2023 Spanish GP Heroes and Zeroes

[Jericoke]

Heroes

20 cars finished, so that's some responsible driving across the board, and solid engineering/construction/setup from every team.

Max Verstappen/RBR.  Max is a talented driver in an absolute monster of a machine.  As a follower of the sport, I don't like a single driver/machine dominating this much, but also as a fan of the sport, I can appreciate how special it is when a driver/machine can dominate this much.

Hamilton/Russel/Mercedes.  They still haven't got the modern rules figured out, but they're making progress and doing very well.

Lance Stroll.  I've noticed a weird phenomenon the last couple of races:  drivers who are being slagged by the F1 'press' are putting in strong performances.  De Vries was being talked about as being on his last chance at AT, and suddenly he's on par with Tsunoda, and then Stroll is being talked about holding back a surging Aston Martin and then he beats out the local hero.  I don't know if Alonso was having trouble that made Lance look good, but Lance got a result when he needed one.

Alpine/Ocon.  The team has made a step forward, and I feel like Ocon has stepped up too.  Gasly raced okay, but really was in the way during qualifying.

Zeroes

Ferrari.  Fifth place in a Formula One race would be an accomplishment for most, but that's just not meeting expectations, especially when your '#1' driver finishes in a well earned 11th.  It's hard to point fingers, a slightly faster car, better qualifying by the drivers, a tweak to strategy could have improved the day, but they just continue to zig when they should zag as a team.  I suppose at least they're in unison.

Williams, McLaren, Haas.  They all seemed to be making some progress, but not this race.

Zero-Man
on the Sky broadcast Martin Brundle caught himself referring to Zhou as a 'Chinaman'.  I don't believe that he meant anything derogatory about it, and he caught it right away, making the rest of his comment awkward.  I'm not sure if he's apologized for it or not.  I hope he does, and I hope that if anything comes of it, just a little reminder that casual discrimination, even accidental, is something we need to be aware of.

[Willy]

It was a good race for passing and not just DRS assisted.
The Red Bulls seem to still be in a race of their own as all others try to play catchup.
Perez is his own worst enemy in the last two races and even with a Red Bull under him, couldn't get to the front after a crap qualifying.
The Merc boys seem to have sorted things so the cars can now fight for podiums. At least on the Barcelona track they could.
Gasly was a force this race with a decent effort.

I was a tad confused by Alonso when he radioed that he was going to settle in behind Lance and not fight him. Is he watching to be able to help Lance with his racecraft? That would be the main reason Lawrence Stroll hired him I bet.
Sad for his home fans to see his finish.

Ferarri seems to have hired back the strategist from last year as they make silly mistakes. Leclerc was never a factor.

Norris can't blame anyone but himself for the 1st corner and he paid for it all race long.

[Dare]

I wonder about Fernando too. Maybe you shouldn't make
the bosses son look too bad. Gremlins' happen.

What's wring with calling Zhou a Chinaman? He is. No
different than call Charles a Frenchman or  Max a Dutchman.
Too many thin skinned people in the World now

[Andy B]

What's wring with calling Zhou a Chinaman? He is. No
different than call Charles a Frenchman or  Max a Dutchman.
Too many thin skinned people in the World now

If I call myself an Englishman is it self abuse?
The world is full of snowflakes!

[John S]

What's wring with calling Zhou a Chinaman? He is. No
different than call Charles a Frenchman or  Max a Dutchman.
Too many thin skinned people in the World now

If I call myself an Englishman is it self abuse?
The world is full of snowflakes!

Yeah it's definitely something Andy.   

Seems it's ok to be Scottish, Welsh, Irish & even Cornish; but us English must call ourselves British or we are perceived as reviving old colonial hierachical ways. 

Oh and I thought Spanish GP had plenty of overtakes, both on and off DRS, however it was still lacking in real excitment. Maybe a rain shower would have livened things up & injected some jeopardy into the whole thing.

Real Zero was the track limits announced constantly for Max without any TV replay evidence to show us how far off track he was straying. No one else seemed to get track limits warnings so why no coverage? 

[Dare]

One of the announcers said if it's only millimeters
it's still a offence. What would the penalty have been
if Max kept going off the limits? Enough to put him second?

[John S]

One of the announcers said if it's only millimeters
it's still a offence. What would the penalty have been
if Max kept going off the limits? Enough to put him second?

Maximum they ever give is 10secs, although more routinely it's 5secs so it's unlikely to have changed his win.

[Jericoke]

What's wring with calling Zhou a Chinaman? He is. No
different than call Charles a Frenchman or  Max a Dutchman.
Too many thin skinned people in the World now

If I call myself an Englishman is it self abuse?
The world is full of snowflakes!

In Canada and the USA Chinese immigrants were imported as 'not slave' labour for building railroads.  'Chinaman' was used as a derogatory term for someone seen as a disposable human being. 

I presume the term is a sort of parody of 'Englishman, Dutchman and Frenchman' as being colonial powers in Asia.

I don't believe that Brundle had any malice when he said it, but clearly he realized he shouldn't have in the moment.  The main issue is that when people in a position of power use hateful words, even by accident, it gives power to people who DO have hate in their heart.

[Willy]

If Brundle had said  Zhou was Chinese it would not be an offense the same as saying someone is English, Irish, or Canadian.
The term "Chinaman" is a derogatory term from way back and its offensive nature really has nothing to do with today's sensibilities.
It always has been a term to demean people from China.

[Dare]

I'm starting to think when the man with the sneer on his
face called me Americanman he wasn't being nice.

[Andy B]

It seems from reading here that "Chinaman" is only a derogatory term if you come from North America!
I do not or never had seen it as derogatory.

[Dare]

Me neither Andy and I'm from North America.

[Alianora La Canta]

One of the announcers said if it's only millimeters
it's still a offence. What would the penalty have been
if Max kept going off the limits? Enough to put him second?

5 seconds for a first offence. Only relevant if there had been a late-race Safety Car (which of course can never be 100% ruled out, hence why Red Bull's crew were more worried about it than... pretty much anyone else).

As for the Martin Brundle comment:

1) While I was aware that "Chinaman" is a pretty serious insult to Chinese people, that's because of the particular circles I'm in. It's not something I'd necessarily expect a British person to know unless they've had occasion to discover this (in my case, it was because someone else used the term, just as innocently as Martin Brundle, while in the hearing of a bunch of Chinese students on Fresher's week at uni). Apart from that one instance, the only British people I've heard use it were over 60, were also using it innocently and had never knowingly met a Chinese person in their life to have had the opportunity to be corrected. I know it seems strange to type, but Martin is now in that age group (albeit he should have met some Chinese people by now).

2) That was, believe it or not, only the second-worst live broadcast blunder involving using the wrong term for someone's inherent characteristics at the Spanish Grand Prix. The worst one involved Davide Valsecchi and Matteo Bobbi making complete fools of themselves by comparing a random women in the background of a paddock shot to an "upgrade package" that (after being told to "be careful" by fellow pundit Frederica Masolini) they openly regretted not being able to "test". Some things just shouldn't be said on live TV. Frederica had perhaps the only sensible response, "Can we watch some interviews instead of these two? Let’s hear from Carlos Sainz, please. I’m going to censor you two."

If one is going to hopelessly drool at someone attractive, kindly ensure that one is:

1) in a setting where that sort of behaviour makes sense
2) not on national live TV with a serious job to do at that exact moment
3) not standing next to someone who is likely to make one look even sillier by telling one off professionally

Oh, and,

4) if one ignores points 1-3 and digs a hole for oneself, resist the temptation to swap one's spade for a drill. For example, by making a rubbish joke about domestic violence when the aforementioned more sensible colleague reads a tweet that a viewer sent to the broadcaster, wishing one well when one goes back to one's spouse after the weekend.

Frederica will be doing punditry work for Sky Italian on the Canadian Grand Prix. As you can probably guess from the lack of judgement exhibited above, the other two will not (they've been suspended, presumably to give them the opportunity to sleep on the sofas of their respective homes).

(Edit: before anyone asks, I'm not sure which woman was being referred to, as the exchange I saw did not come with video. All I know is that the person being literally objectified was not Frederica).

[Andy B]

I still cannot see the issue with Chinaman because: -

• Englishman
• Scotsman
• Welshman
• Dutchman
• Frenchman

I'm sure there are many more and none of them are derogatory so why are the Chinese so precious?

[Alianora La Canta]

I still cannot see the issue with Chinaman because: -

• Englishman
• Scotsman
• Welshman
• Dutchman
• Frenchman

I'm sure there are many more and none of them are derogatory so why are the Chinese so precious?

Because in the USA and Canada it got used regularly in the 19th- and early-20th centuries as a derogatory term against the Chinese people who built the railroads and other infrastructure, specifically to suggest they were dishonest and stupid. The Chinese have not forgotten this.

British people, who live somewhere that the insult stopped being used in mainstream conversation before World War I rather than the 1950s, often find this confusing. Especially since other nationalities to which British people attach "-man" don't have the same history or resulting negative connotation.