BLOGMAS DAY 3: WE BELIEVE IN YOU

On the third day of blogmas, Bron gave to me; a blog post on Red Bull and Honda.

Did you sing that? You better had.

Continuing on the subject of era's in motorsport, here is a new one that's about to begin. Red Bull and Honda. That's one partnership I'd never thought I'd see. However, here we are.

What should we make of this partnership? Should we be optimistic or concerned? Read ahead for my thoughts.

Red Bull Racing. Founded in 2005 by, well, Red Bull; they took part in their first Formula One race at that year's Australian Grand Prix with both cars driven by Scotsman; David Coulthard and Austrian; Christian Klein. Fast forward 18 years later and RBR have since won 4 championships, (most notably during the years the team had Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber driving for them), and numerous second and third places. They are a "party" team and one that is hard to dislike.

And then there's Honda. They have been apart of Formula One since 1964, on and off. Most recently returning in 2015 with McLaren, a partnership that was described as a "disaster."

Before their return to Formula One in 2015, Honda are most recognised for the work with McLaren between 1988 and 1992. The Japanese engine supplier gave the British team a total of 44 wins from 80 starts making their re-entry into the sport in 2015 an exciting and optimistic one. However, as mentioned before, this was not the case. Not even close.

Over the course of the 2015 season, the Honda powered engine proved to be very unreliable and under powered, providing the McLaren team with numerous DNF's and engine failures throughout the season. Thanks to this, McLaren now hold the record of the highest grid penalty given to a team. A whopping 105 grid positions at that years Belgian Grand Prix. Legend has it, both drivers started from Cologne in Germany.

2016 was better but not great and 2017 was on par with 2016. Things looked bad for Honda. So bad, in fact, McLaren claimed they were "lost." It was after this that it became apparent McLaren and Honda would not revive their "glory days" from the 80's and both went their separate ways.

For 2018, Honda stayed in Formula One. This season, however, they partnered with Red Bull's junior team; Toro Rosso. I must admit, I wasn't expecting much but alas, Honda proved me wrong. It was almost like they were starting to come back to life. The engine seemed to have the reliability that it had lacked in previous years and with a 4th place finished for Toro Rosso driver; Pierre Gasly, in that same year, things were obviously looking up for the engine supplier.

And, with that, after numerous power failures with Renault, the parent team; Red Bull, decided to take the leap and on 19th June 2018, it was announced that the two would partner for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Making many people, such as myself, think "whatttttt?!?"

However, I understand Red Bull's logic. Honda are obviously not as bad as they seemed with McLaren. And to see McLaren still having problems suggests that it was their car more than anything.

The whole Red Bull team seem to be extremely optimistic by this move, especially as they've had the opportunity to be involved with the engine processes after the supplier joined forces with Toro Rosso earlier this year. "Good progress is being made and that's encouraging for us." That's what Red Bull Team Principle; Christian Horner stated. Honda need that encouragement. I honestly believe working with a team like Red Bull will be the break Honda needs. If Red Bull didn't think enough progress had been made during the 2018 season, then they wouldn't have taken this chance.

It's a chance worth taking. Amazing things may be about to happen.

BLOGMAS DAY 2: A NEW ERA BEGINS

With one era ending (Fernando Alonso), another era begins. Or, in fact, resumes.

Welcome to Blogmas Day 2.

February 2011. Pre-season testing begins in Valencia, Spain. Polish driver; Robert Kubica is testing Renault's, his team for that year, new car, setting the fastest time of that session.

Kubica had been in Formula One since 2006, becomming the first Polish driver to enter the sport. With one win and numerous podiums to his name, Kubica was one to watch.

However, a few days after pre-season testing in Valencia in 2011, Robert Kubica suffers a "near-fatal" crash during the first stage of the Ronde di Andorra rally, changing his life and almost ending his motorsport career altogether.

After being trapped in the car for almost an hour, Kubica was extracted and air lifted to hospital where it was confirmed that he had suffered severe injuries to his forearm, elbow, shoulder and leg. Due to this, his motorsport career, for that year at least, was done.

2012 arrived. A new year and a new season. But, another setback for Robert. A broken leg in January that year meant another year of zero racing. So we thought, anyway.

Kubica returned to racing in September 2012, winning the Ronde Gomitolo Di Lana rally by more than one minute. This was the start of a comeback you couldn't imagine.

In 2013, Kubica was back to racing full time. Focusing only on rally. In 2016, he moved onto sports cars, taking part in GT3 and LMP1, the following year. And then, his chance in single seaters came about once more. A test in a Formula E car was organised and Robert took part. However, this never led to a race seat for the Polsk.

Less than a month later after his Formula E test, Formula One team Renault gave Kubica another test but this time in a Formula One car. The first one he would have driven since his accident back in 2011. The test ended positively. Cyril Abitebol, the team principle at Renault, confirmed that there were "no obvious road blocks" for an F1 return for Kubica. Could the unimaginable happen? Will this story bring a happy ending.

You bet.

Just before the end of the final race of the 2018 Formula One season, Williams Formula One team announced that Robert Kubica would race for them in 2019, alongside Brit; George Russell. Many people were excited by this announcement. A driver with incredible talent getting a second chance. Kubica returning had everyone talking. However, for some, this wasn't positive news.

Of course, the story is unimaginable. A driver who's career was almost ended by an accident, returns. It is a fairy tale. But, is Kubica's return fair on younger drivers?

As we know, there are hundreds and hundreds of young drivers trying to make it into Formula One. We also know that if a driver comes in with a tonne load of money, they're likely to make it over the driver with talent. That is what Formula One and motorsport in general has come to. It's no lie Kubica comes back with money from sponsors. But, I think this case is different from others. Robert has experience on Formula One. Robert has proved himself in Formula One. He didn't plan to have an accident, potentially ending his career. I think it's more than fair to bring Kubica back. Give him another chance and let him end his Formula One career the way he would have wanted.

I for one am excited to see what he can do. Obviously, Formula One has changed dramatically since 2011. But, I guess that's all part of the challenge in this new Kubica era.

BLOGMAS. DAY 1: END OF AN ERA

Image from: motorsport.com

So, here we are. It's the 1st of December and the Formula One 2018 season is officially over. In order to keep a bit of motorsport in our lives over this festive period, I will be posting a blog everyday (she says!) between now and the 23rd of December. So, sit back, relax and enjoy!

BLOGMAS DAY 1: END OF AN ERA!

Abu Dhabi 2018. A circuit, which in my opinion, shouldn't be the final race of the season. This season, however, was different. It delivered. It wasn't entertaining in the fact that there were incidents but there was actual racing, all the way through the field. However, this race won't be remembered for that, and it doesn't need to be. It will be remembered as the race that two time double world champion; Fernando Alonso left the sport.

I won't lie, it was very emotional for me. Fernando Alonso was my childhood hero. But is he the greatest ever to grace our sport?

A cheeky chap who takes no nonsense, Fernando was born in 1981 in Oviedo, Spain. He took an interest into motorsport thanks to his father, who was an amateur kart racer. This led to the Spaniard winning the 1996 World Karting Championship before entering Formula One four years later in 2000 with Renault. Alonso won the Formula Championship with the team in 2005 and 2006, making him the then youngest ever double world champion. A record broken by German, Sebastian Vettel, later on. After leaving Renault in 2006, Alonso raced for McLaren, Ferrari and then McLaren again before retiring at the end of the current season; 2018.

18 years Alonso graced this sport for. 18 years of beautiful yet aggressive racing. 18 years of winning. (Okay, he hasn't won since 2013 but still). 18 years of interesting and amussing radio calls. And, 18 years of breaking records. The Spaniard has taken part in 314 races; 311 of them he actually started. He's managed to take pole 22 times and with 97 podiums and 32 wins to his name, he's a pretty decent driver.

However, despite these stats and how Fernando performs on track. He has been involved in some crazy controversies. The one that will spring to everyone's mind has to be "Crashgate." Where Alonso's teammate at the time; Nelson Piquet Jr, crashed on purpose at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix in order to give Alonso a chance of winning thanks to a safety car period. There has never been any evidence found if that was the case and frankly, we will never know the truth. Other notable controversies include brake testing David Coulthard at the 2003 European Grand Prix and Robert Doornbos at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix as well as the infamous "Fernando is faster than you" incident at Hockenheim in 2010 and "Spygate" in 2007, amongst others. Should a driver with Alonso's reputation be getting into controversies such as these? Everyone's human but the list keeps on going. A number of times, these controversies were team related but still goes against the two time world champ when debating about who's the greatest.

Despite this, stats are just a number. Alonso is one of the greats. No one is the greatest. They are all different in their own way. The way Alonso races is magic. His skills are like no other. And, after putting up with a deadbeat McLaren for the past few years, he has pushed that car to the absolute limit. Alonso is my childhood hero. I want to be biased and say "yes, he's the greatest," but look at what I said before. There is something special when it comes to Fernando Alonso and I for one think Formula One will be a stranger place without this guy.

Stay tuned. Day 2 comes tomorrow!