Tuesday 26 June 2012

Simon Lazenby.

I know that what I have to say will divide opinion but sometimes a blog just has to do that.

I don't want to start a debate. I don't want to get nasty.
I just want to say how I feel about this situation.


Now you may of heard the story in the Daily Mail about Simon Lazenby being drunk and disorderly on an EasyJet flight back from Valencia.
But that's not what I want to talk about.

But I do want to talk about Simon Lazenby.
I do feel very sorry for Simon. He really does divide opinion in the F1 community.
"Oh he's just a poor Jake Humphrey"
"He knows nothing about F1"
Blah blah blah.

Funnily enough I realised that some people seem to have extremely short memories. Because I remembered that when it was announced that Jake Humphrey would be hosting the BBC F1 coverage.
There was uproar. ACTUAL UPROAR.
"How can a children's TV presenter host a major sporting event?"
"Jake who?"

Yet now Jake is so loved by the F1 community he's deemed a bloody national treasure. (Not in my eyes though. You can see why here)

Yes Simon may of made some mistakes since hosting the Sky F1 coverage and yes he may of said the wrong thing at times. But he's always admitted them and ALWAYS said sorry.
People seem to forget that he's human. He's only nine races into a new job and in the last few races, seems to have really settled into the role. Especially with people like Ted, Natalie and Johnny.

What people seem to miss about Lazenby is that he is bloody funny (He really is. Hence why he has the nickname Lolzenby to his loyal subjects.), witty and a seemingly nice bloke.
What I like about Simon is that he actually tweets to his fans. He may not post many status tweets but he does talk to some us, gains our opinions and actually wants to improve how he is on screen.
He cares about what people think of him. He wants to impress us. The F1 fans. The F1 community.
That to me makes him all the more human and all the more endearing.

So maybe at times he tries too hard and gets it a little or even all wrong.
Who else hasn't done that at some point in their lives?
I know I have.

As for the alleged drunk and disorderly plane incident.
I would like to point out that Georgie Thompson does have a drink drive conviction under her body con dress. Yet no one seems to be mentioning this when it comes to her presenting skills and so they shouldn't.
A private life is a private life. It doesn't affect her work. She does a good job.

So will Simon keep his job next year?
I don't know, but I for one hope he does.

The Spanish GP for me showed how good Simon really is.
He was cool, calm and collected when the fire broke out in the Williams garage.
He took charge. Tried to give us the fans as much information as he could possibly get, whilst trying to talk to and find influential F1 figures and make sure that they were all okay.
Spain proved that Simon and the whole Sky F1 team had class and compassion.
Something that a sport like F1 always needs.

So you can get your poison pens out for Simon Lazenby.
Bring it on.

The Simon Lazenby fan club may only be small.
Be we are mighty.

You can also follow me (Or send your abuse which ever floats your boat) on twitter @squiffany

Monday 4 June 2012

FanFormula: Week 17. Monaco.

So after a pretty dry Monaco.
Grace decided we needed a glam theme to the FanFormula video this week.
But me being the organised one, didn't actually think about anything glam until two minutes before the video was being made.

So in my state of panic. I found the only slightly glam thing in my wardrobe.
Yep. A feather boa.
Rock and roll.

So in this week's FanFormula I argue about the F.I.A consistency again, I get sadistic about Lewis Hamilton injuries and a feather boa + extreme English heat = PAIN.

This week's FanFormula questions.

Question One
In FP3 we saw Pastor Maldonado bump tyres with Sergio Perez and in response was awarded a ten place grid penalty. What was your view on the incident and the resulting penalty?

Question Two
Qualifying saw Sebastian Vettel not set a lap time and through this benefited from a choice of tyres in the race. Do you think this rule should be changed with penalties enforced if a driver/team do not set a time in Q3?

Question Three
A slow pit stop for Hamilton, being hit on the head by numbers falling off his pit board and a lack of communication regarding Seb's pace left Lewis Hamilton frustrated in the race. Do you think this will affect his upcoming contract renewal and what do you think his options would be aside from McLaren?

Bonus question
Do you think we should still be racing at Monaco when overtaking is clearly more important in modern F1?



If you want to get involved with FanFormula you can by going to the website at http://fanformula.weebly.com/

Or if you want to follow my F1 ramblings you can also follow me on Twitter @squiffany