Toyodor

Well, it is 2am round about now and I keep reading very loud whispers about Toyota pulling out of F1 with immediate effect and just closing the team down. Not selling it. No nothin'. Just game over.

I'm bummed in a sense since Toyota looked like they were making some progress. I had always hoped they'd secure at least one win... but doesn't look like that is going to happen now.

Honestly, I probably wouldn't even really give a fiddler's fart about it all had stupid Timo Glock not skinned his knee and vertebrae and opened the door for that loveable and adorable ragamuffin Kamui Kobayashi to go racing.

I have absolutely no 100% solid reason as to why this guy amuses me as much as he does, other than the fact that he's pissed off Button and driven hard in his two races and managed to pick up some points quite quick. I just hope the guy has found a few supporters inside the F1 circle and can hopefully land a ride with one of the new teams.

Hell... Sauber's probably got a seat open now that they are a team again saying they had a provisional spot and now that Toyota's about to call it a day. Come on Peter Sauber. Kamui Kobayashi is worth a shot. This incarnation of Sauber wouldn't even be stepping up to go racing had Toyota not just pulled out.

However, for all I know the management at Toyota were just saying Kobayashi would get the drive next year since they knew their team was toast. Trying to do The Kob a favor, raising his stock.

Either way, I hope Mr. Kobayashi finds a ride next year. Obviously the guy has made a good impression on me and I am very suspicious of Japanese F1 drivers in general. They never seem to deliver... yet this guy has my attention for some reason.

Lastly, I'm glad Max Mosley's prediction of the manufacturers making a semi mass exodus is finally coming true. As crazy and stupid as some folks thought Mad Max was, you can't say the guy didn't know what he was talking about even if the reason the manufacturers are leaving are for different reasons than Mosley predicted. Or not.

Max probably didn't expect to be on his way out with the manufacturers however I am glad he had the foresight to get the costs lowered and get Cosworth back.

The Kob

I like Kamui Kobayashi. He is goofy looking. He smiles a lot. He gives entertaining and candid interviews and most important he is a balsy, aggressive driver... but doesn't appear to be a "crazy" or "wild" driver like I always felt Takuma Sato was. Hopefully he will get a drive with Toyota next year. Hopefully Toyota will still be in F1 next year.

Earlier today I was reading some articles about who goes where next year. The topic of USF1 was brought up, how they want to promote American drivers yet there are no Americans currently holding a superlicense. I figure Scott Speed probably still has a superlicense. Do they expire? I mean he only got shitcanned from Toro Rosso a year and a half ago. However, maybe the article I was reading meant that any American that USF1 is mildly interested in does not have a superlicense. I suppose that is fine considering old Scott Speed says "I hardly even follow Formula One any more". He's content to keep driving those big old NASCAR shitboxes around ovals while Red Balls foots the bill. I can't say I completely blame him I suppose... though I'd still follow F1.

The Nervous Ferret Rides Again!

I'm not sure how I feel about Jean Todt becoming the new president of the FIA. While I expected him to win, I am surprised at how badly he kicked Ari Vatanen's ass.

If Button does leave Brawn over money issues and joins McLaren or something I'll be kind of offended and surprised. He says racing is not about money but at the same time apparently feels he is not paid well enough. He should join Toyota. I'm sure they'll pony up 20 or 30 million to him and he can not win and be more rich. It would be nice if Toyota one day built a F1 car that was good and had a driver capable of taking it to victory.

Timo's Glock

My question as to whom Toyota will replace Ralf Schumacher with seems to have been answered. While watching live coverage of the Chinese Friday practice around 3am, Peter Windsor said that Timo Glock would be Jarno Truli's new buddy. I hope this is the driver that Toyota have been looking for. In his first GP with Jordan in 2004 he got a point, albeit due to the fact that the Williams and Toyota's were disqualified, getting a Jordan to P11 is still pretty good. Timo won Rookie of the Year award in Champ Car in 2005 and this year won the GP2 Championship, furthering the fact that if you win the GP2 title you'll get snapped up by an F1 team. I'm assuming he isn't a pay driver any more considering Toyota is the most flush-with-cash team on the grid.

In other Chinese news Lewis Hamilton was cleared of any wrong doing in Japan. This is nice. What I'm most pleased about though is that Seb Vettel's 10 place grid penalty got wiped. All he had to do was bust out some more crocodile tears and the stewards couldn't help but revoke his grid penalty! In reality, that's not the case. It was a silly penalty to give out considering the horrid conditions out there and while it was a real big shame that he fucked up his and The Web's race, I truly think it was a racing incident in the extreme wet maybe or maybe not partially caused by Lew's mildly erratic driving behind the safety car. HOWEVER, as Lewis was the leader, it was up to him how he chose to control the pace of his car and the duty of the cars behind him to adjust accordingly. Not Hamilton's fault if they couldn't adjust quick enough.

Lew's Looming Championship

By the looks of things Lewis Hamilton will probably tie up all the loose ends in China and secure his unprecedented first black, rookie, youngest championship. While I'm neither for it nor against it, for some tiny reason I can't help but feel bad for Alonso. Emo Fittipaldi held the record as the youngest guy to win a world championship for 33 years. Alonso took that record, but only got to hold it for 2 years. I guess that's what you get for being a dick and helping get your employers chucked out of the constructors championship, along with a $100 million dollar fine. Obviously what goes around comes around, but I still feel a little sorry for Alonso.

He had that image of a nice boy that could race fast and beat a Michael Schumacher. Then he moves to McLaren for "a new challenge" and a boat load more money, expecting to own the place and it just didn't work out. Now he looks like a huge asshole, and isn't even going to win himself a championship. I'm not even sure why I feel any sympathy, I just do. Not much, but a smidge.

The thing to be learned from all of this is to see how Lewis Hamilton evolves over the years. Right now he is the nice, gregarious, gap toothed rookie that everybody loves. Will he too become a snake in a few years time, if he isn't already? I wonder. If for some strange reason Lewis suffers a career ending crash maybe he should go in to politics, since I must say I'm quite impressed with how he wrangled McLaren this year and was able to mind fuck a two time world champion (and this is all AFTER being impressed with his quality drives)

Another person I feel sorry for is Ralf Schumacher. His brother is Michael. That's pretty much all one has to say about that. Ralfie is out of Toyota at the end of the year, and I'll be suprised if he pops up with another team, so next year may be the first Schumacherless year since 1991. The guy has 6 wins in his 10 year career, which is not too bad at all. But then you think about his older brother with his 91 wins in 15 years and your opinion of Ralf drops considerably. It is arguable to say that with out big brother Ralf would have never gotten a drive, but he did, and overall, did not do too horribly. I mean, Ralf is number 33 on the lists of most wins. Obviously Michael is at the top of that list. So the guy should be cut some slack, cos he's not a bad racer, he just is a bad racer compared to the greatest of the modern era, which so happens to be his brother.

I'm curious to see who Toyota picks up to fill Ralf's seat and how well the newbie does, considering Toyota has been in F1 since 2002 and have done a whole lot of nothing. I'm hoping they get their shit together, as I'd like to see the world's largest auto maker be a little more competitive... but at this point I don't see that happening, though I hope I'm wrong.