.
De Vries and Piastri especially should feel aggrieved.
Stroll isn’t too bad for how bad he could have been as Richie Rich, but the likes of Mazepin and Latifi must be bringing in big sponsorship bucks as you’d think that’d be an easy swap.
There’s a few of the older guys set to pack it in over the next few years(Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel) so their patience may be rewarded.
Special shout out to Mazepin for finishing 21st in a 20 man championship.
I've just done the first half. My word.
Ready tomorrow, unless it has somehow infected me with Covid.
Smiling Dan sums it up pretty nicely at 12:40
This is all like the time Thierry Henry handballed and I strongly considered getting a British passport.
_
Last edited by Giggles; 17-12-2021 at 08:35 AM.
Latifi’s dad owns one of the largest food FMCGs in Canada, and his mum is from the family that owns the largest food FMCG.
I’d say he brings in a fair euro or two.
I don't think De Vries or Ticktum are likely to get a seat, one only beat Latifi and the other is a tosser. The rear are all about 23 so still time for them to make it. A couple more teams would be good but nobody is joining until the cost cap comes in properly I don't think.
I have less of an issue with the likes of Stroll and Mazepin, we've always had pay drivers, than with Raikonnen, Alonso, Vettel, Kubica, and the like still getting drives. They are all done, get them out of the way.
Another random thought: let’s say Lewis announces his retirement after 2022, who do Merc put alongside George?
Either Ocon (is he still on their books?) or they could probably take their pick from the whole field, tbh.
Verstappen is the obvious choice.
I don't think he'd go, give it another couple of years of his engines going pop and he might consider it but not now.
You could probably get a Gasly or an O'Norris or maybe even a Sainz if you wanted one.
They should rescue Gasly from his Dr Marko nightmare.
De Vries might finally get his chance.
I'd give it to De Vries just to get in the heads of all the orange wankers at Zandvoort.
Probably all but wrong but here’s a 2023 prediction:
Merc: Russell / Norris
Red Bull: Verstappen / Perez
Ferrari: Leclerc / Sainz
McLaren: Gasly / Ricciardo
Aston Martin: Vettel / Stroll
Alpha Tauri: Tsunoda / Vips
Alpine: Ocon / Piastri
Alfa Romeo: Bottas / Pourchaire
Williams: Albon / Sargeant
Haas: Schumacher / Mazepin
Last edited by 7om; 17-12-2021 at 03:31 PM.
Is Jehan Daruvala quick enough? Must be tempting (instead of Vips perhaps) for monetary reasons.
No, Vips is an actual prospect.
I went into 'Private Paradise' with a completely open mind. After all, the idea of Jacques Villeneuve releasing an album of original songs may be utterly ridiculous, but it is not for me to pre-judge the man's musical prowess.
The first thing to say is that the album was released in 2007, at the very tail end of Villeneuve's top-level racing career but also in a sort of in-between era for mainstream music. This time saw Amy Winehouse at the very peak of her powers with the Back to Black album, and perhaps it was she who passed the torch from the era when white music still dominated the charts to a time when black music would take over in the following decade. Jacques Villeneuve, I can report, falls squarely into the former camp.
Putting the album on, I see the first track is named Foolin' around. After two minutes of not unpleasant but very bland three-chord musings, some unexpected background mouth organ heralds the first of what will become a staple feature of the album, a bizarre instrumental gear change: in this case, a 200mph electric guitar solo, presumably played by a session guitarist rather than by Jacques himself. To say it jars is a bit of an understatement. 'There's nothing left to say, say, say,' claims Jacques, a statement very much borne out by his lyrical work on the tracks to follow.
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The opening to the second track, You are, suggests a mellower, more reflective tone. 'I don't understand just what I'm doing here,' laments Jacques during the first verse, perhaps with good reason. He also denigrates the idea of fair weather friendships, because 'they only shine with the sun' - or, perhaps, with the grunt provided by a works Renault engine. The whining guitar line does add a hint of piquancy, but I don't think this track is Jacques's strongest vocal performance by any means. Indeed, in the final closing strain it sounds like Patrick Head has arrived and 'accidentally' trodden on his foot.
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With track three, Father, we move into the real meat of the album. Jacques, of course, lost his father at a young age, so I came in expecting a heartfelt ballad of just what he has always longed to tell him. Sure enough, the percussion is gone and Jacques's voice rings above his industrious acoustic fiddlings. 'Like an eagle, one day you flew too high', begins JV - I presume he is referring to the Zolder catch fencing, rather than to his own vocal pitch. 'You were as endless as a dream', he goes on, accurately enough. It's probably not his best lyrical work, but, as we will discover, nor is it by any means his worst.
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Tout dire marks a welcome, if predictable, change of direction into French, a language that Jacques can actually speak. It also introduces a new addition to Jacques's skillset as he makes his finger-picking debut. Now, Knopfler he ain't, but I'll give him his dues - this is a fairly pleasant melody, ruined only by his clunking vocal performance. At a run time of 5:09, though, he really does dire tout and plenty more on top.
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From that half-listenable peak, the album then plunges straight into the trough that is The ones. This is a duet with a female vocal partner in crime, and they do commit crime - serious crime. 'You're not the one I thought my heart would see,' she complains. 'I'm not the one who's making a warning sign', he retorts, presumably ruling him out of marshalling duties at future Canadian GPs. 'You're not the one who's breaking all the rules', he goes on, but he will 'climb the highest mountain to tell the world you are the one'. Let's hope the sherpas have ear muffs.
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On Accepterais-tu, Jacques changes his vocal style to mumble some almost spoken verses on top of the mind-stoppingly bland guitar riff. This new ambition-free vocal strategy works better - until he abandons it at the end, and goes for the high note again, like changing to slicks in the wet. A really bad song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ96TK6zqdU
His female foil returns on Why did you come?, and unfortunately it quickly becomes apparent that the title is very much a single entendre. Instead of the hoped risqué relief, JV's accomplice offers truly baffling statements, such as: 'I wrote my book, with all you took, just take a look today'. Jacques, after explaining at length why he came, replies in kind: 'I took a look, at life off the hook, no more playing around'. Maybe they're talking about his move to BAR. This is the album's low point so far, five minutes of truly rotten call-and-response drivel. At points on this his vocals, having not exactly shone to date, start to sink into Mr Bean territory.
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Having plumbed those depths, he obviously feels he has to switch things up for Vaguement, so out comes the string quartet and a competent drummer. This is a much more listenable song, something that might have come 24th in Eurovision, if Quebec were allowed to enter. Unfortunately, one gets the feeling that the percussion and strings are what rescue the number from another disastrous Villeneuve vocal.
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On Lullaby, he tries to do far too much, with a cod George Harrison guitar line and vocals at their very whiniest. 'You say you want someone, but you don't want me' must be a line inspired by his chats with F1 team bosses post 2003. I hope this song isn't meant as a literal lullaby. It's more likely to provoke sleepless nights among listeners. I had hoped this would be the closer, but no, there are somehow still four tracks to go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvpzXTngXhM
Private paradise is another 5:20 of runtime and it's clear from the beginning that it's going to feel even longer. I don't know if I just didn't notice it in the previous tracks, but on this one the truth suddenly hits me like a stray rear tyre: Jacques Villeneuve, you cannot sing. 'I'm getting a first class ticket to reach for the skies', he brags, and then hopes that his dream survives this Private Paradise. Sadly, I'm not sure it did. The guitar solo, shite, is very Kaiser Chiefs, which in the context of this piano-led whinge is not really what we were looking for. This is not the worst song on the album - amazingly, that's still to come - but it's probably the worst-executed.
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Jacques is back into French for Etrangers and to really rub home the point, there's also an accordion on this track, making its only appearance on the album. I can only assume someone found it lying around in the studio and thought fuck it, why not, this can't get any worse. A dirge of a song, and like so many on this album, it takes a terrifying wander two-thirds of the way through when the female co-vocalist tries to sing a hundred octaves higher than she should. Good news for any bats who enjoy JV's musical output, bad news for the rest of us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc3O6wWOAlQ
Now then. Women come women go. I'll be honest, the title wasn't promising, but even that did not prepare me for the first two words from Jacques's lips to be 'Hey ladies', something he says a lot in this song. This is a very, very strange affair. The first round of the chorus ends with this line: 'Women come and women go, and I don't know why, never in or out from the front door.' It's starting to sound like this is less a problem of the heart and more to do with home security. Has he lost the back door key? Next up: 'Hey ladies of my life, do you remember all your vows?' Then, he reports, women come and women left, and they left a trace in his shattered clay heart. By the end I'm left wondering whether by 'women' he actually means talent. This is a lowlight among lowlights.
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Finally, the end is in sight, with Mother earth. He's finger picking again. The singing is awful. The lyrics are so nonsensical that I can't even be bothered to pick out the lowlights. Then there's a stupid choral bit. The melody, even accounting for JV's tone deaf rendition of it, does not exist. This is a song that should not exist, to end an album that should not exist.
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Verdict: 2/10
Fucking he’ll that’s some work. I’d say you put in more reviewing it than he did making it
I only tried 4 links but it’s fucking awful. Like a really bad demo tape.
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