Who is the best F1 driver to have never won?

Joe Saward is right.  Nick Heidfeld is not at the same level as Chris Amon.

Mark Twain once said there are three kinds of lies-- lies, damn lies, and statistics.  Well, indulge me.

I took every winless driver with at least five podiums.  I looked at their percentages on the podium, number of wins by teammates at the same race, and numbers of poles and fastest laps.

Though the 1950s-era drivers Behra and Villoresi have high podium percentages, their teammates also won a lot of races.

Johannson is up there, but when you look at the number of wins by teammates, poles, and fastest laps, Amon is clearly the "winner".

And just look at Heidfeld.  He was in 79 more races than Amon.

End of analysis.

What's an interesting car in Germany?

My friend D was in Germany last week.  He is not a car guy.  I asked him to take a picture of a car that he thinks is interesting.  I told him that it doesn't have to be a fancy car or a sports car, just something interesting.  He will forward me the picture later this week.

I'm guessing it's a Glas 2600.  Do you have any guesses?

Renault 5 GT Turbo acceleration

Importing cheap used Japanese cars

While researching a Chinese-built highway in Zambia, I came across an ad for Cars for the World.  Japanese regulations are such that it becomes cost prohibitive to own an older car.  As a result, thousands and thousands of well-cared-for, slightly used, low mileage cars are shipped to Africa, Afghanistan, the Russian Far East, Oceania, and the Caribbean.  As an example, a 1999 Subaru Legacy wagon with 74,000 km can be had for $3,000.

Here is the home page.  The middle of the page contains testimonials with pictures-- a real insight into the entrepreneurs (who buy minibuses and trucks) and upwardly mobile and growing middle class (who buy family cars) of the 3rd World.

The bottom of the page contains blurbs about importing cars to specific countries and regions.  The right side of the page lets you browse by category or make.

Watching the Bin Laden raid, live

The intensity.  The stress.  And check out Defense Secretary Gates.  He was as cool as a cucumber.

On-board video of Senna in an NSX-R in Suzuka

+3 for the Eye-talian loafers.

Osama Bin Laden was just down the road from Karakul Lake

Karakoram Highway map

Karakul Lake is north of Tashkurgan, next to Muztagh Ata.  So just take the highway south, cross the border into Pakistan, and stop at Abbottabad.  If you see the AMC Theatre Hall in town, you've gone too far.

Muztagh Ata is the mountain in the background.  Karakul Lake is in the foreground.

My Karakoram Highway trip:
Part 1
Part 2

Osama's dead. So now what?

After we finish giving each other high fives, look for Pakistan to start rioting and devolving into chaos.

Senna on Netflix today (mini-movie review)

To commemorate the 17th anniversary of Ayrton Senna's passing, Netflix is streaming the Senna documentary online today.  For those who cannot wait until August for the US premiere, this is a real treat.

I didn't become an F1 fan until five years ago.  I not only wish I was a fan when Senna raced, but I wish I was able to watch him at my current age, with my maturity, life experience, and mindset.  This was a man who had an extraordinary relationship with machine, other men (especially Prost), and his god.  He was a true champion, and no one on the current grid, as talented as they are, is his equal.

I got choked up once, and it wasn't at the end.  Rather, it was after his first win at home in Brazil.

On a lighter note, I did not know that Senna went out with Xuxa.  Also, the starstruck look on a young Rubens' face when he met Senna was hilarious and priceless.

What a way to end F1 weekend!

Jaguar XJ13 video

Beautiful video of a gorgeous car.  And what does this have to do with our F1 theme?  Speed TV color commentator and ex-F1 driver David Hobbs surreptitiously test drove this beast at the MIRA test track and averaged 150 mph.