#ForzaJules

Everybody's writing #ForzaJules on the sides of their F1 cars in Russia this weekend.  A reference to Jules Bianchi and his terrible accident of a week ago.  No pictures yet, which is as annoying to me as it surely must be to you.   But it likely looks kind of like this ...

Interesting how aerodynamic helmets have become.  Look at the back of that thing.

The take away lesson is, I suppose, to avoid having everybody write something like this featuring your name on the side of their car since it almost always means bad news.

Me?  I'm not thrilled with the Sochi course.  Even though it winds through a number of structures that are familiar sights from the Winter Olys (pronounced Oh-Lees), the whole thing seems a bit on the antiseptic side.  Maybe it will be better on race day with some people in the stands.

Also, maybe it's just me, but I think the safety wall configuration/orientation is dangerous in several areas.  The whole idea of a safety wall is that you situate it so that an out-of-control race car hits it at an angle, not straight on.  It seems to me that at the end of at least two curves, if you lost it coming out of the turn you would slam into the wall at close to 90 degrees.  Which is the worst thing possible.

On a related note, when I was watching footage of the track crew fixing the Whistler bobsled track after Nodar Kumaritashvili died in the 2010 Olys, I found myself wondering how anybody, pre-repair, thought that part of the track was even remotely safe.  So you heard it here first.  Maybe I should write a letter to Vladimir Putin.

Update:  Here's a Ferrari sporting the hashtag ...

Speaking of the Scuderia, does the term Ferrari Gate mean anything to you?  Otherwise known as Stepney Gate?  Short version:  Ferrari fires chief mechanic Nigel Stepney, who on his way out the door takes a ton of proprietary information with him.  All of which he then gives to his new employer, Ferrari's arch-rival McLaren.  McLaren is later caught red handed and fined 100 million bucks.

$100,000,000.00!!!

Sticking it to JPMorgan to the tune of six billion was nothing compared to fining McLaren a hundred mil.  Since, as my friend Dave says, everything is relative.

Anyway, it turns out that my boy Fernando Alonso, who was driving for McLaren at the time, was somehow involved in the uncovering of the crime.  And McLaren, some seven years later, is still a bit pissed about the whole thing.  So there's a real chance that Alonso may be out of a ride for next year, given that the only available decent seat was with McLaren.

Is this too much?
A little.
Sorry. 
I don't think people care quite as much about Alfonso as you do.
HIs name is Alonso, not Alfonso.
Whatever.