Apr 8, 2009 3:09:11 PM
- easy_rider911
- Rennteam VIP
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- Loc: London , United Kingdom
- Posts: 22190, Gallery
- Registered on: Nov 8, 2004
2009 Chinese F1 Grand Prix in Shanghai
What an eventful start to the season. I still can't quite believe the fairytale start to the season by BrawnGP-Mercedes. The first team since 1950 to win its first 2 races 
I'm really happy for Jenson Button - I have always thought he deserved a decent car to showcase his talent to the maximum. Full credit to him - he has seized this opportunity with both hands. The only (slightly) grumpy person in BrawnGP is Rubens Barrichello. He knows he is being outdriven in the same equipment.
I wonder when BrawnGP will roll out their new racing livery - with more Virgin logos and brand colouring.
It's so refreshing that the usual frontrunners (e.g. Ferrari, McLaren) are really struggling whilst less fancied teams like Toyota, Williams, BMW Sauber and Red Bull are doing so well. Ferraris' worst start to a season since 1990...
Clearly, both McLaren and Ferrari have been slow about developing their 2009 car since they were both pushing so hard right till the end of the 2008 season.
Shanghai should be another decent test of where the teams' comparative performance lies. Hopefully, the weather there will be much better than was the case in Sepang (Malaysia).
I don't expect the pecking order in Shanghai to be much different from Sepang.
The interesting thing will be to hear of the outcome of the rear diffuser appeal to the FIA and exactly what the FIA has planned for McLaren by way of a punishment.
Dave Ryan, who was suspended, has now been fired. What censure will McLaren give to their world champion driver, Lewis Hamilton?
The sight of the world champion emotionally blubbing away on TV claiming to have been "misled" when in fact he was deliberately lying - having been instructed to lie - was a real low point IMO. If he were a man of principle, he would not follow the ex-Sporting Director's instruction to lie just to get 1 more championship point and thereby ensure that poor Trulli was initially given a 25 second penalty (that was later retracted). I personally could not allow myself to win by lying or cheating like that. It would be a hollow feeling.
LH didn't mind lying - which is why he did it - and this shows that he has a 'flexible' attitude to rules and matters of honesty. But he just couldn't bear the thought that everyone KNEW he had lied. He has enjoyed a clean image till now which has suddenly been badly damaged. No matter what he goes on to achieve in the future as a driver, as a person, he has fallen in my eyes irreparably.
For those of you outside the UK, you might be interested to know that LH is very much a product of the UK during Tony Blair's (and now Gordon Brown's) Labour Governments. The hallmark of this post-Tory era has been that, nowadays in the UK, no one in any field has the integrity to resign honourably when they screw up. Instead, they all make grovelling speeches in a desperate effort to cling onto a well-paid job.
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