Good morning, good day, good afternoon, good evening, good night, just good really ;)
We are TWO DAYS away from the start of probably the most important Grand Prix of the season. Why? Because the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos is one of those places where proper magic happens. There have been so many great races and the last 3 championships have been decided there too. The weather always plays a big part too, so as you can tell I am really excited.
Why not start by watching a lap of Interlagos with Mark Webber? Then check out the tweets of the week - the calm before the (thunder)storm and Christine's Rankings too? Catch up on the latest debrief and the first and second parts of the latest "Aside with Joe"?
Some F1 News
Well we had a few stories in the F1 world today. The first is a bizarre press release from both teams involved that Hispania Moda have bought Williams' gearboxes for next year's car. To me, it's odd that a team who cannot afford to even update their car and have to take a pay driver can afford to do this ... have they even started designing their 2011 car yet?
Speaking of 'the little teams', it appears Bernie is none too pleased with them. Because, you know, when he started out as a team owner at Brabham he was doing much better ;)
Also, if you are a fan of Virgin Racing, you may be interested in a little project going around on Twitter called #ProjectShush. For more info send a tweet to @engyles and she will fill you in - but be quick! ;)
OK, time for a break - here are some F1 drivers making silly engine noises :D
AUTOSPORT provided possibly their shortest news story in history today - when I give you the title of the link, there's pretty much only two more lines of text to read: Herbert to join stewards in Brazil. Must be because all of the F1 Journos are travelling to Brazil right now. The drivers have arrived already ... check out the lovely view from Sebastian Buemi's window ;)
Couple of Lotus stories for you now. On the "Lotus Racing" side, a great piece on Tony Fernandes and how he built his empire. The man really sounds like a smart bloke. In the "Group Lotus" (dunce?) corner, a piece from Joe about how complicated their whole strategy is and pondering on where the money to drive it will come from. Joe believes the group want to buy out Renault, which is why the engine deal has not been announced yet. Strange times, and I wish they would just sort it all out...
Another fun break for you - a "Guess the Helmet" Quiz. Can you guess them all?
Adam Hay-Nicholls has blogged about Red Bull not applying any team orders to help Webber out. Seems silly to me and I don't understand why Red Bull continue to appear to back Vettel over Webber. It's as if they would rather Vettel became champion or nothing. Anyway, it started a great discussion in the comments which is worth looking over. Mr C. made an important point - Ferrari's actions in Germany and McLaren and Red Bull's reactions have painted them into a corner where no team orders could be applied. This seems to favour Ferrari who already used them to make Alonso their only challenger. What do you think?
Apparently the FIA are taking a look at preparations for Austin. Journeyer is worried that Korea has set a bad precedent for things to be left until the last minute. Myself and Steven Roy are rather worried at the apparent complacency setting in on safety standards lately. We shall see.
Not the F1 News...
The XH558 Trust sent a thank-you out to all the people who donated to help keep the Vulcan in the skies. What a beautiful airplane - I have been spellbound ever since I saw one at an airshow 20 years ago...
This week's Springfield Punx WHOsday is Donna and the cartoons look great as usual!
A toddler fell out of a six storey Parisian apartment, landed and bounced off an awning, then was caught by a doctor. She's unharmed, and as Steven Roy noted, will never have to think of an ice breaker at a party now ;)
David Hockney is making art on iPads and displaying his pictures on them in a French gallery. The idea is cool and I like the concept.
The town of Staines wants to change its' name due to Ali G. Funny, I don't see Kazakhstan trying to do the same after Borat (although the film is banned there and they are really angry about it)!
That's all from me. Not enough for ya? Well check out VivaF1's Grand Prix View, with a lovely piece on Carlos Pace by our own Leigh O'Gorman. Also don't forget to login to the chat tonight to take part in their weekly quiz...