Your questions: anthems and Glock-gate

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Timo Glock's dry-tyre gamble last year is still a source of debate

The inbox is groaning full so it’s time to tackle another round-up of your F1 questions.

This time we’re talking national anthems, libel, 2010 F1 testing, what to take to a Grand Prix…

…and Lewis Hamilton passing Timo Glock in last year’s Brazilian Grand Prx. Tinfoil hats at the ready!

Libel

Bigbadderboom kicks things off with a serious question:

I was just surfing the normal F1 sites this afternoon, and noticed that the Planet F1 editor has put up a note stating that they will not be publishing comments on the recent Piquet stories. There may be an innocent reason for this but it got me thinking. I am not that wise in the ways of blogging, in fact F1 and football are mostly all I comment on. But more out of interest than anything, I wondered can F1 Fanatic be held liable for comments made on this site, if somebody writes facts proven to be innacurate could there be legal ramifications for you or the site?

Obviously I have no knowledge of the Planet F1 situation and can’t comment on that.

But there are potential legal ramifications arising from people leaving damaging comments on this site. There have been some cases in Britain of website operators being held responsible for libellous (or similar) comments made on their site (Mumsnet and Owlstalk are examples).

This is why there are certain restrictions on commenting at F1 Fanatic – for example, I can’t allow non-English comments because I can’t verfy their content.

Other sites prefer to require all comments to be checked by a moderator before they appear on the site. I don’t like that aproach because I feel it spoils the site for the vast majority of readers just because of the actions of a minorty.

National anthems

I’ve had two questions about national anthems recently. The first is from Viktor:

Do you know from what year organizers play national anthem for the winner constructor? Is it started in 1958, when the constructors’ championship begun?

The short answer is: No. I don’t know when they started playing the national anthem for constructors. Can anyone volunteer an answer?

However I can help Chittaranjan with this question:

Hi Keith, can you please clarify as which national anthem would have been played if Force India had won at Spa?

The team is based out of UK so would the British national anthem have been played or since the owner is Indian, the Indian national anthem would have been played?

According to the Sporting Regulations (Apendix 3, article 3a):

The national anthem of the winning driver and winning team will be played. The nationalities of the teams and drivers will be notified to the organiser by the FIA and will accord with Article 112 of the
code.

And article 112 of the International Sportig Code says:

As far as the application of this Code is concerned, every competitor or driver who has obtained their licence from an ASN [national sporting club] takes the nationality of that ASN for the period of validity of that licence.

To the best of by knowledge, Force India are registered with the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India – the honourary chairman of which is team boss Vijay Mallya.

So, if Force India win a race, the Indian national anthem will be played, even though the team’s factory is in Silverstone. Similarly, the Japanese national anthem was payed when Brackley-based Honda won in Hungary in 2006, and the German national anthem sounded for BMW at Montreal in 2008, even though the tea is based at Hinwil in Switzerland.

2010 F1 testing

Colin Hall wants to know when the teams will start getting ready for 2010:

Can you tell me what the test schedule is (or where i can find it) for the end of 2009 start of 2010 as I would like to arrange my holidays around the Jerez test session in Decemeber 2009 or March 2010.

Building a holiday around F1 testing – never mind racing – is a sign of a true fan. I’m not aware of any official details about times for pre-2010 F1 testing yet, but as they become available they will be adde to the F1 Fanatic Google Calendar.

Glock and Trulli

I think this question from Billy is about the Brazilian Grand Prix last year.

I’m looking for some info from last year’s race relating to lap times for Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli, Google searches have taken me to all kinds of articles and sites but all have proved fruitless.

I read an article some time back (in either Autosport or F1 magazine I think) and it published the lap times for both Toyotas during the final 3 laps. I can’t seem to find this info anywhere and I’m wondering if you can help?

Glock and Trulli were, of course, the only two cars still on dry tyres at the end of last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix. It put Glock ahead of Hamilton, which made for an unforgettable conclusion to the championship battle, as Hamilton passed the stricken Glock as the rain came down heavily on the final lap.

The analysis of the Toyota drivers’ lap times published here last year will hopefully do the job of skewering any nonsense put about by the tinfoil hat brigade.

Nigel Mansell and number zero

I often get questions about the number zero, but David Pedro found an interesting new take on it:

I’ve been thinking this for a long time: Mansell decided to not participate in the 1993 season after becoming champion in 1992. He rejoined in 94.

But, what if he decided to join after the begining of the ’93 season in another team? Would his new team recieve number one and two, changing the other cars’ numbers? I’ve been with this doubt for a while…

There doesn’t seem to be any dispensation for this in the rules so my guess would be the returning champion would just have to deal with not having the number one on their car.

What to take to a Grand Prix

Jay is going to the season finale and wants to know what to take:

i am new to this sport and will be watching the seasons last race live in abu dhabi. I would like to know as a spectator what things i should take with me to the circuit to watch the race. Will the noise be tolerable? or is binoculars realy required?

I’m sure we’ll get some great suggestions for this in the comments. To get you started here’s a list of thing I take which I wrote here a few years ago: What to take to a Grand Prix weekend.

Don’t forget to tell us how the race went Jay!

Send in your questions – and answers

Thanks very much for all your emails and questions. If you can help add to any of these answers please post a comment below.

Got a question for F1 Fanatic? Send it in via the contact form. Please include your real name.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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42 comments on “Your questions: anthems and Glock-gate”

  1. on the anthems issue i found it interesting that when Red Bull won in China they played the british national anthem, however when Vettel then won at Silverstone the Austrian anthem was played as far as i can remember. So i am not sure what happened there, i think we had a discussion about this on the live blog. RBR is registered in austria though so i think it might of just been a slip up in china.

    1. it was a mistake by organizers in China – Gerhard Berger brought the tape with ”Land der Berge” to next race just in case organizers didn’t have it ready.

    2. Yes I’d forgotten about that!

      My favourite national anthem story, which many of you will know, is Tazio Nuvolari’s win at the Nurburgring in 1935.

      The Nazi party was out in force to celebrate what they expected would be a home win for either Mercedes-Benz or Auto Union. But the inspired Nuvolari stole the victory in his Alfa Romeo.

      The party officials had only brought the German national anthem to play afterwards. Fortunately Nuvolari had brought a copy of the Italian anthem with him…

  2. OMG!! Can i expect a “knock on my door” from Scotland Yard or MI5 ?? I’ve been too “critical’ of His Highness Sir Max Oswald Mosley. What should i do?? I’m soooo worried :( :( I don’t want to go to guantanamo bay!! Should i tender an apology here? Keith?

    1. Libel’s a civil not a criminal offence. They can’t lock you up – merely bankrupt you :D

      1. Unless His Majesty the King of Thailand were to decide to start an F1 team, or be affiliated with one. Thai law on lèse majesté is rather draconian; website operators and bloggers do get criminally prosecuted for stray offending comments.

        It’d be very interesting if they start following the example of Spanish and French judges, and press charges for offences that take place outside their own country. No tropical beach for some of us then :)

        Of course, that’s a rather long hypothetical chain, but there have been government-linked Asian companies in F-1 — Alex Yoong was backed by Magnum, a Malaysian gambling operator, and of course there is Petronas.

    2. OMG!! Can i expect a “knock on my door” from Scotland Yard or MI5 ??

      You will probably have some men from Reggio Calabria visiting you at night and not knocking on your door… precisely!

      “Flav & Nando” Gang have a well established organization with a long tradition in “silencing” people!!!!

      Can you feel them at your back during the night?

      Take care, mp4… :-) :-) :-)

  3. Re Mansell’s Number One: I’m would imagine that had Mansell returned during the 1993 season he would have driven with number one on his car, with the number of his team mate being unchanged. Only my opinion howeer.

  4. Surprised no-one’s beaten us to this one – but no-one should *ever* contemplate going to a F1, A1GP or Superleague event without proper ear protectors.

    If you don’t the resulting earache/headache **will** ruin your day. And it’s an idea to use the headphone-style ones rather than the little foam earbuds if you have them available (although they are certainly better than no protection at all).

    Rather than being viewed as a cop-out or amateur hour, in our experience the attitude among hardened fans, drivers and race crews is very much that they’re not going to risk their hearing, thanks very much, and they use the best protection available.

    Apart from that, it’s probably water, sun cream and a hat in a hot country, isn’t it? If you’re not in a covered stand, you’ll be sitting in the sun for a pretty long time.

    1. I was at Albert Park ten years ago with a very fashion conscious girl. She turned her nose up at the hearing protections (big ear muffs) that I had brought along.

      Well, the very first car of the very first session went past and she out them straight on and didn’t remove them for the rest of the weekend.

      Brits is right, if you don’t it WILL ruin your weekend.

      1. The best thing is to have ear defenders with your radio earbuds underneath – that way you can hear the radio commentary (or Kangaroo TV) and you are protected from the cars. Screwfix sell really cheap ear defenders for about £3 or you could spend loads on a really good pair.

    2. I think it’s different for everyone. The noise has never really bothered me, in fact I get such a buzz off it I don’t want to block it out. My ears are ringing anyway after many years hard clubbing and concerts!
      However – I would advise to take protectors along in case you realise it’s just too damn loud for you!
      The start isn’t ever (seem) as loud as you expect it will be. I guess that’s due to relatively low revs at that point and by the time they are screaming they’ve already moved away from you. However, it is still one of THE greatest sounds you will ever hear!

    3. I went to Spa last year and was fine. Maybe I’ve just been to enough gigs and Goodwood events that I’ve already damaged my hearing though. Maybe the V10’s were louder too(?).

      1. I went to Silverstone this year. Those V8’s are still extremely loud! The rasp from the mclarens exhausts seemed worse, you could literally feel your ear drums vibrating. The pops and bangs on the upshifts are brilliant too, and something the tv microphones don’t pick up!

        1. I noticed that about the McLarens too, although I felt it was generally a Mercedes thing.

          R.E. Matt – I think the level of noise depends on the track layout in your immediate vicinity – elevation/slopes at sides, straight or corner, etc, etc

    4. BoP – Very good point. I always take ear defenders, with radio earphones underneath. Surprised the F1 teams don’t sell branded ones (or maybe they do and I haven’t seen them).

  5. im wondering what happens if the champion leaves, who would have the number 1 then.. the 2nd placed driver or the constructors champion?

    1. That’s when number 0 comes into play. Especially Damon Hill was very good at being a zero ;) The WCC gets to sport 0 and 2 the following year. (see Williams, 93 – 94)

      I’m actually not sure what they used to do in the ‘oldendays’. I don’t recall a post-Rindt zero in the field… Keith?

      1. Wow that was more dificult to figure out than I thought! But I found out that in 1971 champions Lotus raced with numbers 2 and 3 on the cars.

        1. But I found out that in 1971 champions Lotus raced with numbers 2 and 3 on the cars.

          But not at every race. Fittipaldi’s Lotus had #2 in Spain, South Africa, Austria, Canada and the USA, #8 in Germany, #5 in Italy and #1 in Monaco, France and the UK.

          The numbering system hasn’t been particularly logical until relatively recently.

          Jackie Stewart retired as champion in 1973 and the #1 plate was used on Ronnie Peterson’s Lotus (as constructors’ champions) the following year.

          In 1962, reigning champion Phil Hill competed in six races but only used #1 in two of those.

          Williams may have raced as #0 and #2 in 1993-94 but my recollection is that it was at the team’s own initiative, rather than imposed by the FIA.

          1. Thanks.

            I knew about the numbers being rather traditional than logical, but not about the nr. 1 rules. Who could forget the days when cars 1 and 2 fought cars 27, 28, 5, 6, 11 and 12!

          2. Have to say I’m concerned that should there be 13 teams next year the no.27 will make a return, but not with Ferrari. I think they should retire either allow Ferrari to return to 27 and 28. Or they should retire the no. 27, with the exception of JV if who could use it if he made a return next year.

            However illogical the old numbering system used to be way cooler. 5 and 6 for Williams, 27 and 28 for Ferrari 19 and 20 for Benetton etc. Ah those were the days.

  6. One of the most interesting cases of libel lawsuits going on at the moment is the one against science writer Simon Singh – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Singh#Chiropractic_lawsuit

    Basically, the defendant is guilty until proven innocent. No wonder journalists are so afraid to comment on such stories.

  7. I believe the Glock conspiracy is the subject of an investigation by the F1BI…

    http://i647.photobucket.com/albums/uu192/newdecade1986/X-file-2.png

  8. Keith, I am wondering, do you have a regular job? Because I have no idea how you find the much appreciated time and effort to maintain the blog, read question emails like these, keep an eye on all your comments, tallying the HUNDREDS of predictions every race AND have so many brilliant posts and analysis on every f1 event for your blog. I tip my hats off to you. Thanks for this wonderful blog

    1. To further emphasize my point, even F1.com doesn’t fave as many features as your site. The only thing they have over you is access to teams and drivers and live timing.

    2. Wen – Yes I do have a full-time job, I’m a journalist at Auto Trader.

  9. Other sites prefer to require all comments to be checked by a moderator before they appear on the site. I don’t like that aproach I feel it spoils the site for the vast majority of readers just because of the actions of a minorty.

    I couldn’t agree more with you Keith. This is one of those (many) things that make this blog the best one.

    And it works incredibly well. I’ve seen other blogs working under moderation, with much more “hate and despise” than this one. Your personal attitude and behavior, have attracted to this blog truly F1 fans and there are very little cases of “trolls” coming to this site.

    Congratulations!

    1. Could not agree more…

    2. Thanks guys :-)

    3. I used to visit one of the sites mentioned in this thread that moderates comments,it was horrible.There were a few twits on the site that did nothing but make rude comments only to stir up arguements,yet when trying to confront or correct them my comments wouldn’t be accepted.I suppose the site encourages those people to keep it interesting for them.I am a laid back person and never use insults or profanity to bring my points across ,most of the time I was just trying to defend myself for being an American.

      Keith’s site is BY FAR the best.Everyone is equal and respectful.

  10. Wouldn’t this blog be fantastic if it had a separate technical forum. i guess that is the only thing that this blog lacks, but still Keith makes it up.

    My Top Five

    1) F1 Fanatic—->10/10
    2) F1 Technical–>8/10
    3) F1 Passionates–>6/10(cuz the author uses Keith’s Articles sometimes!!)
    4) F1-Live
    5) This might sound strange, considering the fact that i don’t even know Portuguese. But I enjoy reading Becken’s F1 Around Blog . Some of the comments are really good.

    1. Thanks for these mp4.

    2. F1 live can be a bit dramatic and sensationalist sometimes for me, but they are good on breaking news.

  11. What happened when Alonso moved to McLaren in 2007? What number did he take with him, since he won in 2006?

    1. number 1 followed him to mclaren, even though mclaren didnt have a single win in 06. Its the driver not the constructor the number 1 follows

      1. I think one of the weirdest results of that rule was the nr. 1 on Hill’s 97 Arrows.

  12. The driver numbers used to change with each race. For example, in the 1972 season Jackie Stewart – the previous year’s champion – raced with the numbers 21, 4 and 6 as well as 1 (although he did race with this number more often than not). Emerson Fittipaldi also raced in the no. 1 car for one race during that season.

    As far as I can work out (courtesy of Wikipedia), this changed in 1974 when drivers had the same numbers in all races for the first time. Oddly, as has been previously mentioned, Ronnie Petersen raced as no. 1 that year – Jackie Stewart having retired and Lotus being the reigning champion constructor.

    Subsequently, 1 has been the preserve of the reigning champion even if he’s moved teams – ie. Piquet at Lotus, Damon Hill at Arrows, Alonso at McLaren. Zero was used by Damon when Mansell and then Prost left Williams.

    The exception to this would appear to be John Watson, who raced as no. 1 when he stood in for Nikki Lauda for a race in 1985.

  13. Did anyone watch the bizarre Belgium National Anthem played before the race, one Female Singer and one Man playing guitar. Yet there were two guitars in the music, and between the 2/3 of them they slaughtered it.

    1. What about the Italian anthem at the last race? A bunch of brass instruments sounding like some two-bit drunk Mexican mariachis! It was hilarious!

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