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Update from Nassau

David McGlaughlin, who has been working flat out all year on the 2011 Bahamas Speed Week Revival, reports from Nassau that he’s started a small group called “Nassau Racing Legends”.  They have recently been meeting every Thursday at “The Fish Fry”, near the circuit there – and also close to an associate bar called “Dwight’s Place”.  Lest we get too carried away with the romanticism of it all, David confesses that whole set-up is more akin to the Kentagon at Brands Hatch than Rosie’s bar at Monaco!

Anyway, the upshot of the meetings so far has been an excellent assortment of photos  – two of which I reproduce here.  I love the shot at the bottom of a bashful Pedro Rodriguez in 1960, when he shared a Ferrari 250 TR59 with his brother, Ricardo –  and also that of the cowboy hat-wearing Swede, Ulf Norinder.  Ricardo won the 25-lap Governor’s Trophy race that year and the two of them finished second in the longer (54-lap) Nassau Trophy Race, beaten only by the brilliant Dan Gurney and his Lotus 19;  meanwhile, Ulf was seventh in the 25-lap Nassau Tourist Trophy and ninth the big race race with his Porsche 718 RSK.  I actually saw Ulf race during the Tasman series in 1970, in which he competed with an F5000 Lola T190.  He was very large, very wealthy and very flaboyant:  he used to pour a bottle of Brut after-shave over his head every morning in order to be awake just for practice or the race.  Mind you, he probably drank some of it, too, because  he pulled out of the New Zealand Grand Prix – I think it was – after suffering double-vision from some sort of vibration in the suspension.  It was only several hours later, with the symptoms persisting, that he confessed that it had nothing more than a common hangover.   Mike Hailwood once told me that he visited Ulf’s mansion in Sweden and was astonished to reach the main house some 30 minutes after they’d passed through the main gates into the drive-way:  Ulf’s forest was that large.

Ulf, very sadly, committed suicide in late 1978 after learning that he was suffering from cancer.  

Nico Hulkenberg talks about his Brazilian pole (one year on); his year with Sahara Force India GP and his hopes for 2012

Respecting the anthems

I expressed the opinion on The Flying Lap a few weeks ago that the F1 industry should show a lot more respect when the national anthems of races are played on the grid.  This happens at around 15 minutes prior to the race start and for the most part is completely ignored by the TV world feed and the F1 personnel milling around. Not only is this disrespectful (to countries that in many cases have decided to pay for an F1 race in order to embolden their place on the global platform) but also unprofessional:  you only have to watch the anthems at other major sporting events to know that these are prime areas for repetitive, emotional viewership.

The traditional argument is that the drivers and technicians are too busy at this stage to be called to attention.  I accept that – although I don’t really see the difference between standing under an umbrella on the grass verge of the grid and standing to attention while the country’s anthem is played.

The solution, I think, is for every team to designate a representative to stand in file at the front of the grid while the anthem is played.  It doesn’t matter who is nominated:  it could be a different team representative every race – just as teams often re-shuffle the representative who will stand on the podium.

The world feed cameras could then switch from team member to team member (with name graphics on the lower-thirds) and then to the local dignitaries.   The TV networks of the world should then be obliged to broadcast that brief ceremony as part of their rights contract.  No skipping to ads;  no reverting to more pre-race banter.  This is serious.  This is the national anthem of a Formula One,  FIA World Championship Grand Prix.  The moment should not be treated lightly.