Moog valves, trams and Mark Webber

Be careful with the moog valve in the your life. It might get confused by a passing tram...

PS As a trumpet player and fan of Miles Davis(if you haven't heard Kind of Blue or Milestones, then an exciting aural experience awaits), I was stunned to see the great man has made the blog. I wasn't expecting that. So thanks to Michael Grinks(comment on this Kimi post) for that...I saw Davis in London at the Hammersmith Odeon, not long before he died. Indeed, a little like the Kimster, he turned his back on the audience while playing some, more or less, incomprehensible stuff (which he did in later life). But by then the anger and fury of earlier years had left him and no one held it against him (see Miles Davis in classic Seventies action here). It's an intriguing thought: "Kimi Raikkonen, the Miles Davis of Formula One." By the way if you like trumpet music but classical is more your style, then try the incomparable Maurice Andre, the "Ayrton Senna" of the horn!

Here's Michael's original comment:

"It reminds of the legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. Davis became known early in his career for "turning his back on the audience", that is, an attitude of almost hostile indifference towards his audience. Some of this came from that generation of African-American's rebellion against the "uncle tom" antics of their predecessors. and was just post war "beat" hostility towards the middle class norms of the day. By many accounts, a lot of it had to do with his own natural shyness: attitude as armor against his own discomfort in the spotlight. Whatever the case, he made it work for him. It became a persona, a stage character, and it was what attracted a lot of people to him.

That works well enough in the arts but I'm not sure the same is true in F1. KR may feel that it is enough that he risks his life every couple of weeks for the entertainment of the fans and that he owes them nothing more. That the money he earns is because of what he can do in a racing car (when he puts his mind to it) and he doesn't require being personable as well. And maybe he is a bit shy, too. But at least he isn't hiding who he is.

In truth, I sympathize with him, But I'm afraid that in highly public life the modern professional sports icon he is always going to be harshly judged for just being himself."

Comments

[Gary M]

Same old Ed, always blowing his own trumpet.*

Whatever happened to the F1 band? Does it still go on or now that the players involved have moved on has it been disbanded? Maybe you could resurrect it?

*Actually, that could be take on a whole different context in the wrong hands so to speak. I assure you I meant it in the traditional sense of the phrase.

[Carleton Twitchell]

This has gotta be your most surreal F1 blog yet...almost topping my fave "Gardener of Midnight Castle " yarn by one of the Surrealists (Arp?)...as for Miles ...come on you statisticos...how many F1 Miles for each driver ...bet DC and Rubens up there ...a challenging but not impossible task ...a bit like finding F1s Golden Fleece
Now ,please someone explain to me what are Moog valves and how could they confuse a Tram ? Which only goes to show that even at my age there's always something new to learn..
OK so how will Santander buying up the B&B affext F1? Nada..you say? Well we shall see ..will Prodrive be sponsored by the Post Office? or Lego?Will Ferrari get dosh from the Vatican? Will McLaren court the Prince of Brunei ? OK so why dont we put our $$$ where our gobs are and take shares in a team ...a kind of Cooperative Kibbutz Commune of F1.Say 100 quid minimum..?Or splash on a set of tyres?What is the going rate for a carbon fibre F1 mirror? Ok so how about the teams having an Ebay 'paddock' sal;e ... unwanted light items ...? Could be a winner ..esp no tax too:)
I think Kimi is like that cos he's such a cool personality ..in fact hes typically Finnish..comes from fighting Stalin in WW2 ..a little known fact unless youre working in the wood pulp mills of Kemijarvi or youve driven a Studebaker V8 from Leningrad to the NordKap behind a 2CV on a diet of tinned reindeer balls and lived to tell the Tale.
So lets not digress to much from the surreal shall we ? or even Brain Storm a twee ...now is JS still eating that Coarse Oats crap ?The bag still travels in his Louis Vuitton? Yes ? ..so the Tartan Knight is still on track to get his Buckingham Palace letter at 100! Me too...here's to all those ole boogers ! Salut! Nasdrovia as they say in Inghushittier!Consternoon Afterble ! Aftercant Noonstble!
Like the Sarge used to say in HSBlues "Lets be careful out there!'...meaning when East of Delhi only eat out of authentic tins of Baxters Soups ,personal bags of coarse oatmeal and never let rip from your Moog Valve when clossing the street in front of a Fuji Tram (Berniesm for Apple Jam..?).
Never did rate Miles Davis ..now John Abercrombie on sax yes , Eberhard Weber on electric bass yes , Pat Metheny on guitar yes, Lyle Mays on his Moog Synth yes..
If music be the food of love play on ..OK so who is the Malvolio of F1 ?Your starter for ten ...euros not quid,sushi not squid...Intense,10-4,
Lets hope they put Hero Fossett to rest ..his Spirit now an Eagle over Half Dome....................

[A Parker]

Impressed with your taste Ed. Miles was a genius. Not sure about Kimi though.

[javiervivaespania]

Althouh I much prefer playing the bomgoes with both hands, I am aware some people prefer the trumpet. Did Ayrton like the horning sound? That's Ed's latest revelation.

Stradivarius is definitively our Champion's instrument. How about Hamilton? I bet he likes a whole orchestra playing for him.

[McCheets]

Would 'the Lou Reed of F1' be a more fitting description for Kimi? The sounds of the Velvet Underground certainly bear closer semblance to an F1 V8.

[Mr Gómez]

Nice to know you're a trumpet player, Ed (me too, or better to say that I was in the past). Btw, I appreciated a lot your comments on Nelson and Massa. Great point of view, once again.

[IDR]

So… I was right! Ed Gorman and the Fleet Street Boys Band!

I personally like more strings than wind. (And Ed’s neighbourhood would probably also, btw) My favourites are Andy Meola, Michel Camilo and Tomatito who is an amazing flamenco guitar player.

It’s curious how well combine jazz with flamenco. In fact Tomatito has two CD’s with Michel Camilo. La Vacilona and Soleá Blues are extraordinary songs, as all songs of Friday night in San Francisco, played by three guitar monsters Al di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía.

@CARLETON TWITCHELL

I'll give the number of racing miles Rubens Barrichelo and David Coulthard will have made at the end of this season. Let me just some few weeks, and I'll come back with the figure.

[Bradley]

Speaking of amazing F1 audio, it's not quite in the Miles Davis league but it is very funny...

Have you heard The Grand Prix of Gibraltar, Ed?

I think you'd find some amusing parallels to modern day F1...

[Carleton Twitchell]

@IDR...Thanks ..your'e a gent!
One more piece of trivia before I grab a Blue Moon ..."ODEON" ...stands for 'Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation'.Anyone know what "AVION" (@Aldridge,Staffs) stands for ?Cheers Ed et all.:)

[Kormak]

http://www.auto123.com/en/racing-news/formula-1/f1-lewis-hamilton-criticized-in-germany?artid=101780

Come onb Ed, talk about the cool guy.

They are talking a lot in Germany about a megalomaniac guy who won nothing......

"I know that I am as good as Ayrton Senna was," the 23-year-old is quoted as saying. LOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!

[Name]

I don't know Miles Davis and I don't have a particular affinity to jazz. But I did read the comment by Michael Grinks (which were very good btw) and I thought the description and the parallels he drawn upon where very apt where Kimi was concerned.

I often get the idea that Kimi is just misunderstood.

[David Hope]

Ed, are you nuts? Every blog now has some criticism of Kimi. This is a guy who was faster than Schumacher and Alonso when competing with them who has been blistering in races this year with 10 quickest laps. Yeah he's made mistakes in qualifying not helped by the stupid fuel thing that means his preference to start with heavier fuel leaves him stuck behind joker cars. There is also the ferrari in rain and bad luck. The man's as fast as ever and as determined. Plus I'd much rather he was not always waving to the crowd, jumping around on the podium and always trying to get attention. Lets see what happens with the new cars next year, easier to set up and easier to overtake with....

[Tom Cawley]

Wow! Jazz and F1! I've been striving to link the two all of my life...

Miles and Kimi? It's pretty good, I reckon. They both produced beautiful art on their day, and both were (are) inscrutable and reclusive. I think Miles was perhaps a bit more of out-and-out than Kimi though, and there's one thing for sure - when Kimi comes to write his autobiography he's going to have to dig quite deep to come up with something as rollicking as Miles's. If you haven't read it yet, correct this immediately.

[brabazon]

If Kimi is the Miles Davis of F1 then this season must be his 'Bitches Brew' period... ;)

[Michael Grinks]

Although there are many similarities between the physical aspects of sport and the craft of making music, in the end art and sport are two different things. i don't think there is any direct connection between jazz and F1. But I do see some parallels in the current state of each.

What you said about the "anger and fury" of the young Miles is a good point. That passion of his is what made his music so strong and why people are drawn to it. A lot of the younger generation of jazz trumpet players have borrowed a lot of his sound and style but it never quite works. The music isn't in the notes or the mannerisms. It's in the passion. Without that it becomes meaningless. This kind of copycat mentality is prevalent in jazz. Universities are cranking out young players with fabulous technique and an knowledge of the idiom, but they just are rehashing the same old stuff minus the soul. So the music remains stagnant and often boring. ( Not all of it is this way, of course. There are many fine young players out there. But there is, sadly, a lot of this other going on.)

When a driver of Hamilton's potential, a real racer, admits he hates just driving for points but sees the logic in it, I have to wonder: has F1 become stagnant and passionless? Is it just a high tech caricature of racing?

Now, I know that there is lot that goes into winning a modern F1 championship; you need lots of cash, engineers, wind tunnels, etc. to be competitive. You also need need rules and someone to enforce them. But lately it seems as if all the high tech and rules are a bit counter productive. For Hamilton to be unable to overtake an obviously slower car then be rewarded for sitting contentedly in 3rd place while at the same time losing a win at Spa after a brilliant drive for a rules infraction caused by an incident that he was arguably forced into makes no sense. Singapore looked and sounded like a race, but was it really?

I know some changes are in store next year regarding overtaking. Hopefully the rules and their enforcement will be upgraded, too. (Max notwithstanding.) It's time to give F1 back it's passion.

By the way, Ed, I liked your Senna/Maurice Andre analogy. I was originally trained as a classical trumpet player and am very familiar with his work. Jazz was always my real passion, though.

[wil blaise algar]

Ed, being a trumpet player also' and having been at that hammersmith odeon gig, i can assure you that miles was neither turning his back on the audience nor was he playing 'some inaccesable stuff'. The period you refer to,when miles turned his back on the audience was way back in the early 70's. As for inaccessable music, between 'in a silent way(1969) and his retirement in 1975, i think you'll find most of the stuff described as 'inaccesable', although i think a better and more accurate description would be'demanding'. By the time he played hammersmith in 1989, the criticisms levelled at him since his comeback from retirement were consistently of the sort as 'too comercial' and 'a sell out'. neither i think is the case: he stretched himself remarkably through a range of changing styles reflecting the times he was in- the 80's, and although being only two years from death at hammersmith, he played without a trace of weakness, and blew in a way that defied the fact that he was well into his sixties. As for Kimi, he also clearly has talent to burn,well deserved his world championship, and will continue to press Hamilton to the wire in future Grand Prix. Now if only Lewis can nail that victory...

[Roger Carr]

A special plea, Edward: would you give us a space after a word before you use a bracket?
e.g. "...fan of Miles Davis(if you haven't heard..."
This format (error?) has been irritating my eye ever since I began reading your cool column.

Ed writes: This is a lot to ask(I'm not sure). I will have a think (and see what I can do)...

[IDR]

A LONG WAY HOME

CARLETON TWITCHEL has asked how many miles Rubens and David Coulthard should have driven in their long career as F1 drivers.

Good point indeed, the eldest drivers of the current grid, with a lot of … many things, but how many miles (or Kilometres)?

When one see stats about drivers, they give you Number of races, Wins, Fastest laps, poles, podiums… but, at the end, those guys are driving on a track making laps with an specific length per lap, so… why not calculate how many kilometres they have been driving in F1’s races?

First of all, give the exact number of kilometres is nearly impossible. There are many factors not allowing you to make it. But from the moment one can take the number of laps each driver did in each GP, adjusting those in which he was overlapped when he was able to complete the race, and as the track length is available for each year… that’s pretty accurate!

I have made all calculations from 1993 to Singapore 2008 for Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard. You can see the results in a table available through this link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/idrs/2914524554/

Lets go with Rubens, the senior one. In fact, he started racing in Kyalamai; he is the only active driver who has been competing in the South Africa Grand Prix!.

Rubens Barrichello started in F1 in 1993 with Jordan. He has completed 265 races, 13.350 Laps for a total of 63.891 Kilometres, representing a 78,7% of the 81.186 kilometres he could has raced if he could has been able to finish all races!

Rubens, has had to drive more than 7.000 Kilometres to take each of the 9 wins he has achieved up to Singapore Gran Prix!

He has suffered 14 Accidents, 13 Collisions and 59 DNFs during the 16 seasons he is driving. In fact, he has had an incident each 726 Kilometres he drove.

He drove for Jordan from 1993 to 1996, for Stewart from 1997 to 1999, for Ferrari from 2000 to 2005 and for Honda from 2006 to date.

His worst season was 1997, the first season with Stewart. He suffered 13 DNF and 1 accident in a total of 17 races!

His best period was with Ferrari, completing more than 27.400 Kms and finishing in the 82% of the total races. During this period he had an average position of 4th and taking 412 of his points (77,7% of the total points of his career)

David Coulthard has been racing from 1994. His first Grand Prix was in Spain, for Williams Renault. This season, he drove just half of the season. Brazil, Pacific, San Marino, Monaco, France, Europe (Jerez), Japan and Australia were driven by Nigel Mansel.

He has made during the 15 seasons he is competing in F1, 243 races, 16.693 Laps and 59.457 Kms.

He has had 13 wins, 62 podiums and 535 points, and suffered 44 DNFs, 16 accidents, 14 collisions. He has been able to finish 168 races (69% of the total).

He drove for Williams in 1994 & 1995, for McLaren from 1996 to 2004 and from 2005 to date he has driven for Red Bull using engines from Cosworth (2005), Ferrari (2006) and from Renault (2007 & 2008)

He has been quite more succesful than Rubens, from the moment he has had to drive “only” 4.574 Kilometres for taking each of his 13 wins.

His longest period was with McLaren. He made 37.062 Kilometres for them, completing 105 races of the 150 he drove for McLaren, finishing with an average position of 4,5th.

Impressive figures! Both drivers have made 508 GP and drove more than 123.000 Kilometres. If you take Kimi, Felipe, Lewis and Kubica all together they are not even close to those figures. The new “baby boys” fighting for this year title!

They never won a Championship, but for sure they LOVE what they do.

A long way home for David; he will retire from the competition in 3 races. Rubens maybe not, who knows, but it’s time to let others start their career…

After doing this, if Ed will ask us again who we like to share a pint with, I will like to seat down with David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello to talk about his remembers, anecdotes, old circuits and cars…

Well Carleton, I’m sorry; the post is so long and not very well written, but you asked…

[McCheets]

IDR

It was Senna who drove in the Brazilian, Pacific and San Marino GPs in 1994, not Mansell.

Coulthard was unfortunate not to have won a couple of races that year (Belgium and Italy) and his performances, in my opinion, led many to over-rate him later in his career.

[IDR]

Mccheets,

Thank you for point out that.

In fact, San Marino was the last GP for Ayrton Senna. He drove 3 races for Williams and he was not able to finish any of those three; but he took the pole position in all of them.

In Monaco, there was only One williams on the starting Grid (Damon Hill) so Mansell din't drive that one also.

[Kit Angel]

Miles and F1? Too cool and "niche", Ed,I suspect, although I confess to speculation as I these days Idon't devour the driver and manager profiles in the F1 mags and rags.

What little I have read suggests that a large proportion of the driven personalities at the pinnacle of our sport today may have disappointingly MOR musical and artistic tastes. Of course, there will be exceptions... a look at the index in Briatore's music server might be enlightening, for example.

This is not a new characteristic, though. Even back in the cool 60s when the nation in general was listening to the Beatles, Tamla Motown, the Atlantic/Stax stuff and some even to John Peel on pirate stations and then Radio 1, the Formula 1 and big sportscar meetings at Brands were often rounded off by the dull trad plunking of Chris Barber or Acker Bilk. And that despite the radio being on in most team garages at home and Caroline sponsoring the odd meeting.
And it was amusing in later years that nobody in the racing world seemed to know who Steve O'Rourke or Nick Mason was for ages after they had started to take an interest and then participate in motor sport.
Back to links between Miles and F1. For myself, I fancy the dark, dark Miles of "Tutu" as the perfect soundtrack for the FIA goings-on over the last few months.

[Gordon]

A quick Google reveals that Moog are world leaders in the manufacture of electro-hydraulic servo valves. That is, the Moog valve(s)control hydraulic circuits according to the command of the car's computers to enable gear selection. From the descripion of Weber's problem it would seem to be more of a computer/cabling shielding issue than a Moog valve problem.
I have not yet uncovered any link between the peole who make the Moog valves and the inventor of the Moog synthesizer.

[Carleton Twitchell]

@IDR ..Thank you for that ...and I beg to differ ..it was written extremely well.
Reading the mileage figures made me think of how far that was in "global " terms ...ie was it one cicumnavigation og the Earth or more ..I seem to recall 24k miles is once round the Equator . But dont quote me on that...
And furthermore ( couldnt resist that pun) thats NOT including testing miles , wheelspin or private road miles .
So how do you think their carbon footprints are doing. Doesnt all boil down to tons of carbon dioxide ?
OK guys and gals ..heres a curveball for you ...so when will we see an all-electric F1 race ??:
a) Dont hold your breath
b) In our lifetimes
c) not in the budget
d) never

Lets hope the Champeenship gets decided at Fuji.No mistakes please Ron.Impeccable required. If it goes further it could any of the top 3 no? what if Massa /Hamilton push each other off and Kubica steps in to pick up the laurels ? ...not impossible especially if Beamer does some magic on their cars ..
Is Kimi out of contention or could still win if rivals all DNFs? Math not my strong suit ( Chester Barrie)
So if youre team mate crashes out and tells you beforehand when to pit is that illegal or outside the rules? ..Oh dont forget to use code or hand signals when passing the pits so the FIA doesnt hear there's a conspiracy going on ...
Thanks agin IDR ..a pint on me if youre ever in Maine! Cheers , CT

[McCheets]

IDR

Oh, I forgot about Monaco!

Great stuff from you nevertheless!

[Mrs Bishop]

@Carleton Twitchell

You were real close! its 24,000 miles! (40,000km's) i did think the same as you until my astro lecture yesterday!
So together both have been round the world 3 times, but like you said with testing and qualifying it could be way more, haha especially with road miles!

I don't think we'll see electric cars! but then again i'm not into saving the environment! i knew when i was 10 we should be poring all our money into nuclear power! So i don't see why my fave sport should worry bout it ;D
IDR's stats yet again very interesting! It must be quite an effort to bring them together, i know i'd struggle! thanks

YEAAAAH We have a race weekend!!!!

[mangstadt]

Ed, one of the greatest albums I've ever listened to lasts a mere 26 and a half minutes. It's the soundtrack for "Ascenseur pour l'Échaufaud" written and performed by Miles Davis in December 1957 for the film by Louis Malle.

My wife always complains when I listen to it but I just love it. As for Maurice André, I've only got one CD by him, another one by Wynton Marsalis and one with Hakan Hardenberger and the Academy of St.Martin-in-the-Fields under Sir Neville Marriner. And then there's the Sequenza X for Trumpet in C and piano resonance by Luciano Berio (performed by Gabrille Cassone on the set I have).

As far as Kimi is concerned, my younger daughter recently explained why they call him 'Iceman' ... because he always has his drinks with ice. Maybe "On the Rocks" would be a better nickname.

Before I go, one more recommendation: Charles Ives' "The Unanswered Question" for trumpet, flute quartet and strings.

[Carleton Twitchell]

@Mrs Bishop
Correction my dear!( I was spot on down to the last inch! Didnt get to where I am today without being spot on .24k=24000 miles (davis:).
Wonder if all the F1 drivers are squirrelling their dosh all over ..interesting times .Remember when Abba got paid for a Moscow concert in crude oil? Syonara Samurai!

am disappointed at comments about kimi. if u guys remember the great michael schumacher in 2005 struggled because he had tyre issues. as great as he was, he couldnt do anything with bad tyres. if u guys critically watch F1 u realise as kimi gets the tyres to be working he becomes the quickest in the race, its jst unfortunate it happens late.

[rafa]

Mr Gorman:
I couldn´t care less about Raikonen, he seems lo be living in a cave with a vampire draining the last drops of blood left in him.

But Miles Davis. His later stuff incomprehensible? I suggest you stick to the F1 blog and leave music to others. If a point of coldness between the fin and his fans has to be made why not Mr Blair?