We have reached the final day of November and it is time to look back at the headlines of the month. What was being said in the final days of the Formula One and NASCAR season? What about MotoGP? Formula E always has something to say. The year is ending and we are getting more reflective while also focusing on the season next to come.
Once again, this is just for fun. In case you are new, this is my gut reaction to headlines without reading the article. Of course, the gripes I have may be answered in the article.
Lewis Hamilton says 'decisions outside the cockpit' cost Fernando Alonso more F1 titles
Hamilton is spot on about this. I am not sure anyone is more to blame for Alonso's lack of titles than Alonso himself. He scorched the earth with his first stint at McLaren. It was pretty toxic between him and Hamilton. He had to return to Renault the following season and he spent two years in a bit of Formula One purgatory before he could head to Ferrari.
Pit strategy in the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix cost him the title that year. That is as outside the cockpit of a decision you can get. For the better part of four years Alonso was fighting uphill with Ferrari and getting respectable results and he nearly won the title in 2012, which seems more staggering the further we get away from it.
The one thing that appears consistent in Alonso's career is he made the wrong move at the wrong time. He went to McLaren when he should have gone to Ferrari the first time around. He stuck with Ferrari maybe two years too long and simultaneously left Ferrari at the wrong time to return to a sinking ship in McLaren. It is a perplexing career. Not Jacques Villeneuve level of perplexing but ten years from now we will still be trying to understand how Alonso was as successful as he was and still not more successful.
Jackie Stewart says 4-time F1 champ Sebastian Vettel is past his prime
Ok... I did not see this coming. The one thing to take away from this season is Vettel was matching blows with Hamilton and it all went wrong when Vettel went off the road in a light rain shower while leading in Germany. He won one race from that point on and he finished ahead of Hamilton in two of the final ten races.
I don't know if Vettel is past his prime but he is 31 years old and he has already won four consecutive championships. I am not sure he is going to have a better record in his next 11 seasons than he did in his first 11 full seasons.
Russell made "PowerPoint presentation" in Williams 2018 bid
And now he will be in Formula One. So kids, if you want to make it to Formula One, sharpen up your PowerPoint skills... and win the Formula Two championship.
Silverstone "the only place" that can host the British GP
It is not the only place that can host the British Grand Prix but it is the one venue suitable for the British Grand Prix.
On paper, the British Grand Prix could return to Brands Hatch, we can figure out paddock spaces and noise restrictions later but Brands Hatch could host the race. Donington Park could host the race. It nearly did about eight years ago.
And that is about it when it comes to venues that could host the British Grand Prix. I don't want to see Silverstone lose the race. I don't want to see some street course in London take over hosting the British Grand Prix but Silverstone isn't the only permanent facility that could host the British Grand Prix.
Kubica's return proves he'd have been F1 world champion
No, no it doesn't. I get what the author is getting at and Robert Kubica's return to Formula One is a great story of dedication and perseverance but it doesn't prove he would have been world champion.
I have written before about the great talent that Kubica showed in his short time in Formula One and what he was possibly capable of but looking at where he was in terms of Renault when he suffered his injuries and looking at how everything played out with the rise of Red Bull and the five-year Mercedes stranglehold we are currently living in, where was Kubica going to win a title?
Red Bull was set with Vettel and Mark Webber. Mercedes has been set with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Where was Kubica going to fit in? Would Ferrari have given him a shot? Possibly but how was he going to win a world championship? I am not sure he would have been able to do what Alonso fell one position short of in 2012.
I struggle anytime anyone says a certain driver or rider would have been world champion, especially when a career is cut short because of injury or death. There are too many variables at play and while I understand the sentiment behind the comments and they are meant to compliment the ability of that competitor I do feel it can be an overstatement. We have no clue what would of happened and sometimes it feels like people say it because in motorsports there is nothing nicer to say about a person than they had the capability to be the best in their category.
Looking back, I did say Kubica could have been world champion but there is a big difference between "could have" and "proves he'd have been." He was a talented driver and one of the best during his first stint in Formula One but to say his comeback proves he would have been world champion negates the many other factors that decide who wins the title outside of talent and determination.
On to MotoGP!
How Marquez is usurping Rossi's 'GOAT' status
By winning races and world championships. It is as simple as that.
Morbidelli: First Yamaha experience "like riding on butter"
I don't... I am... is that a good things? That sounds awfully messy. I wouldn't want to ride butter. How would one ride butter? How much butter would you need? Think about the size of the average human being and now thing about how much butter you would need to constitute a human riding butter. That has to be at least 20-25 pounds worth of butter. And you would ruin whatever pants you had on if you decided to position yourself on it like you were on a motorcycle.
How would Franco Morbidelli know what its like to ride butter? Never mind, I don't want to know.
That's it... I have decided this is not a good thing.
What did Formula E have to say?
Buemi: Software now the FE equivalent of F1 aero
And that is a good thing?
People hate the Formula One aero regulations. People can barely stand Formula E. Is Sébastien Buemi trying to make Formula E even less likable? Granted this seems like a rare Formula E story of substance and not some garbage about how polar bears are grateful for the series or it is the friendliest series to those ages nine and under and how every capital city in every country is lining up to host a race.
Next is one driver with an honest and accurate assessment of his season...
Green says 2018 DTM season the "worst" of his career
This is a factual statement.
Jamie Green finished 18th in the championship and his previous worst championship finish was 11th. He scored 27 points, which matches his previously lowest points total but he scored 27 points in 2009 with the prior points system and that got him seventh in the championship. He also did not have a podium finish this season and he had at least one podium finish in every one of his prior 13 seasons in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.
The good news for Green is he can only go up from here.
Moving to NASCAR...
Cindric not rushing a move to Cup
Take your time kid; no one thinks you are ready anyway. Besides, you are with Team Penske. Roger Penske doesn't just throw guys into the Cup series and you could make a career out of racing in NASCAR's second division if you keep it clean and occasionally win. The longer you can stay with Penske even if it isn't in a top series the better.
'I was rooting for' Kurt Busch - Hamlin
And you still got into at Phoenix. This is also setting aside the conflict of interest in rooting for one driver who is not on your team meanwhile your teammate is in a situation where it would be very beneficial to win the race and guarantee his spot in the final race. It was a very sappy thing to say.
CRANDALL: Well, we got that wrong...
Yeah we did. And now we have to live with Joey Logano being a NASCAR Cup Series champion.
NASCAR Roundtable: Will the Mustang slow Ford down in 2019?
No but the new aero regulations and tapered space will.
NASCAR: Harvick infraction "as black and white as it gets"
Hence why it wasn't noticed until the Tuesday after a race. It was so black and white that it wasn't found at the track in post-race inspection and we went two full days believing everything was rosy.
We are going to something a bit different next month with December but do not worry. We will be back and I am sure there will be plenty to say.
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