"Who Asked?" (2012 World Driving Championship)

For travel and cable TV access reasons, I thought I might miss the last two Grands Prix of 2012.  Now, it turns out I'll be able to watch both of them.  Not that anyone asked, but...

Despite the "uphill" into Turn 1 of the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX, the virtual laps I've seen are not impressive.  It looks too much like the cookie-cutter venues designed and added to the schedule over the past few decades.  Night racing in downtown Singapore?  Give me a break.  But I'm willing to be convinced by an actual event in Austin.  The circuit in Union City, NJ, looks more challenging and interesting.  Granted, a U.S. Grand Prix is better than none, and the investors in Austin already had a ton of money fronted when the potential Grand Prix of New York came on the radar.  But who would compare Indianapolis or Long Beach with Watkins Glen?  I'm talking optimal here.  (Road America is optimal but, alas, could not meet current passive safety standards.)

Anyway.  I hope (against hope) that the WDC comes down to Brazil.  For one thing, the Autodromo Carlos Pace is a natural-terrain "legitimate road circuit," as Emerson Fittipaldi calls them.  For another, Fernando Alonso deserves to win it.  Yes, I know that Red Bull has the best car, and the fastest natural talent in Sebastian Vettel.  When they don't shoot themselves in their respective feet.

But Fernando Alonso has clearly extracted the most from his car and race-craft in 2012.  He is the Formula 1 Overachiever of the Season.  (I'm sad that my favorite young driver, Romain Grosjean, gratuitously took Alonso and several others out of the race at my favorite circuit, Spa-Francorchamps, on Corner 1, Lap 1.  Had Grosjean not done that, Vettel might now have a taller mountain to climb.)

Normally, I'm not emotionally invested in the WDC.  The Ferrari/Schumacher years were impressive but boring.  The Red Bull/Vettel years are headed that way.  I tend to root for young up-and-comers, like Grosjean (or Lewis Hamilton), when they land a good ride.  Or improbabilities, like (Ross) Brawn GP and Jenson Button (who had never had a first-rate ride)--who turned years of BAR-Honda agony of defeat into victory in 2009.  But I don't get excited about it: too many decades of financial and intellectual capital crushing the opposition.

But this year I'm pulling for Fernado, against the odds.  Ferrari and Alonso as underdogs: imagine that!  Fernando has said that he must win in Austin to take the championship decision to Buenos Aires.  Fat Chance.

Go get 'em, Fernado!