Today, they claim that Bruce Willis is set to play commentating legend Murray Walker in a film about the life of Michael Schumacher – inventively titled “The Michael Schumacher Story”.

I don’t know what is more laughable – the thought of Bruce Willis donning spectacles and getting overexcited everytime a puff of smoke appears at the rear of a car (even if it is tyre smoke)… or the prospect of a film about the life of Michael Schumacher.

While Schumacher is without doubt one of the greatest drivers F1 has known, his career wasn’t always the most exciting – and given the fact that Schumacher is purported to be involved, it is unlikely that the more controversial aspects of his career will be highlighted.

Schumacher drove in a period in F1 where his superiority was rarely challenged. If you were to make a true life film about “modern” F1, you’d probably make it during the 1980′s, where you had Senna, Prost, Mansell, Rosberg (Sr), and Piquet (Sr) all fighting for wins, and some of the real characters such as Gerhard Berger.

None of this will come to fruition, except possibly as a made for TV film, and while Murray did comment for the whole of Schumacher’s career, he was not always the greatest supporter of the German.

The main reason Willis has been linked to the role, is simply that he is probably the most famous aging bald actor in Hollywood. Apparently “an insider” claims that in glasses, Willis looks very much like a young Murray Walker. This is forgetting the fact that Walker was not a young man during the Schumacher period.

Bernie Ecclestone often makes threats like this – the British Grand Prix at Silverstone is regularly under the axe, but FOM have only once actually carried out one of its threats, dropping the Belgian Grand Prix from the 2003 calendar. However, this was more to do with commercial rights for tobacco advertisers than any indication that the circuit (one of the best in the world) was not up to par.

Night races are an unknown commodity in F1 – this year sees the first one in history, held at Singapore. The biggest concern is of course, safety. In an enclosed arena where it can be easily floodlight, safety is not so much of a problem – for example, NASCAR often have been holding night races since 1978, despite the fact that like F1 cars, NASCAR don’t have headlights. However – it would simply not be practical at a circuit like the old Hockenheim to place floodlights, as 80% of that circuit was out in the woods.

The old Hockenheim is a prime example of why you shouldn’t do night races – in 2000, it saw a protester marching down the side of the track after scaling the surrounding fences – a job that would no doubt be easier in the dark.

The idea of holding night races is so that they can be screened during prime-time television in Europe. My interest in F1 has waned over the last few years so I no longer wake up at 4am to watch the ‘flyaway’ races in Australia, Japan and now China (and Singapore this year).

This year’s Australian Grand Prix start was also delayed by 90 minutes so that it started at a better time for the Asian market. However, I doubt that an hour and a half would make a noticeable difference to the Formula One fan – only to the TV schedules – delaying the start means that the race falls into a more lucrative TV slot, meaning FOM can charge the advertisers more.

Despite being a global sport, the focus of F1 is still in Europe. The majority of the teams are based in England (even ‘Team Force India’), the majority of the drivers are European and the majority of the races are also held in Europe.

FOM have tried to address that balance, by introducing more ‘flyaway’ races, but I don’t think we’re in any danger of seeing a switch to holding night races in Europe any time soon to provide more convenient TV scheduling for the Asian market. The problem with any global sport, is that it’s always 5 o’clock somewhere, so F1 races will always be held when there is maximum revenue to be made.

What song should be the first to be played on the stereo?

The past two cars I had were inducted with Bohemian Rhapsody (an idea nicked off Wayne’s World), so maybe it is only right that the TT should be the same… however I have compiled the following Shortlist on my iPod, currently ordered by artist:

• Girl From Lebanon (Europe)
• Superstitious (Europe)
• Prisoners in Paradise (Europe)
• I’ll Cry for You (Europe) – probably not this one, it’s an acoustic track
• Sucker (Europe)
• The Final Countdown (Europe)
• Layla (Derek & The Dominos) – Although this gets boring towards the end, it’s the main riff I like
• You know my Name (Chris Cornell) – Probably more suited to a Ford Mondeo :p
• Dude (Looks Like a Lady) (Aerosmith)
• Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars (Bon Jovi)
• Demolition Man (Def Leppard)
• Money For Nothing (Dire Straits) – although mainly for the drum intro – the TT stereo is not the best, and probably wouldn’t have the acoustics to do this justice
• Paradise City (Guns N Roses)
• Numb/Encore (Linkin Park/Jay-Z)
• She’s a Little Angel (Little Angels)
• Too Much, Too Young (Little Angels)
• Young Gods (Little Angels)
• Ten Miles High (Little Angels)
• Solsbury Hill (Peter Gabriel)
• Hot Fudge (Robbie Williams)
• No Easy Way Out (Robert Tepper) – from Rocky IV, where Rocky is driving in his car
• Real Gone (Sheryl Crow) – An early leader, this is the main title theme from Pixar’s ‘Cars’
• Look But Don’t Touch (Skin)
• Unbelieveable (Skin) – originally by EMF, but the Skin cover rocks more.
• Jump (Van Halen)
• It’s all about the Pentiums (Weird Al Yankovic)
• Truck Drivin’ Song (Weird Al Yankovic) – probably not appropriate as I’m not driving a truck
• Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry)
• Legs (ZZ Top)
• Sharp Dressed Man (ZZ Top)

Then again, I think the first drive will be without the stereo – there is a reason I went for a 3.2 litre engine… it sounds so sweet.

So Bo-Rhap or new song? what a dilemma…

Not to be outdone with ITV bagging britains last F1 world champion, Damon Hill for their F1 commentary, the BBC have managed to catch up with Britain’s last-last F1 World Champion Nigel Mansell (presumably in the 19th hole of his golf course). Never one short of an opinion Mansell has commented that Button is ‘past it’, and that McLaren should not have allowed the spat between Alonso and Hamilton to become public.

Pot… Kettle?

Nigel Mansell was 39 when he won the crown, after spending many years in a very competitive car. Granted his failure to win the world driver’s championship was not always his fault, but when he did win it, he won it in a car which was way ahead of the field, not just ‘competitive’ as the BAR-Honda was.

I’m not comparing Button to Mansell, in fact I would say that Mansell was the better driver than the much-overrated Button, but for Mansell to criticise Button for not winning the world driver’s championship when he was driving a car that eventually placed 3rd in the constructor’s championship is a bit far-fetched.

Button’s faith in the Honda team must be very stretched, especially when the Williams car that he burnt bridges to leave is probably the 4th best on the grid. If he had stayed with the Williams team, he could be pushing for podiums, not languishing behind the ‘customer’ Honda team. But at 27, I’d say his career is far from over. He needs to do a lot of work to restore his reputation before any of the front-running teams would look at him again.

The BBC does have a habit of jazzing up stories and stretching the context in which they are written, so perhaps I am being hard on Mansell’s comments, but I think the point he is trying to make can be summed up in this one comment:

But he was far better years ago than he is now because he was hungry then.
He’s got a great reputation for partying and that’s taken the edge off it. He’s a typical example of too much, too soon.

And that I’d agree with – Jenson needs to get the eye of the tiger back.

As for the McLaren tiff – Was it not Mansell who was very public when he was not happy with the team, or his teammate? even alleging in his autobiography that when he was teammates with Alain Prost at Ferrari, his car was switched with Prost’s, because for some unknown reason his car was faster. Mansell the one who announced his departure from the Williams team (and Formula One) in 1992 at a press conference, even before consulting the team?

It’s quite a sad experience, to be honest. My current Beetle is the first car I have actually bought with my own money. Every penny of the loan was paid for by me, and when I finally finished paying for it, I had a huge sense of acheivement.

I’ve loved Beetles for many years, ever since seeing “The Love Bug” as a child, and while some might have questioned the use of a car instigated by Adolf Hitler in a children’s movie, the truth is that it is a unique design. (An interesting side-note is that it was designed by Ferdinand Porche).

The New Beetle, again a design classic. While it will never have the longevity of the original Volkswagen (as Wayne and Garth might compare it – “It’s like Star Trek, The Next Generation. In many ways superior, but would never be as recognised as the original”) it is still a unique car that turns heads.

With the arrival of my Audi TT only a few weeks away, I’ve had to start preparing the car for sale – fixing all those little things that you put off. An eBay bargain saw me get a new set of floor mats (I’d worn through the originals), and I’m looking at getting the myriad of dents sorted. My only concern is the high mileage on the car compared to many others on the market. I’ve driven my car pretty much every day, whereas for some the Beetle is a luxury car – one only to be used on the weekend.

It’s quite sad to see it go, but now I’m fretting over the new one: Did I choose the right colour?

I chose red as the first Mark 1 TT I really liked was in red, but I’ve seen many Mark 2 TTs in Black – and it looks very mean…

Too late to change now though – apparently it arrived at the dealership at the end of last month.

I was planning to see what I thought of the new design and order based on that. If I liked the new design, I would wait for it to be released, if I didn’t, I would order straight away. However this did not go according to plan, Audi actually stopped taking orders on the old design shortly before the new one was released. Then I saw the first pictures…

I thought it looked ugly, I couldn’t believe that Audi had taken a very nice looking car and turned it into something that hideous. The picture, adorning the front of a motoring magazine, turned out to be one of the original concept designs, and not the final model. However, the final model still featured the imposing grille. The same grille that has been worked into the design across the Audi range.

However, in the flesh, the grille isn’t as imposing as it appears on pictures.

The final car also features softer lines than the concept, giving more of a nod to the smooth shape of the original. However, with the sharper features, the new TT is a much more imposing beast on the road. From the Peugeot-like ‘cat eye’ headlights, to the square lights in the rear cluster – the new TT is more of an agressive looking vehicle.

So how does it drive?

Well, the car is pretty low, not as low as the Lotus Elise, but it still struck me how low it was as I fell into the driver’s seat. It is perhaps a little lower than the Nissan 350Z (which is probably the closest direct competitor to the TT). However, the electronically adjustable seats (optional) make it very easy to find an optimum driving position.

The flat-bottomed ‘racing’ steering wheel takes a little bit of getting used to, feeling the corners as it ran through my hands was a little strange. The leather steering wheel is comfortably chunky, and extremely light. In fact the car as a whole feels extremely light. Breathing on the accelerator is enough to make the car jump, and the key is smoothness. Less forgiving than my present car, the bite is very high.

The first 30 mph are hardly noticable, the V6 extremely quiet and smooth. It is very easy to break the speed limit in this car, and you have to be extremely cautious. Having said that, the power in 1st gear is rather disappointing. The car does not ‘launch’ off the blocks, and it is only when you shift up to 2nd that you really get the feeling you’re in a sports car. 3rd is where the fun starts though… putting your foot down in 3rd launches you up to 60mph and forces you back into your seat. 4th and 5th have adequate power to take you above and beyond 70mph, while 6th, even though it is a fuel-saving cruising gear still has enough grunt to escape hazards, or push you past that slow-moving car on a duel-carriageway or motorway.

Audi has made much of the retractable spoiler. The previous model was unstable at the rear at high speeds, and necessitated a spoiler being attached to the rear. The spoiler broke the smooth lines of the car. So with the new design, the spoiler has been incorporated into the design from the start. The retractable spoiler means that at slow speeds, or while the vehicle is parked, its smooth appearance is maintained. While at higher speeds, the rear-end stability is assured. The spoiler is programmed to deploy at 74mph, which on UK roads means that it can never legally be extended automatically… However, the spoiler can be extended manually by a switch behind the gearstick. Depolying the spoiler has no real effect at the slower speeds, and I believe it will only automatically extend after a period of driving at higher speeds. I did accelerate to 80mph at one stretch (naughty…) but it did not extend immediately, and I slowed down as I approached traffic shortly after hitting 80. However, again, the engine was still pretty quiet.

The manual gearbox is extremely good – the gear changes feeling natural, even with large block-changes such as 6th to 3rd. Despite the bite being a little higher than I liked, it is not so high that you don’t get used to it after an hour.

The interior is smart, very reminiscent of its predecessor – however, instead of the small circles being replicated from the fuel cap to the interior air vents, the new design draws from the rectangular exterior openings for the foglamps, and the bottom of the front grille. The same design is present on the top of the gearstick. The dials are pretty much unchanged, still red displays, and a nice TT logo on the Tachometer. Onboard trip computer is pretty much as you’d expect: average speed, current & average fuel consumption, time spent driving, range…

The cabin is larger than the original TT, with a slightly larger boot space, but still not as large as the 350Z. You could fit one large suitcase in there, but a golf bag would only be possible if the rear seats are dropped. The rear bench is split, however, making it more practical than my current vehicle.

The biggest disappointment was the sound system. This particular model was fitted with the BOSE sound system (an optional extra, at over an extra £1000). Given the BOSE name, and the extra expense, the bass response was very poor. Even the salesman agreed that it was not worth the extra expense. Also, the radio cover hasn’t made the transition to the new model. I liked the old one, a smart brushed metal cover emblazoned with TT that covered the radio when not in use.

Overall, a great car, and a worthy successor to the original. Would I order one? certainally… although I’m still going to hold out for the roadster, which is to be released in the UK in March (ordering available from December).

Pics below: I didn’t have much time, as I wanted to be driving for as long as possible, and with the low winter sun, the shots are a little overexposed. Click on the thumbnails for larger images.

Button has been one of the most hyped up drivers in the last few years, and having made his debut in one of the top Formula One teams, many thought he would never live up to his promise. His contract dealings have always been controversial, after he was shunted from the Williams team to the less competitive B.A.R. and then when the B.A.R. started to show improvements (and Williams slid backwards) Button pays his way out of a contractual option to return to Williams, and then trying to get away from B.A.R./Honda to go back to a suddenly resurgent Williams team. Button is a driver who clearly wanted to be in the best car of the moment, not unlike MotoGP superstar Valentino Rossi, who tends to sign one-year deals in order to move to the most competitive team.

However, unlike Rossi, Button has never had the success to be able to throw his weight around (Unlike Micheal Schumacher could do).

Button’s win has been a long time coming (only Jarno Trulli and Rubens Barichello have driven more races before their maiden win), but it is well deserved. Hopefully this is the start of things to come, and we see a lot more from the Englishman. The car isn’t the best in the field, so I don’t think we’ll see a replay of Damon Hill, who won 3 in a row following his first win, but with any luck, the Honda will improve to the point where it is regularly challenging for wins.

Well Done JB.