#german gp 2003

[maranello]

HOCKENHEIM, 2003 — Michael Schumacher during qualifying. (Photo by Mark Thompson)

[penaltyboxboxbox]

drinking silver to kill whatever it is inside you | lewis & nico

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit, Photographed by David Davies / Love (and Hate) with the Proper Stranger: Affective Honesty and Enactment: A Study of Relational Sensibility Case Presentation and Commentaries, Edited by Estelle Shane / "US GP: Why did Nico Rosberg throw his cap at Lewis Hamilton?" By Matt Morlidge for Sky Sports / "Cain Kills Abel Under a Stormy Sky" Wood engraving by H. Pisan after G. Dore, 1832 / Lyrics from Ex-Girlfriend by No Doubt / Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg wave to the crowds during the drivers parade of the Malaysian Grand Prix, Photographed by Teh Eng Koon / "Nico Rosberg poses as journalist to open spat with Lewis Hamilton" by Edward Gibbes, The Guardian / Mercedes-Benz Australian TV Advertisement, 1997 / Silver Denarius depicting a she-wolf nursing Romulus and Remus, Mediterranean, 137 BCE / Article Headline from The Guardian / Nike Ad for XY Magazine, 1990's / Mercedes-Benz German TV Advertisement, 2000s / Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in Singapore, Photographed by Hoch Zwei / "Fratricide and Fraternity" by Donald Clark Hodges, The Journal of Religion / Subtitles from "Brokeback Mountain" dir. Ang Lee / "Mercedes threatened to sack Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg after Spanish GP collision, says Niki Lauda" By Jonathan Green for Sky Sports / Achilles Mourning the Death of Patroclus (Achille pleurant la mort de Patrocle), Oil and Graphite, Rome 1962 / Lewis Hamilton, Photographed during a press conference / "Pendant with Cain and Abel", German, 19th Century / Comment left by Lewis Hamilton on a blog post of Nico Rosberg, 2003 / Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, photographed in childhood / Animal Locomotion, Plate 345, Collotype after Eadweard Muybridge, 1887

[burnmarksofficial]

꒰꒰ ‧₊˚𝐃𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐃𝐈𝐕𝐄 ─ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐀 ˚₊· ꒱꒱

❨ series masterlist | request | taglist ❩

𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒 ─

★ birth name ─ jae-eun lee ★ hangul ─ 이재은 ★ nicknames ─ jae, jj, jae-bear, jennington, lilo

★ birthday ─ 5th november 2003 ★ age ─ 20 (int.) 21 (kor.) ★ zodiac ─ scorpio ★ chinese zodiac ─ sheep

★ birth place ─ seoul, south korea ★ home town ─ seoul, south korea ★ current residence ─ seoul, south korea

★ nationality ─ korean ★ ethnicity ─ korean ★ languages ─ english (100%), korean (100%), japanese (100%), french (100%), chinese (97%), spanish (97%), italian (96%), german (96%), thai (54%)

★ gender ─ cisfemale ★ pronouns ─ she/her/hers ★ sexual orientation ─ bisexual ★ romantic orientation ─ biromantic

★ height ─ 170.18 cm (5'7) ★ weight ─ 72kg ★ blood type ─ o negative ★ eye colour ─ black ★ hair colour ─ black

𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐑 ─

★ occupation ─ formula one driver

★ team ─ oracle red bull racing ★ position ─ 1st driver ★ race number ─ 13

★ sponsors ─ the hwang corporation ★ helmet ─ bell

★ podiums ─ 65 ★ grand prix entered ─ 67 ★ points ─ 1562 ★ highest race finish ─ 1 (x53) ★ highest position ─ 1 (x3) ★ world championships ─ 3

★ manger ─ jin sehun  ★ opertaions manger ─ do-yun park ★ personal assistant ─ yana rintarou  ★ trainer ─ rin hiniki  ★ press officer ─ moon dan-bi  ★ race engeriner ─ claudia lao

★ debut race ─ 2021, bahrain gp ★ debut age ─ 18 ★ first podiums ─ 2021, bahrain gp (1) ★ first points ─ 2021, bahrain gp (25) ★ debut race win ─ 2021, bahrain gp

★ fans names ─ j-nation ★ offical colours ─ black and white

★ instagram ─ jaeeunlee ★ twitter ─ jaeeunlee ★ youtube ─ jaeeunlee ★ tiktok ─ jaeeunlee ★ twitch ─ jaeeunlee ★ facebook ─ jaeeunlee ★ personal website ─ jaeeunlee.com

★ role modles ─ ha-ru lee, ayton senna, michael schumacher, kimi raikkonen, sebastian vettel, lewis hamilton

★ signature ↓

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 ─

★ mbti ─ intj-a

★ strengths ─ organised, creative, well-rounded, calm, realistic, naturally gifted, smart, introvert, quiet, logical, planner, open-minded ★ weaknesses ─ perfectionist, temper, self-critical, serious, detached, guarded, cold

★ family members ↓ min-jin hwang ─ mother ha-ru lee ─ father (deceased) ari lee ─ older sister ye-jun hwang ─ younger brother dea-eun hwang ─ younger sister saja lee ─ younger brother

★ hobbies & skills ─ photography, cinematography, art, fashion, racing (formula one and others), sports, reading, music/playing instruments (specifically guitar), skateboarding, working out, traveling ★ habits and mannerisms ─ headphone tapping, order in which she wears her jewellery, lip biting, picking at her nails, rolling her eyes, resting bitch face, speaking extremely monotone

★ likes ─ family, friends, her dog loki, woking out, music, playing guitar, skateboarding, art, fashion, photography, cinematography, reading ★ dislikes ─ rude people, racists, homophobes, basically any one that doesn't stand for human rights, people that abuse their power, mclaren

★ medical history ─ depression and anxiety ★ phobias ─ atychiphobia (fear of failure)

★ favourites ↓ number ─ 13 colour ─ black animal ─ dogs emoji ─ 😭🫡✨💀🫶🏼🏎📸 season ─ summer

★ favourites food ─ pizza, kimchi, soft tofu stew, samgyeopsal, sushi, instant noodles, tteokbokki, bibimbap, naengmyeon, bulgogi, korean bbq ★ favourites desserts ─ chocolate, mochi, cheesecake, crepe, red velvet cake, basically anything sweet ★ favourites drinks ─ coke, soju, strawberry milkshake, engery drinks, tea, coffee, milk, water, red wine

★ personal playlist ─ here

[wigglesforonce]

we're on a roll of spreadsheeting (157 races done, many many many more to go), so heres more photos (2003 edition)

couples photo shoot (fernando alonso and jarno trulli), 2003 australian gp

fernando alonso playing australian football, 2003 australian gp

i just found this photo funny (also the drver is called antonio pizzonia.. and hes NOT italian), 2003 brazillian gp

fernando alonso taking cycling way more seriously than his teammate jarno trulli, 2003 brazillian gp

a literal ferrari easter egg, 2003 san marino gp

well thats not good, 2003 austrian gp

are they ok (marshells on break), 2003 austrian gp

i was going to caption this with f1 inflation but i reflected on that choice and decided against it, 2003 moncao gp

happy 150th brithday DC, 2003 european gp

toyota employee hard at work, 2003 european gp

i am once again reminded about alonso's choice in facial hair in 2003, 2003 french gp

why does no one have normal facial hair, 2003 french gp

take me back to anthems like these, 2003 german gp

marshall's guide to which car is which, 2003 german gp

a very intricate ferrar/msc hat, 2003 italian gp

intense scooter racing between teammates, 2003 italian gp

jordan's refuelling equpment has become sentient and seek blood, 2003 united states gp

why is jacques villeneuve's home photoshoot made it into this motorsport photo catalogue, 2003 united stages gp

jacques villenevue has a personal photographer and you will know about it, 2003 united states gp

legitimately captioned 'david coulthard fanclub goes shopping in indianapolis' (im not joking), 2003 united states gp

pov you're michael schumacher's car, 2003 japanese gp

[alianoralacanta]

Names (Same First Name and Team-Mate) (22-08-2007)

Context: My last post was weighty and serious. This one was not. Someone asked in a forum (I think it was the F1 Rejects forum, but sadly it no longer exists to check) if anyone had been in the same team as someone with the same first name. It turns out that not only did this happen, but 8 different names and 17 drivers have experienced this situation in the 74 years F1 has been a championship. F1 Reject status was accorded by the F1 Rejects website to any racing driver who had competed in F1 without scoring at least 3 points on the 1960-2003 systems. In other words, F1 drivers who had never scored 4th place (or higher), and either scored a single 5th place but never 6th, or scored two sixth places but never anything higher. The site did profiles of such drivers' careers and considered giving them credit for their achievements to be part of its purpose. Drivers on today's grid who qualify for F1 Reject status as of the eve of the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix (if any of them finishes in the top 4, or Yuki finishes 5th, please feel free to laugh at my presumption): - Logan Sargeant (highest position in F1 - 10th) - Zhou Guanyu (highest position in F1 - 8th) - Oliver Bearman (highest position in F1 - 7th) - Yuki Tsunoda (highest position in F1 - 1 x 6th place) We may have to wait a while for the first F1 team with two Alianoras, or even one :D

André *492 Milhoux, André 1 1956 *561 Pilette, André 14 1951, 1953 - 1954, 1956, 1961, 1963 - 1964

Andrés Milhoux (Bressoux, Belgium) and Pilette (Paris, France) shared a Gordini T32 at the 1956 German GP. They qualified in 21st position, but retired from the race. It was André Milhoux's only race, thereby qualifying him for F1 Reject status. André Pillete was somewhat more successful, competing in 14 races between 1951 and 1954. He secured a 5th place and three 6th places. That said, he did also fail to qualify four times, so he had his ups and downs as well.

David *509 Murray, David 5 1950 - 1952 *327 Hampshire, David 2 1950

Davids Hampshire (Mickleover, England - 27 miles from my house!) and Murray (British) were team-mates at Scuderia Ambrosiana for one race at the British GP in 1950. David Hampshire was 9th, 6 laps behind the winner (he qualified 16th). David Murray had an engine failure on lap 44 after qualifying 18th. David Hampshire only did one other race, which ended in a DNF. David Murray had a five-race career where he finished precisely 0 races. Both are eligible for F1 Reject status.

Jack *97 Brabham, Jack 128 1955 - 1970 *235 Fairman, Jack 13 1953, 1955 - 1961

Jacks Brabham (Hurstville, Australia) and Fairman (Surrey, Britain) were team-mates at the 1958 Moroccan GP. Jack Brabham became the first person to get two 19th qualifying places in a season, and then trailed to 11th at the finish. Jack Fairman came 11th in qualifying and 8th in the race. Neither is eligible for F1 Reject status.

Jo *87 Bonnier, Jo 108 1956 - 1971 *669 Siffert, Jo 100 1962 - 1971

Jos Bonnier (Djurgеrden, Sweden) and Siffert (Fribourg, Switzerland) did 12 races together in 1964 and 1965 for the RRC Walker Racing Team. Neither are candidates for F1 Rejectdom.

Ken *211 Downing, Ken 2 1952 *477 McAlpine, Ken 7 1952 - 1953, 1955

Kens Downing (Chesterton, England) and McAlpine (Cobham, England) were in the Connaught team for the 1952 British GP. Ken Downing qualified in 5th, McAlpine in a more modest 17th. Ken Downing then fell down the order to finish 9th. That said, Ken McAlpine finished 16th, 6 laps behind the winner and 3 laps behind his namesake team-mate. Astonishingly, Downing only got one more race (from which he retired), yet McAlpine had a seven-race career. Both qualify for F1 Reject status.

Louis *148 Chiron, Louis 19 1950 - 1951, 1953, 1955 - 1956, 1958 *617 Rosier, Louis 38 1950 - 1956

Louis Chiron (Monte Carlo, Monaco) and Rosier (Chapdes-Beaufort, France) did six races as team-mates at Talbot in 1951. Neither qualify for F1 Reject status.

Luigi *510 Musso, Luigi 25 1953 - 1958 *746 Villoresi, Luigi 33 1950 - 1956

Luigis Musso (Rome, Italy) and Villoresi (Milan, Italy) were team-mates for one race in the 1954 Italian GP for Maserati. Luigi Villoresi celebrated his 25th race entry by qualifying 6th - Musso was back in 14th. Neither finished the race. Neither qualify for F1 Reject status.

*563 Piotti, Luigi 9 1955 - 1958

Luigi Villoresi then went on to share a car with Luigi Piotti (Milan, Italy) in the 1956 German GP (this was the same race as the two Andrés shared a car). This race ended in engine failure. Luigi Piotti is eligible for F1 Reject status. This is the only race where two drivers from the same city and the same first name shared a car.

Stefan *60 Bellof, Stefan 22 1984 - 1985 *376 Johansson, Stefan 103 1980, 1983 - 1991

Stefans Johansson (Vaxjo, Sweden) and Bellof (Giessen, Germany) were team-mates at Tyrrell for three races in 1984 (the British, German and Austrian GPs). Neither could be classified as F1 Rejects.

[formulahs]

top 5 races you wish you could have seen live

hiii elle this is a good one

1991 brazilian grand prix, senna’s first home win! this race is very emblematic to f1 history as a whole bc he only had one gear for the last 10 laps and it was manual at the time, but to every brazilian who got to watch it live it’s just so special and emotional

2000 german grand prix, rubinho barrichello’s first ever win after 7 years in the sport and first brazilian win after senna’s death. he only took part in the last ten minutes of q1 due to car problems so he had to climb the grid from p18 to p1 and did it by staying out on slicks in the rain

2003 brazilian grand prix, i actually have a whole post about it hsjsjsk it was just so chaotic and messy in such a 00’s way!

2008 brazilian grand prix, even though it would probably make me want to rip my own skin off ❤️ the ever iconic “IS THAT GLOCK” and felipe massa losing the championship to lewis by a single point. absolutely vile wish i got to witness it

2014 canadian gp, daniel’s first win on my birthday! apart from being a stellar race with a nice amount of chaos and overtaking -daniel overtakes nico for the win with 3 laps to go- the birthday element would’ve probably added to it

honorable mentions: suzuka 2005 (scary era kimi), monaco 1996 (chaos), brasil 2016 (MAX), bahrain 2014 (duel in the desert), the entirety of 2012

[umseb]

Navigating This Blog:

Firstly, please remember that my tagging system is for my use. I'm very happy when my blogs help people find stuff! But their first function is to help me find stuff. <3 1. If you’re looking for a specific race, the tag format is [location] [year]. For example, #hungary 2016 or #usa 2019. -> Azerbaijan is listed as Baku. -> Countries with multiple races will be tagged as both the country and track (for example, Spain and Valencia/Jerez/Barcelona, Germany and Hockenheim/Nurburg). -> European GP content is tagged as both European and the name of the track, either Valencia or Baku. -> Where possible, days are also tagged. So, for example, #monaco 2019 thursday. 2. If you’re looking for just a specific year, the format is either #flashback fic ref [year] or #fic ref [year]. #flashback fic ref is any year before 2021. #fic ref is for 2021 onward. 3. If you’re looking for just a specific track, that’s tagged too! Just search the country. 4. On a quest for other racing-related content but not from F1 race weekends, you say? -> Pre-season and post-season tags! For example, #pre-season 2012 or #post-season 2009. -> Testing, specifically, is also tagged! The format is testing [year], like #testing 2018. -> Race of Champions? Goes by year, and is listed under both “roc” and “race of champions”. For example, #roc 2008 or #race of champions 2011. 5. Things he does in his capacity as an F1 driver, but not strictly racing-related? -> The FIA gala is listed under both “fia gala” and “fia prize giving”. Examples: #fia gala 2018 or #fia prize giving 2011. -> Autosport Awards / Laureus World Sports Awards / German Sportspersonality of the Year -> Charity soccer games: Partita del Cuore / Kick Fur Kinder / Champions For Charity 6. And, of course, non-racing-related content: -> The format is [year] not a race. For example, #2007 not a race. -> If you’d like a specific time period during a season, it’s separated by what races it fell between. For example, #between japan and usa 2018. -> Summer break 2022! 7. Feeder series! -> Formula BMW ADAC (all) / Formula BMW ADAC 2003 / Formula BMW ADAC 2004 -> Formula 3 (all) / Formula 3 2005 / Formula 3 2006 -> Formula Renault 3.5 8. All under-18 content is tagged as #childhood photos. 9. Relationships (not taking requests to add to this): -> Sewis -> Smick / With Mick (underage) -> George Russell -> Michael Schumacher 10. Important! On the website version of Tumblr, you can combine search items. This is immensely helpful for finding specific things! -> So, for example, if you open search and type in "hungary 2022, smick" it’ll only pull up Smick content from the Hungarian GP. :) -> Or “flashback fic ref 2011, autosport awards” -> Or “testing 2013, jerez” 11. Trigger tags I commonly use: * These are either for my use or by request and are not up for discussion or debate. If you need something added, please drop me a dm or ask to let me know. 💚 -> #tw max (verstappen) -> #tw transphobe (webber) -> #tw nico (rosberg) -> #tw kimi (raikkonen) -> #tw bernie ecclestone -> #tw helmut marko -> #tw christian horner -> #tw dietrich mateschitz -> #tw crash -> #tw death -> #tw body perception -> #tw food / #cw food This is a pretty exhaustive list, but if you need help or are confused, feel free to contact me! <3

[greenyvertekins]

Hmm, I think I’m pretty much over the cold now, say about 80% recovered. But my GOD that was the worst one I’ve ever had hands down. It took only within the space of three days to turn into a bout of Pneumonia. Kinda felt like Flu. Except without the muscle aches and sky-high fever. Parents had to spend ages on the phone seeking emergency care from the very busy 111 service and the GP only begrudgingly saw me.

I mean yeah, I’ve had colds/flu turn into pneumonia before. Especially when I was gravely ill at 14, 15 (And dropped-out of school and had a 2 year break from medical treatment as a result in order to recover) and was offered the option to have an extended stay in hospital as an in-patient to have my numerous ailments and suffering because of them dealt with more directly. I refused, not wanting to have even more invasive treatment like drips and supplemental nutrition or to become dependent on them (BTW, build-up drinks are nasty. I have bad memories drinking those back then). But I didn’t feel as bad as I have over the past week my God.

I’m guessing that a lack of built-up immunity over the past 3 years or so due to frequent masking, lockdowns and stringent hand hygiene on my part is why it hit me so hard. Having pretty weak lungs makes it so much worse. I’ve always had weak lungs since toddlerhood. To the point that when the air is very cold, the only way I can endure it when outside is by breathing through a scarf or my sleeve. Huffing freezing air is my worst Asthma trigger. Kinda funny story but when I’d do the peak flow meter to discern lung function, I always thought that the results when comparatively healthy were great and on-par with healthy people. But nope, they were actually poor compared to healthy people and only “good” when compared to results from when I was sick.

I dunno, I’m just flabbergasted by just how sick I’ve been over the past week or so. It was a reminder of the worst year of my life that was 2003 when I was incredibly ill for much of that year. But I’m much better now. Just have very sensitive lungs at the moment to the point that it doesn’t take much to cause a coughing fit or chest tightness and am thinking that going out tomorrow to the city isn’t the wisest choice.

I did want to see the German Christmas Market before the rail strikes become even more frequent. But I suppose staying in is perhaps in my best interests 🤷‍♀️

[maxemilianverstappen]

German GP 2003, Kimi's 1st pole position with Nico Rosberg at the end, being a fan 😏

[blackswaneuroparedux]

It was just an ordinary day, and you saw them. There were guys in their Porsches, Look at me in my Porsche, ha ha! and they were overtaken by a van. Driven by a girl!

- Richard Hammond on Sabine Schmitz

Widely known as the "Queen of the Nürburgring," Schmitz was one of motor racing's highest-profile female drivers and a regular guest on BBC's iconic motoring show "Top Gear." She was an iconic German professional motor racing driver for both BMW and Porsche.

Schmitz grew up close to the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit in western Germany. Born in Adenau in 1969 to local restaurant owners, Sabine and her two elder sisters grew up in the "Hotel am Tiergarten" (in the basement of which is the Pistenklause restaurant) in Nürburg within the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Schmitz trained as Hotelfachfrau (graduate in hotel and catering business) and sommelière. During her marriage to a hotelier she lived in Pulheim, but after her divorce in 2000, up until 2003, she owned a bar-restaurant in Nürburg named the Fuchsröhre (Foxhole) after a track section. She was also a qualified helicopter pilot.

Following occasional drives with the family car on the Nordschleife, all three sisters started racing, but only Sabine continued and collected victories.

Her biggest achievement came in 1996. It was then driving for BMW (the BMW M3 E36) she became the first woman to win The 24 Hours Nürburgring Race - the famous 24-hour annual touring car and GT endurance racing event that takes place on a combination of the Nordschleife ("North Loop") and the GP-Strecke ("Grand Prix track") circuits of the Nürburgring.

The following year in 1997, she repeated her stupendous feat.

Schmitz had become synonymous with the Nurburgring Nordschleife, the 14-mile circuit in Germany that is renowned as the toughest in the world. She was a worthy queen of the track.

Since 2017 she had been flighting cancer. On 16 March 2021, she died of cancer at the age of 51 years old.

RIP Sabine.

[race-week]

hi al! if you could change the outcome of any race throughout the years, which one would you choose and what would you change about it.

For me, i'd change 2018 German Grand Prix, and stop Vettel from crashing out (i was just rewatching the season so it's on my mind). I'm curious as to what choice you'll make! Thank you :D

I don’t know; there’s a few that would be in contention.

My first thought was Japan 2014 to prevent Bianchi’s crash, but in doing that would it change the safety of the current F1 cars.

Canada 2019 maybe? Because that penalty was kind of harsh in my opinion, where Vettel lost the win because of how he rejoined the track.

Or the 2003 European GP where Kimi was set to win from pole and then his engine died, that would have got him the championship that year.

[ef-1]

literally like any era LOL i just wanna see stuff à la seb moving the 1 / 2 place board type "" drama "" , or like Canada 2011

Psssssttttttt let me know if you want my favourite quali laps ever I have a v good list I promise

My dads recommendations:

+ Brazil 2003 <- i agree, my dad made me watch this when when I was 12, this shit was so insane it looks scripted.

+ Brazil 2012

+ Canada 2011<- you already know that though.

+ Monaco 1982

+ Abu Dhabi 2012

+ He says try to watch any 2006 races because that was peak Schumacher vs Alonso

+ Spa 1988

My favourites (off the top of my head)

+ Baku 2017 - seriously. insanely good, everyone said fuck common sense. Overtake central.

+ Idk how new you are but Monza 2020 is chefs kiss.

+ Hungary 2015. Hungary 2015. Hungary 2015. Hungary 2015. Hungary 2015. Hungary 2015. Hungary 2015. Hungary 2015. Hungary 2015. Hungary 2015. Hungary 2015. Hungary 2015. So many twists and turns you'll LOVE THIS.

+ *whispers* baku 2018, hurts like hell but max and daniel going at eachother for like 40 laps was so fucking good - until it wasn't.

+ BAHRAIN 2014. bro. Bro. BRO. I URGE YOU TO WATCH THIS. I watched this with my dad when I was 13. Its still ingrained in my memory. Not to sound like a twitter dudebro but we dont have racing like than anymore.

+ german gp 2019 🥲 painful but good racing

+ belgian gp 2014, radio pettiness the house down. And other stuff :) it'll leave you ¿¿¿

+ british gp 2019 intense battles between Valterri and Lewis + Verstappen and Sharl

[formula365]

The Greatest of All Time - Imola Grand Prix review

It’s Christmas in 2004, and Maranello is a happy place. Ferrari has just crushed their opposition, winning 15 of the 18 races to claim a sixth consecutive constructors’ championship. And it wasn’t just another title: this was one of their most dominant, the F2004 a car so quick that in their first test at their private track in Fiorano they thought something was wrong with the track sensors. This hadn’t quite been the same level of dominance as 2002, when they scored as many points as all the other teams combined, but was pretty close.

Going into the next season, everyone expected Ferrari would be fending off challengers but staying on top. Just as in 2003, the competitors should be closing the gap a bit, but the Scuderia should remain the team to beat. Such was the quality of the 2004 car that the team led by Ross Brawn decided to evolve the car to adapt to the regulations tweaks of 2005, rather than work on an entirely new design.

But as the cars hit the track in Melbourne, it became clear the competition had more than caught up. The 2005 car was only supposed to make his debut in round 5 in Barcelona, but given the poor results in the first two races, its debut was brought forward to round 3 in Bahrain. It didn’t matter: plagued with aerodynamics issues, a gearbox too big and Bridgestone tyres that were losing the performance battle to Michelin, the F2005 won a single race, and only because all the teams using Michelin refused to race in the now infamous US GP, due to safety concerns.

At the time, it seemed impossible such a downturn in fortune could happen. The all-conquering Ferrari, the first team ever to win 6 championships in a row, had fallen off a cliff, finishing a distant third in the standings. No one had seen that coming, least of all those running the team itself.

What does this have to do with this weekend’s race? Obviously, everything. As expected since pretty much the first round of the season, Mercedes has just confirmed their seventh consecutive world title with four races to spare, beating Ferrari’s record, while reaching performance levels similar to those 2002 and 2004 titles. Just like Ferrari, they are at their peak, but the difference is that they show no signs of slowing down or becoming the c-word: complacent.

Ferrari’s 2005 season is a cautionary tale for any team dominating their sport: don’t take anything for granted; this is exactly what Mercedes have always done. Through every regulation change, they have continuously pushed the boundaries on every single level, taking every defeat as a chance to improve, and turning every setback into an opportunity. In what team principal Toto Wolff has described as a relentless drive to perfection, they keep on pushing when most, convinced their superiority would keep them ahead, would have relaxed.

A good example is the improvement made to their engine in this off-season. Clearly beaten by Ferrari in 2019, the team led by Andy Cowell worked to get back on top, not knowing that the only reason the Ferrari engines were so ahead was due to some shenanigans that weren’t entirely legal. The result is that the Mercedes engine took a leap forward in 2020, while Ferrari’s moved backwards, making the increased performance on the back of the Silver Arrows look even more impressive.

There is regular debate among F1 fans about who is the greatest driver of all time; now that Hamilton is beating pretty much every meaningful record, this debate is hotter than ever. But there is less debate about which is the best team, and that is because there are very few arguments left against this incarnation of Mercedes. It’s not just that they make the best car: it’s also that they keep winning even when they don’t have it. There were periods throughout 2017 and 2018 in which Ferrari had the best car on the grid, but due to driver performance or strategy calls, Mercedes would end up winning races that, on paper, it shouldn’t have won.

To me, there is no doubt that this is the best team F1 has ever seen. Through regulation changes, personnel departing and adversaries’ improving, they have kept pushing, onwards and upwards, relentlessly searching those marginal gains, those milliseconds that keep adding up to big advantages. Once this phase is over and someone else is spraying the champagne, we will have the time to really appreciate what they have achieved. But we are not there yet, and their records will keep improving, their chunk of F1 history becoming larger and larger.

Nothing lasts forever, especially if you don’t work hard to keep it going; this is particularly true in F1, where nothing stands still for long: blink, and someone has replaced you on the top step of the podium. That’s what happened at Maranello when preparing that 2005 car. That moment is still to happen to Mercedes, but no one is betting on it happening just yet.

Talking points

•  The rookie class of 2019 has been having a torrid time of late, and if Norris at least got himself on the points after three scoreless races, the weekend was far less kind to his friends. Russell had a first points finish within his grasp when he crashed, in P10, behind the safety car. He will pick himself up and be better for it, but right now it has to hurt. It’s not the first time either, as he lost opportunities at Hockenheim last year and at Mugello. He really needs to take his first points to get this monkey off his back.

Albon, on the other hand, is running out of opportunities to show Red Bull he deserves another year in the senior team. He spun at the restart and ended up at the back of the field, but even before that he was not capable of making a dent in the race. Granted, overtaking at Imola is not easy, but this was another lacklustre weekend from him. Even those like him who hope he does get the nod are finding it hard to come up with reasons why Red Bull should keep him.

•  Could Daniel Ricciardo be wondering if he made the right call in choosing McLaren over Renault? While the papaya team are moving backwards, Renault are improving by leaps and bounds, and this weekend saw him score his second podium in three races. The French team are probably now the favourites to claim third in the championship, which might make him wonder if he should have waited for a few races of 2020 before making this decision.

•  This podium was ultimately thrown away by Racing Point’s decision to pit Perez behind the Safety Car, when the Mexican was running third. To be fair to them, it was a hard call, since they had no way of knowing what those behind them would do. If Perez had been the only one staying out, he would have been vulnerable and would all be criticising the team for not pitting him. In any case, the only reason Checo was in contention anyway was the brilliant strategy to run long on the medium tyres, that had allowed him to leapfrog pretty much the whole midfield.

•  On the other side of the pink garage, Lance Stroll is in dire need of a reset. His Monza podium is looking like a curse, with the Canadian driver scoreless since then. To add injury to a dismal weekend, he even hit a mechanic in his second pit stop.

•  First double-points finish of the season for Alfa Romeo, with a rocket start from Giovinazzi and another steady race from Kimi. Their are winning the battle of the backmarkers, and it will take a miracle for Haas to take P8 from them now.

•  I wrote in my preview about drivers about to drop off the grid for 2021 and hoping they can enjoy and give us some good memories. That was exactly what Kvyat did: as his unlucky teammate was forced to retire from P5, the Russian had a fantastic race, clinging on to the back of Leclerc and Albon’s cars, and then using a fresh set of soft tyres to beat them and Perez at the restart. For a moment it seemed like he could even challenge Ricciardo for the podium, but, as it was, P4 was a brilliant result. Helmut Marko all but confirmed he would lose his seat at the end of the year, but if that is to happen, this is an impressive calling card for his job search.

•  So much talk about track limits, weekend after weekend. To me, this is the simplest of debates: the track limits are the white lines, and if you are going over them, you need to brake earlier. Done. Drivers who want to not have to worry about this should probably be considering moving to IndyCar.

•  McLaren are still in the fight for third in the championship, but not by much. They continue to maximise their results almost every weekend, but this time around they didn’t seem to be able to compete even with AlphaTauri. The development of the car has brought them backwards, and this must be a big concern for Andreas Seidl. With the cars remaining largely the same next year, they need to start making progress on this front sooner rather than later; otherwise, losing P3 in 2020 will be the least of their concerns.

•  Can Esteban Ocon get a lucky break? His return season has been underwhelming, but his luck with reliability has been abismal as well.

•  Oh, and while we are at it, can Vettel get a lucky break? Fantastic race from the German with a broken front end plate, only to be wrecked by a pit stop 11 (eleven!) seconds slower than normal. 2021 can’t come soon enough for him.

[minnesotadruids]

Why All This Talk of the Valley of Silence?

Two words: Sacred Pilgrimage.

Here I am now, at 18 and I’ve learned to feel the seasons. Take my hand and come away with me to a place we’ll understand. ...much to see in such a short time... —from the song Bound to Happen by The Empire Hideous

This woodland was my spiritual haven for four years of my life. It’s an enigmatic place, like Parth Galen or Amon Hen from The Fellowship of the Ring, replete with mysterious ruins, structures, and statues. All these years I’ve assumed it’s about 100 acres, but I don’t ever remember asking anyone or measuring it until now. According to Google Earth, the area outlined in blue in the satellite image is exactly 200 acres, and the perimeter is four miles. 

I don’t think the college owns the whole parcel of land, because an old plat map I found that dates to sometime before the 1940s indicates some of the land is owned by the City of Duluth, some by the State of Minnesota, and some by the College of Saint Scholastica. The housing development on the left hand side of the satellite image above was built around 2005. Before then the woods were about 240 acres.

In 2003 or 2004 after lamenting the lack of a trail map I ventured out with a compass and notebook and counted my paces while tracking my heading. I drew a crude map that was woefully not to scale; I could have made a surveyor cry. Then for fun I wrote everything on the map in ancient Gothic, a long dead Germanic language.

After another year or so I bought a handheld GPS tracker and made a better map with it. The tracker had its drawbacks, most notably that the line it drew had no map of its own or any points of reference. It sometimes had a tendency to wildly redraw lines into different polygonal shapes long after they had been mapped just fine, hampering the accuracy significantly. The Mark II map was closer to scale, more detailed and complete, and I opted for plain English. By the time I was done, the then-new housing development had cut down dozens of acres of trees and obliterated a length of the trail that looped around the westernmost parts of the Valley of Silence.

My Mark III map was all digital, and was a hybridization based on aerial photography I found, and from my hand-drawn maps where the trails couldn’t be seen through the tree canopy. It was an improvement but still plenty inaccurate, especially the encroaching Private Land; the dimensions were wrong and it severed much more of the trail. Lots of my measurements were also still off because I didn’t account for changes in elevation, forcing me to figure out how to make some of the trails fit together by stretching, shortening, or changing angles.

From the latest satellite imagery, it seems a lot has changed since my college days, and I was motivated to redraw all the trails over the course of an hour or so. It even looks like a new trail emerged along the edge of the housing development, but I’m in the mood to use a mapping app on my phone and hike the miles of trails again. I do need to indicate more of the hazards on the Mark IV map I want to make, such as some of the spots where the trail is actually mud that is at least knee deep, or trails that are murky boggy water except in winter.

Plus I’ll take any excuse to play in my old back yard again.

[pcttrailsidereader]

Snowstorm - Sierra City to Bucks Lake

 By Dave Baugher

With a heavy heart, I hung up my phone in cabin #1 at the River Resort in Sierra City, CA.  My wife, Luann, had called that quiet morning to let me know that her mom, Marylyn, had passed away.  I had taken a nero in Sierra City and was planning to return to the PCT that spring morning. The resort owner, Jim said, "No Problem," to my request to spend another night considering the circumstances.  So finding a comfortable chair on his expansive deck overlooking the Feather River, and I began to ponder.

Marylyn, diagnosed in 2003 and, like so many we know, descended into a faint picture of the person we knew before. Alzheimer's is a terrible disease.  In 1905, German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer performed an autopsy on a woman who passed from and early cognitive failure.  Alois discovered that one-third of the woman's brain had disintegrated, leaving a plaque and tangled cell fragments. More than 100 years later, Alzheimer's disease is still poorly understood and generally regarded as incurable.

In the morning light, sitting on Jim's deck with the river below, I thought back to my own experience with cognitive failures.  Regrettably, it was only 15 years before that my own father, Hank, had been diagnosed with the neurological disease of frontal lobe dementia. Like the sun setting down below the Sierra Mountains, my father faded away before our eyes in less than 18 months.  Hank was only 61 years old when his light permanently faded, and it was his death the prodded me to change my life and ultimately begin hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. 

It was 2013 when I was asked, "How long did your father live?" I was 51 that day, and the question hit me like a sack of stones, that in 11 years, I would be the same age as when Hank passed. What was I going to do over the upcoming eleven years?  Work?  Not an exciting thought.  A quote from Steve Jobs came to my mind "If today was the last day of my life, would I want to do what I'm about to do today?" My answer that morning was no, prompting a change of life for me. 

I spent the remainder of that day on the deck, talking with my wife and kids.  Things settled down after a while, so I borrowed a book from the resort's small library, then in the quiet of the afternoon, read on the peaceful deck.  By the following morning, things within the family had resolved themselves and settled down. Marilyn's passing had been expected, and there was nothing I could do here or back at home, so with Luann's endorsement, I returned to the trail.  Jim gave me a ride to the trailhead, where I could continue my journey northwards.

The Pacific Crest Trail crosses Highway 49 above the town at an elevation of 4,100'.  Here the trail aggressively climbs toward the jagged Sierra Buttes, ascending a total of 4,000' to skirt the iconic landmark, a landmark in the section of California.  Later I discovered that in the winter of 1852, the town of Sierra City was a village of tents, shacks log houses, and a few frame buildings.   Deep winter snow smothered the settlement, and the residents struggled to reach the San Joaquin Valley below, leaving the stricken hamlet abandoned.  Yet, five diehards stayed to work their gold mine, preoccupied with the business of survival, not watching when the Buttes suddenly discarded their top layer of snow.  The snow came down in a smothering avalanche to wipe out the last vestiges of the village.  Only three of the five survived.

The PCT lead upwards and the new Sierra City lay below me in the distant valley.  Several hours passed when I spied a couple of hikers walking toward me down the trail  Exchanging greetings, and they explained that up ahead, there was a solid wall of snow at the 7,000 foot and they were unprepared to cross into the upper snowbound elevations.  My preparations included extra clothes, crampons, an ice ax, so I felt confident to continue on the trail.  These two were planning on hitching around this section to return to this PCT section at a later time. 

Now at this point in the trip, these two guys were the first PCT hikers I had met since leaving Donner Pass 4 days before.  Yes, there had been lots of snow, but nothing that stopped my progress northwards.  My thoughts wandered as the trail passed under my feet.  Indeed, at the 7,500' elevation, I did hit snow, but the crampons did their job, and I continued.  That day I covered 15 miles before finding a dry campsite that had an excellent supply of firewood.  Soon my tent was up, hot soup in my pot and a roaring campfire warming the oncoming evening chill.

Morning broke cold and gray.  At this point in the trip, I had become a master at camp procrastination, when attempting to get out of the tent into the frigid mounting air, in the serenity of a chilly quiet morning I packed up camp.  Last night's fire was a faint warm remembrance, and the ivory banks of snow surrounding my dry patch of campsite looked foreboding.  It was 9 a.m. when I shouldered my pack, then noticed with faint humor, the first soft snowflakes drifting down from the now grey smoldering sky.  For all the serenity, majestic repose, and granite permanency, the Sierra's can be as temperamental as an adolescent, and I was about to experience this first hand.

Returning to the trail, I followed the PCT upwards across rolling ridge after ridge where the trail played peek-a-boo with my navigation skills.  Occasionally, the path was exposed, usually along the southerly exposed sections, while on the northern exposures, the trail was nowhere.  The spring snow depth in these sections was 10-20 feet deep, obliterating signs, blazes, and any indication a hiker had been through the area.  The family following my course remotely via a Spot satellite transponder reported my path zigzagged haphazardly in these sections, and they could only guess what I was encountering. 

My mind echoed, "Dave, you better watch out," as the snowflakes began falling in earnest.  I want you to visualize the scene, as the snow fell viciously.  Not "Frosty the Snowman," snowflakes, this was a mean, spring snowstorm with driving winds, and the cold-pressed straight into my bones. After a couple of hours, thick swirling clouds of the white stuff were whirling around me in ever-rising cold howling mountain winds.  I started climbing a tall frozen ridge with wind thundering across the trees, and rain pelted my backpack and tattered ghostly clouds whipped over the rocks and forest.  Reaching the summit at noon, I thought, "You better start thinking about taking a break and getting into some shelter." 

Breaking the ridgeline, I made for a stand of trees on a southern facing slope.  Within the grove, I found bare patches of ground, set up my tent while the wind screamed through the trees like a banshee.  One last look around, my pack and I dove inside like a ground squirrel escaping a red tail hawk: It was high noon, Thursday, June 18.  For the next three days and two nights, the storm raged outside my tent. This was a real humdinger of a mountain storm, roaring out of the west-rain, hail, sleet, and wind.  Wow, did the wind blow. When the Sierra goes on a rampage, there is not much a hiker can do but stand by and watch with awe.  Lulls were brief; then, a high pitched scream would start in the treetops, the grove and my tent would be slammed by the roaring winds, over and over again.

It was two mornings later, I woke up at sunup and crawled from the warmth of my sleeping bag, the storm had broken.  Hiking the ridgeline, a grey mist enveloped is and cut off visibility to 25'.  “Dave,” I thought, “you better watch where you are walking,” as I looked over my map.  The map indicated the PCT followed this ridge for a half-mile before dropping to a lower elevation.  Here the trail was viable under my feet; the path was worn by many feet over the years, however ahead, the trail disappeared into another snowbank.  I was unsure of my exact location with no horizon to see, so I took a 90-degree turn and walked 50' to check out the terrain; the ground disappeared and a grey abyss, I was standing on a cliff.  Carefully, returning to the trail, I went the opposite direction, only to encounter a crumbling cornice of snow that fell off in the same grey abyss.

Somberly, returning to the trail, I brought out my GPS, turned it on, and then followed the path exactly as indicated on the screen, step by step.  There was not much room for error, but I hiked down from the ridgeline safely heading for lower elevations.  My camp that night was nestled in the sunshine along an old logging road.  Dinner and relaxation ensued in the fading light.  That evening was quiet, and the night was too quiet.

When morning broke, I came out of my tent to discover another snow-covered landscape.  Oh man, not again, but I continued onwards.  The trail continued to lose elevation as it dropped into the Feather River Canyon. Later that day, I crossed the bridge over the Feather River and made camp along Bear Creek.

A dry, moist morning greeted me the next day, and I hit the trail once again, my goal was Bucks Lake, Climbing the North Fork of the Feather River Canyon ridge, I made my way along the northern ridge where a faint cell signal allowed me to call home.  Perhaps it was not seeing me move via my Spot, or maybe the grief of losing Marylyn, but Luann was extremely happy to hear my voice and know that I was ok.  I asked her to contact lodging in the Bucks Lake area and find me a room for the night.  A return call let me know I had accommodations for the night at the Haskins Valley Inn, so I continued onwards.

Doug and Dixie welcomed me into their establishment, informing me that I was the first PCT hiker they had seen the spring.  Doug also let me know that the upcoming section between Bucks Lake and Chester were perhaps even more snowbound and dangerous that the trail I had just covered.  Now that did not sound too welcoming, so another call home as made and arrangements were made for Luann to pick me up in Quincy the ensuing day.

The following morning, Doug, Dixie, and I drove down the mountain to Quincy. Lost in thought; this had been a most extraordinary spring backpacking trip, unique since I had begun this PCT adventure in 2014, and ever since.  My mother-in-law had passed, Alzheimer's and the passing of my father, and in a round-about way,  those events led me to Pacific Crest Trail.  Spending two nights in a spring sierra snowstorm, contemplating life gave me a new outlook on my own experience and family – Becoming "snowed in" actually was not that bad of an experience.