Social Media Today reports that the Dutch Society for Nature and Environment, is thinking hard about the future of cars, and the car of the future. It, along with several technical universities, is asking people to contribute their ideas of what tomorrow’s cars should do, be and look like. It’s social media and crowdsourcing combined with automotive design. Chrysler and GM take note.
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Stewart’s lament
Back to Jackie Stewart. A passage in his autobiography, Winning is Not Enough, about getting easy access to drivers at Grand Prix races, rings true with me: “…it is a pity that the modern [F1] drivers seem to have become so remote from the enthusiasts. In 1953, I was walking up to drivers asking them for their autograph, standing and watching mechanics prepare the car, seeing, feeling, smelling and hearing the power and glory of this extraordinary spectacle and…. I became hooked. Nowadays, a 14-year-old boy can only experience a Grand Prix through television coverage, through the media or through his binoculars.”
He’s right. Of course, the sport has changed immensely since Sir Jackie competed, but this passage made me think of Lewis Hamilton and his complaints that he needed to move to Switzerland to escape all the fan adulation and media attention that dogs him in England. It’s ridiculous that a professional athlete thinks so highly of himself that he feels the need to isolate himself from his fans, further depriving a young follower of a chance to experience a moment that could set him or her on a path to racing passion.
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Ahead, and back
Red Bull Racing Formula 1 driver David Coulthard is retiring from Formula 1 at the end of this season. It’s not really surprising — at 37 he’s the oldest driver in the series — but it will be sad to see him go. He’s one of the few drivers who allows his personality to come through all the corporate-speak of Formula 1, and he always speaks his mind. Ironically, after years of struggling with Red Bull, this could prove to be his best season yet.
I’m reading the autobiography of Jackie Stewart, three time world champion, and owner of the distinctive Scottish accent. It’s called Winning is Not Enough and it’s worth reading to get a glimpse of what F1 used to be like and how much it’s changed.
I’ll sign off with a question: With the high price of gasoline, should we be driving at all?
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Honda’s F1 dream
Honda’s Formula 1 effort has yet to pay real dividends, and this season looks to continue that trend. But that hasn’t stopped it from promoting itself, and its green agenda.
Honda wrapped the March 5 edition of the U.K. trade magazine, Marketing with an eight-page wrap, with the question “Sport’s most innovative positive marketing programme? under the Earthdreams header and a green and blue shot of Earth.
Inside there’s a shot of Jenson Button’s F1 car, along with a brief explanation of the earthdreams marketing effort/green campaign.
Ads like this aren’t cheap. And. while they look great, any racing fan will tell you that it really doesn’t mean much if it’s not accompanied by some success on the track
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Miami: IRL rise and shine
Scott Dixon took the checkered flag in the first race of the newly merged/integrated Indy Racing League Champ Car World Series. Highlights? The battle for third spot, late in the race between Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan — 209 mph, 3 inches apart. Shows once again that both drivers are a factor in any race they’re in, no mater how far back they are. Lowlights? (other than the fact my household lights were off for an hour to mark Earth Hour, delaying my race viewing until after 9 p.m.) The lack of a substantial Champ Car field; the excessively long cleanup after some relatively minor incidents.
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Formula 1, Round 2
Formula 1, round two
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I was actually glad to see Kimi Raikkonen win the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, despite my fears that thought alone will usher in new era of Grand Prix dominance by Ferrari. It was mostly because Lewis Hamilton seems a bit smug to me, and Kimi’s win took the wind out of the sails of the blatantly pro-British ITV race crew.
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Next up, Detroit
The North American International Auto Show takes place this weekend (sadly, it goes on without me.) Look for the usual gushing coverage from the enthusiast books. I’m hoping for more critical coverage from Winding Road and the U.K.’s Car.
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Holiday drivers
Got to see some of my favourite behind-the-wheel behaviours during the holidays: driving while talking on the phone (which includes, but is not limited to no-signal lane changes and one-handed turning); and the hothead in a Chevy Malibu who hurtles into a three-lane wide pack of cars only to suddenly stomp on the brakes as if the cars appeared from nowhere. Nice.
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Poor Sportage
I’ve been driving a 2006 Kia Sportage for the past couple of weeks while our regular car gets repaired (it was accidentally bashed by a neighbour.) I wanted to like the Kia, and while it has many things that I like about it — good seats, engine sound, fog lamps, powerful heating system, dual exhaust — it falls short in a few areas. First off, it’s kind of ugly and to me looks a bit like a design project gone wrong. Second, the V6 is a bit too thirsty for my liking and doesn’t produce enough low-end power. There’s a lot of competition in the compact SUV market and Kia (“The Fastest Growing Automaker in the world”) will have to work on the Sportage before it can compete with Toyota, Honda and Nissan.
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More to come…
Been a bit busy the past while. But I will return.
Paul Ferriss 