2015 F1 Grand Prix of Austria — Qualifying results

Both Mercedes spin on final Quali lap but it’s Hamilton’s lucky Pole while Rosberg blows it for P2; Vettel another P3 for Ferrari

When Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton spun his Silver Arrow at the beginning of his final Quali lap in Turn 1 of the Red Bull Ring, he must have thought he’d thrown the Pole away. His archrival Nico Rosberg was ahead of him on a blistering lap unaffected by the local yellow flag that Hamilton’s off generated. But coming into the last corner looking like he would snatch the top spot away from his English teammate Rosberg had a spin of his own, spoiling his chance to start from P1 and ceding the Pole back to Hamilton. Hamilton does seem to struggle on the short, twisty, up and down Austrian circuit while Rosberg seems quite comfortable. But if history is any guide Hamilton rarely relinquishes the lead when he starts from the front. So again it could be that Rosberg has in essence lost the Grand Prix on Saturday, as the mentally fragile German seems to have a hard time winning from behind when the lights go out on Sunday.

Pics courtesy of GrandPrix247.com

Ferrari had bewilderingly mixed results, with Sebastian Vettel running behind the high-powered Mercedes duo and fast enough for P3 but Kimi Raikkonen strangely in the pits on a rapidly drying track as time ran out in Q1, thereby getting bounced out in the first round. The Finnish veteran’s status and uncertain future with the Prancing Horse for next year was definitely not helped by that perplexing turn of events. He’ll start a lowly P18 and have to fight through a host of backmarkers for any chance of points. Williams’ Felipe Massa, last year’s Austria Pole-sitter, was not quite as quick this Saturday and came home P4, with teammate Valtteri Bottas a decent P6. Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, the impressive German racer who last week was part of the winning driver lineup for the victorious Porsche prototype at the 24 hours of Le Mans, converted that extra confidence into an impressive P5 (by contrast, his teammate Sergio Perez could do no better than P16).

17-year-old rookie Max Verstappen took P7 for Toro Rosso, Daniil Kvyat was P8 for the senior Red Bull team, Felipe Nasr had his first really good Quali in weeks with a solid P9 and Lotus’ Romain Grosjean got the last top 10 spot on the grid, although he did not turn a lap in Q3.

Both McLarens will start from the rear of the field because not only did they not make it out of Q1 but they also face a raft of massive grid spot and time penalties for engine change infractions. Red Bull’s Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo have also burned through their engine component allotments early and they too will face grid penalties on Sunday.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Austrian GP:

POS.	NO.	DRIVER	TEAM	Q1	Q2	Q3	LAPS
1	44	LEWIS HAMILTON	MERCEDES	1:12.218	1:09.062	1:08.455	30
2	6	NICO ROSBERG	MERCEDES	1:10.976	1:08.634	1:08.655	31
3	5	SEBASTIAN VETTEL	FERRARI	1:11.184	1:09.392	1:08.810	21
4	19	FELIPE MASSA	WILLIAMS	1:11.830	1:09.719	1:09.192	27
5	27	NICO HULKENBERG	FORCE INDIA	1:11.319	1:09.604	1:09.278	22
6	77	VALTTERI BOTTAS	WILLIAMS	1:11.894	1:09.598	1:09.319	26
7	33	MAX VERSTAPPEN	TORO ROSSO	1:11.307	1:09.631	1:09.612	28
8	26	DANIIL KVYAT	RED BULL	1:12.092	1:10.187	1:09.694	32
9	12	FELIPE NASR	SAUBER	1:12.001	1:09.652	1:09.713	29
10	8	ROMAIN GROSJEAN	LOTUS	1:11.821	1:09.920		22

Complete Qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s Austrian Grand Prix airs live on NBC Sports at 8AM Eastern. With so many nominally fast cars starting from the rear of the field the action from the Red Bull Ring should be fast and frantic. The battle for dominance between Mercedes teammates at the front could well be equally hectic. Hope to see you then.

Gorgeous Lady of the Week — Alexandra Daddario

To make the obvious point, Alexandra Daddario has looks and a body that can stop traffic. But she also has the acting chops that make her more than just another pretty face. The 29-year-old native New Yorker began as a teen actress in soaps but she quickly graduated to feature work with a starring role in the Chris Columbus-directed big budget fantasy series, Percy Jackson & the Olympians. She played the hero’s love interest, an earthbound demi-goddess, which is some pretty good casting — with her huge blue eyes, dark brown hair and curves galore, Alexandra is definitely blessed with other worldly beauty.

But Alexandra really broke through with her brave and sexy work on the first season of HBO’s mega-dark miniseries, True Detective, scorching the screen in her love scenes with Woody Harrelson. Fearless, strong, yet also vulnerable, her nuanced performance as Lisa Tragnetti, a young woman in love with an older married cop, put her solidly on Holywood’s A-list.

So it was no surprise to see Ms. Daddario cast as Dwayne Johnson’s daughter in this year’s big budget 3D disaster epic, San Andreas. And you can look for her career to continue to ascend with leads in the upcoming William H. Macy-helmed comedy, The Layover, alongside the equally statuesque Kate Upton; and the latest Nicolas “The Notebook” Sparks’ film adaptation, The Choice, slated for 2016 release.

Alexandra Daddario in Cosmopolitan, 2014

Alexandra Daddario gracing the pages of Cosmopolitan in 2013

Talented, beautiful and self-possessed, it will be interesting to see whether she can succeed in comedy. But Alexandra is surely a natural for a classic Hollywood romance. After all, when she shoots those baby blues your way what choice do you really have?

What we’re listening to — Tree By The River by Iron & Wine

Iron & Wine is such good band with so many fine songs that they definitely deserve a good, comprehensive post when time permits. In the meantime, here’s one of my favorite tracks of theirs, “Tree By The River” off of 2011’s Kiss Each Other Clean

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcZ0kAEbxsU

Kiss Each Other Clean featured a much more heavily produced sound than the stripped down acoustic vibe of their previous albums. I really liked that more pop-y feel and “Tree By The River” has all sorts of 70s singer-songwriter influences and hooks while being saved from being maudlin or trite by the penetrating honesty of the lyrics.

But for those purists who insist that their I&W be consistently bare bones here’s a take with bearded mastermind Samuel Beam solo on guitar that could have come off of any of the early 2000s albums.

A bittersweet beauty anyway you play it. And best of all the entire album is a free stream with an Amazon Prime membership. Life is good.

More I&W to come…

Race alert — The 24 Hours of Le Mans is live now

This year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, the grandaddy of endurance motor racing, is underway at the Circuit de la Sarthe in the Pays de la Loire region of France. You can catch literally all of the action live on the Fox Sports GO site or through their app by logging in with your cable provider ID and password. The complete broadcast schedule is below:

– FOX Sports GO (Saturday, June 13 at 8:30 a.m. to Sunday, June 14 at 9:30 a.m.)
– Saturday, June 13 (8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., FOX Sports 2)
– Saturday, June 13 (7 p.m. to 8 p.m., FOX Sports 1)
– Saturday, June 13 (11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., FOX Sports 2)
– Sunday, June 14 (3:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., FOX Sports 1)
– Sunday, June 14 (7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., FOX Sports 2)
– Sunday, June 14 (9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., FOX Sports 1)

Can Porsche put an end to Audi’s remarkable run of dominance in P1? How will Nissan’s Nismo fare in its debut race? And of course it’s time to find out who’s the top dog in GT: Corvette, Ferrari, Astin Martin or Porsche. Watch the whole thing live or tune in at your convenience — you’re bound to see something dramatic, unexpected and likely hair raising. After all, it’s Le Mans.

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Results & aftermath

Hamilton regains momentum in Canada with decisive win, Rosberg a non-threatening 2nd; Williams’ Bottas breaks through for P3

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

After a gut-wrenching defeat in Monaco, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton righted the ship at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal on Sunday with a wire-to-wire victory. Having earned an emphatic pole it seemed nothing was going to stop the reigning World Champion from holding off his charging rival and teammate Nico Rosberg. Come race day, nothing did. Rosberg was never able to mount a real threat and in the end both Silver Arrows sailed to a seemingly comfortable 1-2 finish with the rest of the field well behind. Hamilton’s win reestablished his dominance in the Mercedes team and built his points lead back up to 17 after Rosberg’s lucky 2-race victory streak. It was a much needed return to form that demonstrated not only Hamilton’s peerless skill as a racing driver but also his mental toughness in the face of adversity after the bizarre own-goal in Monaco.

For team Mercedes as whole, Sunday’s GP represented an ominous return to their untouchable speed and metronomic precision as a unit, particularly when compared with Ferrari’s stumbles this past weekend. After starting 3rd with an outside shot at victory, Kimi Raikkonen threw away a probable podium for the Prancing Horse with an unforced spin in the hairpin after his first stop for tires. That enabled his fellow Finn, the excellent Valtteri Bottas, to snatch 3rd and hold off Raikkonen for the position until the end of the race, earning team Williams its first podium of the season. On the other side of the Ferrari garage, Sebastian Vettel started from 18th on the grid with a poor Quali due to mechanical issues and a self-inflicted 5-spot grid penalty for passing under the red flag in rainy practice. But Vettel had a storming drive, slicing his way through the field to finish a remarkable 5th. His outstanding 2015 Montreal effort should be played as Exhibit A whenever someone whinges about how you can’t pass in Formula 1. Exhibit B could be Bottas’ Williams teammate Felipe Massa. Massa also started way back in the pack in 15th after technical problems in Quali. Yet the veteran Brazilian managed to fight his way up to 6th with another gutsy, aggressive effort from a savvy pro. So if the battle for the win seemed like a fait accompli, the fight for points behind the 1-2 slots was a wild ride all race long. Continue reading →

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Qualifying results

Hamilton regains mojo after Monaco disaster, claims Pole in Canada; Rosberg just behind in P2 and Raikonnen flies flag for Ferrari in 3rd

The boys were back at it in Quebec for Qualifying two weeks after the bizarre and memorable Monaco Grand Prix. With heavy rain washing out a lot of Friday practice time, there wasn’t much dry prep for the drivers to show their true speed until this very sunny Saturday in Montreal. But if there were any doubts about Lewis Hamilton’s state of mind after the incredibly disappointing end to his dreams of victory in Monte Carlo the Englishman appeared to lay them to rest with the fastest lap in Q3, claiming Pole for Sunday’s race. It was the 44th of his career, perfectly matching the number on his Mercedes Silver Arrow. Putting behind him the inexplicable decision to pit late for fresh tires in Monaco that essentially handed his teammate Nico Rosberg the victory, the reigning World Champion has so far been the class of the field in Canada. And as fired up as he his to taste victory and wash away the last race’s bitter taste he should be very hard to beat come race day. Hamilton’s renewed dominance left Rosberg the one grumbling about tire strategy, as he questioned the Mercedes pit wall’s solutions for finding more grip in the Super Soft tires in the dying moments of Q3. In truth, he wound up only a little more than .3 behind Hamilton. But if he doesn’t manage to get by his nemesis early on Sunday Rosberg knows that his lucky two-race victory streak could be over.

With Sebastian Vettel’s qualifying coming to a stunning end in Q1 due to power-sapping electrical gremlins, it was left to Kimi Raikonnen to fly the flag for Ferrari. The Finn responded with his best effort of the year and grabbed P3, only .3 behind Rosberg, where he should be able to fight for a podium or pick up something even better if the Mercedes’ duo take each other out. His position for good points certainly looks more favorable than teammate Vettel’s, who will have to battle his way to the front from way back in 16th on the grid. Williams’ Valtteri Bottas rebounded from his dreadful weekend in Monaco to take P4 and the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve looks well suited to the FW37’s pure speed. However, Bottas’ teammate Felipe Massa did not get the chance to make use of that advantage, as he too was bounced in Q1 with power plant woes.

Team Lotus looks to be making genuine strides after six race weekends with Romain Grojean and Pastor Maldonado P5 and P6 respectively. Now it remains to be seen if they can get a break from the woeful luck that has plagued them in 2015 and actually finish both cars in the points. Continue reading →

What we’re drinking this Spring/Summer — Davidson Brothers IPA

For the warmer months, we’re stocking the fridge with Davidson Brothers IPA. Brewed in Glens Falls, New York north of Saratoga Springs, this IPA drinks more like a straight up Pale Ale, with an emphasis on citrus notes rather than skunky hops. That makes it perfect for a hot day where you want refreshment and not heaviness on the palate. With a 5.9% ABV it’s certainly not a light beer by any means but it also won’t leave you with a hops hangover the next morning. Goes down smooth and refreshing with a full but not cloying flavor and a clean finish, Davidson Brothers IPA is a winner in warmer weather and it’s good to see another local New York State brewery turning out such outstanding, hand-crafted beer.

Davidson Brothers Brewing Company is located at 184 Glen Street in lovely Glens Falls, NY right near the winding Hudson River. Take a tour, have a tasting of not just the IPA but also an Irish Red, a Brown and a Scotch Ale, as well as some specialty brews, and enjoy some fine food & music while you’re sipping. Not a bad way to while away a Saturday if you’re up that way. Not bad at all.

Classic Movie Watch — The Seven-Ups (1973)

If there is a Big 3 of classic car chase movies, it would have to be Bullitt, The French Connection and The Seven-Ups. In 1968, Bullitt ignited the car chase craze that would come to dominate 1970s cop movies and especially TV series. In 1971, The French Connection turned it into art with its ur-cinematic thrill ride beneath and between the elevated trains of New York City. And the vastly underrated The Seven-Ups, made in 1973, essentially elevated the car chase to the level of deus ex machina perfection. One could argue that from that point onwards that pinnacle has been repeatedly attempted but only succeeded in becoming ever more over the top, digitally enhanced and clichéd (although the fantastic against-traffic-in-the-Paris-tunnels sequence in John Frankenheimer’s Ronin does come pretty close to that level of old-fashioned awesome again).

The connection between these three all-time crime classics is their producer, Philip D’Antoni, the somewhat unknown force behind what came to be an action movie staple. For The Seven-Ups D’Antoni also took the director’s helm for the first time and used what he learned on his previous two smash hits to engineer the biggest, baddest car chase of them all. Check it out and see if you don’t agree.

But The Seven-Ups is more than that white-knuckler through Manhattan and across the Hudson to Jersey (and also, if you’re watching closely and out of continuity, up the Taconic into Westchester). It’s also a gritty police procedural with an outstanding cast led by the late, great Roy Scheider as lead cop Buddy Manucci, working again for D’Antoni after his excellent turn as Popeye Doyle’s partner in Connection. As time goes by, one sees how fantastic an actor Scheider was: funny, wry, intense, the bantamweight champion of no nonsense naturalistic tough guy performances. Is it any wonder that he’s in so many key 1970s films? While the fellow cops on his special semi-autonomous squad, tasked to pursue felony crimes with sentences of seven years and up, are not quite as memorable, they form a decent ensemble. In the end, it’s really the shadier characters who counterbalance Scheider’s intense, driven cop.

Tony Lo Bianco also returns to the D’Antoni fold from his breakout performance in French Connection, this time playing Buddy’s boyhood friend Vito Lucia, a funeral home director who provides Manucci with inside dope on the mob. Continue reading →

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — May selection, Pt. IV

Just when I though I couldn’t sneak one more watch into the month of May I get something that demands to be seen immediately. And for a change of pace it’s not another big ol’ sport diver either. Instead, it’s a classic Rolex Air-King with a special twist — a very rare “Winn-Dixie 10 Yrs Safe Driver” double name dial. This presentation watch from the great American supermarket chain dates to the early 1980s and the handsome Winn-Dixie logoed silver sunburst dial makes it a great addition to any co-branded Rolex collection and about as cool as an Air-King gets.

Whether you’re looking for something a bit more than a run of the mill AK or a way to get into double name Rolex dials at the entry level, this Winn-Dixie Air King has got the funk and the flair on the wrist to turn heads and start a conversation. And isn’t that a big part of what we want in a watch, really?

Check out the full ad including complete description and many more pictures plus a special price over at Vintage Rolex Forum’s Market section. SOLD

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Results & aftermath

Hamilton sees certain win snatched away by team error, Rosberg seizes opportunity for victory in Monte Carlo; Vettel an opportunistic 2nd

Pics via GrandPrix247.com

In one of the most bizarre endings to a Grand Prix that you will ever see, Lewis Hamilton was denied certain victory on the streets of Monaco when his Mercedes team inexplicably decided to pit for fresh tires under a Virtual Safety Car late in the race. That was brought about by 17-year-old Toro Rosso rookie Max Verstappen’s rash attempt to pass Romain Grosjean with 15 laps to go and the Dutch teenager’s subsequent spectacular shunt into the safety barrier at Sainte Devote. But the F1 stewards quickly switched to an actual Safety Car due to the extent of the damage and the time needed for repairs. That left Hamilton stuck in the pits as his second place teammate Nico Rosberg steamed around on track to obliterate his once-formidable 21-second lead. By the time Hamilton rejoined the race he was behind not only Rosberg but also the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. Despite his fresh super soft tires, passing in Monaco is about as easy as leaving the Casino with all of your money and Hamilton could never find a way by Vettel much less Rosberg. In one moment of major miscalculation, Hamilton not only saw the opportunity for his first-ever Monaco win vanish but also his Championship lead dwindle to a mere 10 points. After the race the normally volatile Englishman was admirably restrained in his public statements regarding the costly miscue but it was clear from his stunned face that he was gutted.

Rosberg for his part realized he had lucked into the win and while he seemed happy for the victory you could tell by his sheepish demeanor that it was not quite the way he wanted his very impressive third consecutive Monaco GP victory and second race win in a row to go down. Vettel, on the other hand, was overjoyed at his rival team’s blunder and was more than happy for Ferrari’s gift wrapped P2. As down as Hamilton was, Vettel was practically giddy.

Lost in all that chaos was team Red Bull’s best performance of the year. On the legendary street circuit where straight line speed is never the deciding factor, their down-on-power Renault engines wound up being very competitive, with an impressive career-best P4 for young Russian Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo driving a spirited and aggressive race to finish P5. Vettel’s Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonnen complained about slower cars impeding him all race long and had to settle for P6, while Force India’s Sergio Perez was more than happy to take 7th place for his best finish of the 2015 season and much-needed points for the team. Jenson Button scored McLaren’s first points of the year with a savvy veteran drive for P8 after teammate Fernando Alonso was forced to retire on Lap 42 with gearbox troubles. Again, the relatively week Honda engines of McLaren saw their disadvantage neutralized on the slow and twisty Monaco circuit but it was still a big boost for the desperate McLaren team. The final points were taken by a storming drive from Sauber’s rookie Felipe Nasr to come home P9 after starting from 14th on the grid and Toro Rosso’s other rookie Carlos Sainz who grabbed 10th with grit and persistence after starting from the pits due to a Qualifying day weighbridge infraction.

Williams had a disastrous weekend and finished out of the points, with Valtteri Bottas at P14 and Felipe Massa P15. The slow, twisty circuit at Monaco definitively proved that what ails Williams this year is not power, which they have in abundance, but downforce, which they sorely lack in relation to their rivals at Ferrari and Red Bull. If they don’t get that rectified it could be a very long second half of the season for last year’s comeback kids.

Top 10 finishers for the Monaco Grand Prix:

POS.	DRIVER	COUNTRY	TEAM	TIME	POINTS
1	NICO ROSBERG	GER	MERCEDES	1:49:18.420	25
2	SEBASTIAN VETTEL	GER	FERRARI	4.486	18
3	LEWIS HAMILTON	GBR	MERCEDES	6.053	15
4	DANIIL KVYAT	RUS	RED BULL	11.965	12
5	DANIEL RICCIARDO	AUS	RED BULL	13.608	10
6	KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN	FIN	FERRARI	14.345	8
7	SERGIO PEREZ	MEX	FORCE INDIA	15.013	6
8	JENSON BUTTON	GBR	MCLAREN	16.063	4
9	FELIPE NASR	BRA	SAUBER	23.626	2
10	CARLOS SAINZ	ESP	TORO ROSSO	25.056	1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next F1 race is in two weeks at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. We’ll see how Lewis Hamilton rebounds from Sunday’s stunning disappointment in Monte Carlo. My money is on the combative Englishman to come out swinging in Canada in an effort regain his once-unstoppable momentum. Hope to see you then when we find out what dramatic turns the championship saga takes next!

Man's Fine Life

The Return of the Well-Rounded Gentleman