Saturday Sports Review: Boring Bahrain & A Successful Plymouth Pilgrimage
It’s 5:15pm…
Max Verstappen has won a Formula One race for the 55th time. I wondered whether or not I would even bother talking about the sports curtain raiser in Bahrain, but here we are.
I’ve got an hour to wait until I can cook my marinating chicken- it’s jerk with rice and peas for dinner tonight. So as I have a bit of time I thought I would do a quick summary of todays play. As the title suggests, it wasn’t a thriller. Saturday’s closer than expected qualifying failed to deliver any surprises in what must be one of the most forgettable opening races in memory. It’s worrying signs for the sport, with no other driver able to even take a swing at Max’s Red Bull- let alone a punch. Verstappen broke the record for 19 wins in a season last year, I worry that he may already have that in his sights, for this mammoth 24 race season.
F1 of course has had domination periods before. In recent memory, Mercedes winning an incredible 8 titles in a row. However, you could argue over that time that just one of those seasons (2020) produced no challengers. We had Lewis vs Rosberg, Vettel and more recentlly Max himself. But we’re drifting into an era of unchallenged supremacy, with Perez unable to get anywhere near his three time world champion teammate.
I do feel F1 has backed itself in a corner with the new rules, closing off innovation, doubled with the budget cap makes it almost impossible for teams to close the gap over a course of a season. It’s almost as though we’re already limping towards the next rule changes, with the hope that someone else pulls it together.
I’ll finish off this F1 segment with the words of Jeremy Clarkson was interviewed on the grid by Martin Brundle before the race. When asked who he is backing for the win he replied “Adrian Newey”. He has designed another almighty car and deserves so much credit. He’s probably saved his boss’ job too, I doubt the Red Bull hierarchy would’ve been so forgiving of Christian Horner’s behaviour if the car was back in the midfield.
In more positive news, Ipswich Town headed back into the top two of the Championship with a comfortable 2-0 at Plymouth. I watched the two events simultaneously on a duel screen set up. A drab first half, coupled with a uneventful race meant that I was raiding through the Percy Pig Tails far too quickly. A sugar rush hit at half time, where I rushed to make my marinade in time for the second half. Thankfully a better second half performance meant that I was able to ease of the sweets and enjoy a gorgeous deflected goal from Connor Chaplin. The little man produced an underserved knee slide celebration, and I’m here for it. A few minutes later Big Keith smashed in Towns second to guarantee Ipswich were heading back into the automatic promotion places. With Leeds and Leicester both dropping points, it really does feel something special is brewing. Bold statement and bookmark this, Ipswich Town will not lose another game this season. Watch them lose at home to Bristol City on Tuesday night…I think the Percy Pigs are giving me a second wind.
Sport Rating 6/10
Percy Pig High Rating 9/10