Williams

With only two first team seats remaining for 2012, there are a barrage of current drivers still left without a drive. 

Jaime Alguersuari, Sebastien Buemi, Vitaly Petrov, Bruno Senna and Adrian Sutil have been left discarded by their teams. Every one of them has been replaced in favour of a rookie driver or someone starting or returning for a first full season in the sport. 

There is a general belief that it is the latter in Adrian Sutil, who performed strongest in 2011. 

The two seats remaining were held this year by veteran runners Jarno Trulli at HRT and Rubens Barrichello at Williams. 

Both of these seasoned professionals have lost form and are widely expected to make way, as we move towards the February deadline for all teams to name their two main and one reserve drivers.

Adrian Sutil has confessed to talks with Williams and consequentially people expect him to be there next season. 

For a driver who bulldozed his way to a fantastic ninth in the drivers championship, this is a logical step when his only other alternative is a hefty slide backwards at HRT. 

Until today, most would have subsequently put their money on the German landing the position opposite 'pay driver' Pastor Maldonado. The funds acquired from the average at best Maldonado would be countered effectively by utilising the skills and expertise of Sutil. He could be the lead driver to turn their fortunes around. 

Yet sadly, Williams, a team who have struggled to find form and pace this season, look like they may call upon a second pay driver for 2012. Today it has emerged that Bruno Senna has been spotted at their base and is possibly in talks for the drive.

Given the choice between Senna and Sutil, a racing neutral wouldn't find it too hard to make the decision. 

After the shock announcement by Renault to dismiss Nick Heidfeld and bring in the inexperienced Senna half way through 2011, a lot of negative reaction went the Brazilian's way. 

Whilst this may have appeared harsh, the inability for Senna to perform in the seat meant that little changed in our previous perception of him. He was an average driver at best and was not adhering to his famous uncles claim that he was fast. 

Personally, I do find it odd that Senna is seeking a seat at a team where his uncle perished, with a following inquest into the teams involvement in the tragedy. 

Sutil on the other hand obliterated both Senna and Vitaly Petrov in the second half of the season. He also edged quite a distance ahead of his rookie team mate Paul Di Resta, who actually managed to sustain his place at Force India instead of Sutil. 

Sutil could hold his head up high upon the end of his Force India journey, however, as he added to his credible run of seasons at Vijay Mallya's team and afforded himself a resultant growth in reputation. 

It often sounds like you repeat yourself, and I certainly have in other articles, but it would be a travesty if Sutil did not gain a first team drive for 2012, especially when someone of a lesser calibre like Senna could. 

The hope now is that Williams will make the correct choice in determining who can actually spearhead a much desired resurgence. 

For a team who are so steeped in championship winning history, to have sunk as low as they did in 2011, to then have two uninspiring pay drivers would be a ludicrous outcome. 

But for Sutil to not be on the grid for 2012 at all would be an even worse one. 

The potential driver lineup options for a Formula 1 team are endless. The new driver juggernaut churns out at least half a dozen new candidates every year to rival the already seemingly endless list of hopefuls all aiming to get a coveted seat in the fastest cars in the world.

Unfortunately, the short-term mindset of this sport, along with its brutally competitive and financially orientated agenda, means that only the top handful of wealthy teams can afford to cherry pick their drivers and maintain their status quo. This has ultimately left a number of talented young hopefuls over the years on the outside looking in, or leaving this division of motorsports early in pursuit of drives and success in alternate formats.

The situation this winter is no different, with a number of young drivers anxiously hoping they avoid the ax.

There has been a lot of talk both in the paddock and in the press about the situation in the midfield, specifically at three teams: Force India, Williams and Torro Rosso.

The situation is simple. Force India have three drivers they need to fit into two spots, with the promising German Nico Hulkenberg wanting a race seat for next season. At Williams, there is much talk of a return for Kimi Raikkonen while the futures of both Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado are uncertain—however, the Venezuelan has the financial advantage. At Torro Rosso, both Daniel Ricciardo—currently on loan at Hispania—and Jean-Eric Vergne want the spots of the current duo Jaime Alguesuari and Sebastien Buemi.

That leaves potentially 10 drivers for six spots, and that's before we include the unconfirmed spot at Renault alongside Vitaly Petrov, the spot at the newly named Marussia—formerly Virgin—alongside Timo Glock and the two spots at Hispania.

That's now 10 spots, but we know it's not going to be the case that the 10 drivers mentioned above will all get a seat. Some will have to continue testing, and others may leave for good. Let's try, however, to fill the gaps, and I'm going to do it in the way I would like to see it happen.

The easiest spot is at Renault, because if Robert Kubica is fit he will replace Bruno Senna. Renault have struggled in the second half of the season—with or without Nick Heidfeld, who I thought was harshly replaced—and so I believe the issue is down to the car, though I don't think either Petrov or Senna have covered themselves in glory.

Petrov is, however, guaranteed a seat, so if Robert comes back Bruno will make way. If he isn't fit that opens the door for Bruno or the losers from the re-shuffles at Williams, Torro Rosso and Force India.

I'm going to make it clear, I think both Nico Hulkenberg and Jaime Alguesuari deserve seats next season. I am impressed with both and think they are both talents that F1 should try its best not to lose. Jaime is outperforming Sebastien Buemi this season and is also younger and has spent less time at Torro Rosso. I can't see them restricting both Ricciardo and Vergne to either a loan to a lower team or testing next season, so as harsh as this sounds, I would let Buemi go and partner Ricciardo with Alguesuari.

Nico impressed me in his first season at Williams, and I thought that replacing him with Pastor Maldonado for financial reasons was a complete shame and summed up the bad side of Formula 1. The problem is that a return to Williams is off the cards, so unless Renault took a punt, he's stuck at Force India.

I would give him the seat however, probably in place of Sutil, who has a mixed press reaction and has been at the team for a long time in F1 terms without really delivering success. I would partner Di Resta with Hulkenberg and move on to Williams.

Williams has had a disastrous year, and their priority has to be the car. However, I don't think either of their drivers makes the grade anymore. Rubens, despite his popularity, has always been a number two, and I don't think he's at his best anymore, while Pastor is there for the money. If I could remove that from the equation, he would have no reason to be there.

My ideal situation would be to bring in both Kimi Raikkonen and Adrian Sutil and give a much-needed shot in the arm to the ailing team and help them back on the path to their former glories.

So to sum up, then, here's my ideal F1 2012 season driver lineup for the midfield teams that haven't filled their slots:

Force India: Nico Hulkenberg and Paul Di Resta.

Williams: Kimi Raikkonen and Adrian Sutil.

Torro Rosso: Jaime Alguesuari and Daniel Ricciardo.

Renault: Vitaly Petrov and Robert Kubica/Sebastien Buemi.

The experience of someone like Rubens at Marussia or Hispania could really help them, while the likes of Vergne and Senna really need time behind the wheel to develop. Another point to consider is that it's unlikely that Webber at Red Bull, Schumacher at Mercedes or Trulli at Lotus would go on beyond 2012, particularly if they keep being beaten by their younger teammates.

There is plenty of potential in Formula 1, and regardless of the way that it eventually sorts itself out, it would be a great shame if we were to lose young drivers before they've even had a chance to reach their peak.

That is, however, the ruthless nature of the sport.

It seems that Rubens Barrichello’s time in Formula One is coming to an end and that the Brazilian champion could say farewell to the sport at his home grand prix—the season-ender at Interlagos.

Williams F1 have confirmed that they are in serious negotiations with the 2007 world champion, Kimi Raikkonen. With Barrichello’s star on the wane, the laconic Finn could prove to be a risk-free replacement and the tonic that Williams GP desperately need.

If he is replaced, it will bring down the curtain on one of F1’s most remarkable and enduring careers. Barrichello has achieved everything the sport has to offer, with the glaring exception of a world championship.

It was a career that was almost ended inside two years.

At the infamous 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, Barrichello was involved in a sickening crash that saw his car become airborne at 225km/h before slamming into the safety fence.

Barrichello was knocked unconscious and had swallowed his tongue. Were it not for the timely intervention of the medical team, he would have certainly not survived.

F1's blackest weekend was almost darker still.

In a career spanning 19 years, Barrichello—or Rubinho as he is known to his fans—amassed 658 points, with 11 wins and a very respectable 68 podium finishes.

Had it not been for the fact that he was saddled with Michael Schumacher as his teammate at Ferrari, he could well have secured two championships.

But that was in 2002 and 2004, however, and it was with Ferrari.

Since then, with the exception of the surprise 2009 season with Brawn, the decline has been inexorable.

For the last two years, Barrichello has been languishing at an underperforming and increasingly sad Williams outfit. The team has slipped from sixth in the constructors’ championship in 2010 to ninth this year, barely outperforming the new kids, Lotus-Renault, HRT and Virgin.

Whether Barrichello is a victim of circumstance or part of the problem is not exactly clear.

What is clear is that Rubinho doesn’t think that his time has come, but at least has the good sense to realise that the decision is out of his hands.

I do not believe it [Brazil] will be my last race. On the weekend of the Indian GP, I had a better understanding of the situation. I understand a little why it is taking so long, and unfortunately we will have to wait.

If it does come to pass that Brazil is Barrichello’s swan song, he can leave the sport with his head held high.

He is the first driver to have competed in 300 grands prix. That’s a remarkable feat and a record that can never be broken.

On the flip side, however, he has been the No. 2 driver to a world champion on six occasions. That may also be a record as well, but one that he’s less likely to look back fondly upon.

He seems content to leave the sport, if that proves to be his fate, telling the F1 Times:

I really want to race, 100%. But if not, I also have options on the other side. Many people tell me—Luciano Burti himself and Olivier Panis—that life post-F1 is even better.

I will do a party to say goodbye to people. I think my relationship with the people is too good to finish one hour to another. It will be the way it has to be, but God willing we will be on the grid next year.

It’s looking increasingly likely that Barrichello will not get his wish and, like so many before him, will even miss the opportunity to choose his own time to leave.

He still has the chance to read the writing on the wall. The question is, will he?

There are many hypotheses as to what caused Ayrton Senna's fatal crash at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. About a year ago, I wrote an article on Bleacher Report that laid out both the supporting evidence and the flaws of the two most prominent theories. It is simply impossible to find a theory that everyone agrees with. Some blame the steering column and some blame the bottoming-out effect. Others have completely different ideas.

While the physical cause of the crash is important, I believe it is also important to examine Senna's mindset in the final 24 hours of his life. The mindset of a driver is crucial to his performance and to his success. If a driver lacks confidence, then he can lose seconds per lap. If a driver feels uncomfortable, it can have a negative effect on his performance. Inversely, if a driver feels good at the track, he may place higher than expected.

Consider Felipe Massa's return to the cockpit after his awful accident during the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying. Despite flashes of the old Massa, like at the 2010 German Grand Prix, he hasn't looked as strong as before the accident. Many have commented that he may have lost his edge.

Nearly everyone who saw Senna during the Imola weekend reported that he appeared to be out of sorts. The people that knew him said that he seemed distracted. To try to understand what was going on in Senna's mind in that last day, we must look at the events of the 1994 season and what had happened in the days, weeks and months before that weekend.

Before the 1994 season, the FIA decided to ban electronic driver aids such as traction control, active suspension, launch control and ABS. There was also a change in tyre regulations; tyres were required to be narrower, which meant that they provided less grip. The idea behind these technical changes was to make racing more exciting by making the cars more difficult to drive.

Senna was worried about these changes, saying that the season would be one with "a lot of accidents." The truth was that they had made the cars more difficult to drive without really slowing them down. The cars were traveling nearly as fast as before, but were twitching and sliding more. Therefore, if there was going to be a crash, it would still be at a very high speed.

In previous years, Williams had made brilliant use of the banned technologies and created some very fast cars. With the new regulations, they lost several of the key elements of their cars. Compared to both the Williams' cars of previous years and to other teams' cars, Williams' 1994 car, the FW16, was notoriously difficult to drive.

Senna was unimpressed with the FW16. He never felt confident driving it. The car was so twitchy that he was nervous about pushing it to high speeds. He didn't feel comfortable in the cockpit, and asked for modifications to give him more room.

Senna failed to finish either of the first two races of the 1994 season. Michael Schumacher won both driving the Benetton. Senna was under pressure heading into the San Marino Grand Prix after these two DNF' and s he was already 20 points from the top of the championship standings

Senna was actually suspicious about Schumacher's car. In Brazil, Schumacher had a very fast pit stop which allowed him to get out ahead of Senna; he went on to win that race. The amount of fuel that went into the car in that short time surprised everyone. Allegations of Benetton using an illegal fuel rig began to spread. Benetton admitted that the safety filter, designed to limit the flow of fuel, had been removed from the car. The team insisted that this had been the mistake of a junior mechanic. 

At the Pacific Grand Prix in Aida, Senna spun out when Hakkinen hit him on the first lap. After that, Senna  watched the rest of the race from the side of the track, rather than return to his pit garage. Senna was listening in particular to the noises the Benetton was making, and to a lesser extent, to the noises the Ferrari was making.

Senna was very suspicious of both cars. He thought that he could hear the distinctive sound of a traction control system being used to help control the wheel spin. Many other people were suspicious of the Benetton as well. In fact, Schumacher got off to such a quick start at Aida  that some also thought that the car had a  launch control system.

The FIA did discover a type of launch control system on the Benetton, but they couldn't prove it had been used in the race. No traction control was ever found on the car. Heading into Imola, Senna had no points, a car he wasn't comfortable with and was facing opponents who he thought were cheating. 

At Imola, though, things would get a lot worse for the whole sport of Formula 1.

The Black Weekend began when Rubens Barrichello had a very severe accident in his Jordan at the Variante Bassa. Barrichello got his entry speed and line wrong and he hit the inside curb too fast. This launched the Jordan into the air at approximately 140 MPH.

The car hit the very top row of tyres that made up the barrier. If the car had gone just a fraction higher, it would have hit a catch fence and the crash could have been even worse. The Jordan rolled a few times before coming to rest upside down. Barrichello was unconscious. The car was immediately flipped over, which in itself was dangerous considering the driver's condition. Barrichello was then quickly extracted from the car.

Barrichello was taken to the medical centre and was fortunate to suffer only minor injuries.

Senna was slightly shaken by the crash of Barrichello and was worried about his friend's condition. Senna and Barrichello were very close, and Senna knew that the outcome could have been a lot worse had Barrichello hit the fence rather than the tyre barrier. Senna knew that it had been a lucky escape for Barrichello.

On Saturday in qualifying, things became even worse. Twenty minutes into the session, the Austrian Roland Ratzenberger, driving the Simtek, crashed at the Villeneuve curve. As he approached the corner driving about 190 MPH, his front wing  had come off. His car was badly damaged and it was clear that Roland was severely injured.

After seeing the accident, Senna immediately shook his head and walked out of his garage. He then begged a marshall to take him to check on Ratzenberger. Senna was in tears upon his arrival to the scene of the crash.

Later it was confirmed that Ratzenberger had died of a basilar skull fracture. Senna was distraught and sought comfort from Professor Sid Watkins, who was the head of the Formula 1 on-track medical team. As Senna cried on Watkins' shoulder, they had a now legendary exchange of words.

According to Professor Watkins' book, Life at the Limit, which I am lucky enough to own, Watkins said to Senna: "What else do you need to do? You have been world champion three times, you are obviously the quickest driver. Give it up and let's go fishing,"

Senna replied: "Sid, there are certain things over which we have no control. I cannot quit, I have to go on."

Whatever it was that pushed Senna to drive in Formula 1 and to drive to the extreme, prevented him from quitting. He knew that the level of danger was increasing and that he was at more risk than ever of being in a serious accident. He loved the sport too much to stop.

Senna had said before the start of the 1994 season that there would be accidents. At the San Marino Grand Prix, there had been two very serious accidents in two days. His prophecy was coming true.

At the drivers' meeting on the morning of the fateful race, Senna and other drivers proposed reforming the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, which had been disbanded in the 1980s. The GPDA was initially created so drivers could have a say in the safety standards that affected them. The GPDA wasn't technically reformed until two weeks later at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Senna realized that the rules had to be revised in order to protect drivers. Like Jackie Stewart before him, he wanted to be the man who got the job done. The days of Formula 1 that Senna knew were ending.

When Senna began, the cars were turbocharged monsters that were extremely fast, but slower around corners. Now, the cars were no longer turbocharged; however, they were still extremely fast and capable of taking corners at these fast speeds. The cars hadn't been reined in enough, and with recent technical changes, this was incredibly difficult to change.

Senna was troubled by what he had seen and the direction Formula 1 was taking. In the 15 minutes before the race, this piece of footage was taken: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnGk19zVVRY

Considering his behavior in this footage and the way that Senna had responded to the events of the weekend, many believe that he had a feeling of what was going to happen. I don't think that this is the case; I believe that Senna was still realizing how dangerous racing had become. I think he was considering whether it was still worth it and whether he could give it all up.

Senna had seen one of his closest friends have a very serious accident and another friend suffer a fatal crash. Senna was driving a car that was faster than those of his friends and very difficult to control. He was probably more aware of his own mortality at this point than at any other in his career.

Nevertheless, Senna went on. After the incident at the start involving Pedro Lamy and JJ Lehto, the safety car pulled in and Senna began the fifth lap of the race. This was the third fastest lap set during the race, so Senna had somehow managed to put aside all of the weekends' events.

Entering Tamburello on the sixth lap, his foot was pressing so hard on the throttle that the computer read over 100 percent on the throttle level. He was still as determined as ever to get that win. Whatever caused Senna to suddenly shoot off the road is unknown, but Senna fought to save the car and himself right to the end.

In the aftermath of the crash, a blood-soaked Austrian flag was discovered in the cockpit of Senna's car. Senna had planned to wave the flag in honour of Ratzenberger if he had won the race. Having the flag in the car and what he planned to do with it was a testament to Senna's character.

What was really going on in the mind of Ayrton Senna is impossible to know. I can only surmise what he may have been thinking through his actions and what others reported. I believe Senna was very conflicted in his mind. He knew the dangers of his sport but he couldn't bring himself to walk away.

However, this is simply my opinion.

Ayrton Senna was a very spiritual man and this quote, also taken from Sid Watkins' book, Life at the Limit, is a fitting way to end this piece: "We lifted him from the cockpit and laid him on the ground. As we did, he sighed and, although I am not religious, I felt his spirit depart at that moment".

Rest in peace, Ayrton Senna.

Empires rise and empires fall. It's the way of the world. 

Teams in sports who dominate their field can very quickly become also-rans with their triumphs and former glories, nothing more than fading memories. In the world of Formula 1 we have seen this happen before. Sometimes this can go so far that great names end up no longer being on the Formula 1 grid.

During the nineties Tyrrell, Lotus and Brabham all went out of Formula 1 (in their original form in the case of Lotus). All of them were legendary teams with many championships to their name and ended up stuck at the back struggling to perform

Brabham collapsed in a mire of accusations of fraud, using pay drivers with more money than talent and with cars that were so far off the pace they failed to qualify or even pre-qualify. Tyrrell's long-term owner Ken Tyrrell was so disgusted he was being forced to take on a pay driver in the form of Ricardo Rosset that he immediately quit the team he had spent so many years making. After seeing Rosset's dismal performances you can understand Ken's decision.

Watching these great teams do so poorly must have been difficult for the people that supported them all through their many years in the sport. Some teams have managed to survive and are continuously successful, with the two main examples of this being Ferrari and Mclaren. Both of them have managed to have long and continued success over their years in the sport.

Over the past few years we have watched another team with a fantastic history being dragged further down the grid struggling to live up to their history. This team has won the constructors' title nine times and has 113 race victories to its credit, Williams F1. 

Williams in the past years of the sport have been near unbeatable and yet over the past few years have been relegated further and further down the grid and instead of wins, they are trying to scrape for some of the lower points paying positions.   

Their last win came seven years ago at the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix and they only really got that due to Ferrari taking it a bit easy and making a few slip-ups. Their last year of really fighting for wins on merit was the 2003 season which is now eight years ago.

This for a team with such an illustrious past is a real slump in form.

If you go back to the eighties and nineties they were a team capable of supreme dominance and this was Williams golden era.  The 1992 season saw Williams dominate due to their technical innovations and no one could really challenge them. The car was unbeatable.

Throughout the mid-nineties they were one of the teams to beat, winning the constructors' title in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997. The beginning of this slump began in the 1998 season. They had to run a near identical car as in '97 and the car just simply wasn't up to it and Mclaren and Ferrari dominated.

In the years since then they have built cars capable of winning races but not a car capable of winning championships. During 2002 and 2003 they came second behind the all-dominating Ferrari/Schumacher combination. Their tie-up with BMW made their cars incredibly powerful but also made them fragile and their cars were unreliable.

Since the 2003 season they have been gradually slipping down the field. Nico Rosberg managed to drag the car consistently into the points and even managed to score on the occasional podium but ever since 1997 the trend has seen them slip further and further from the front.    

Williams are now occupying a gap between the midfield and the new teams and sometimes being dragged into battles with them. Instead of battling with the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari and Mclaren they are fighting Team Lotus and the midfield teams whose cars are struggling.

They currently sit ninth in the constructors' table, 18 points behind Toro Rosso above them. It's true that they should have more points this year than they currently do as in Monaco, Pastor Maldonado was on course for sixth position before being rammed off the road by Lewis Hamilton.

Maldonado is bringing a large sum of money to Williams through his sponsors, PDVSA, which without doubt helped him get his seat. By winning the GP2 title last year it did also help set him up for Formula 1. However, drivers that bring a lot of money like Pastor often are under heavy scrutiny

Maldonado has been a curious figure with very strong qualifying pace and seemingly very poor race pace. He has yet to score a point with his best drive being the performance in Monaco I mentioned earlier. However the Monaco race has been the only time he looked like he could score points on race day and his best finishing position for the year has been just 14th.

Due to this poor race pace he actually sits behind Jarno Trulli for Team Lotus and Vitantonio Liuzzi in the HRT in the drivers' championship. If Maldonado can finally get his race pace sorted I think he could be a decent driver for Williams and prove those people wrong who still think he is man with more money than talent.

Barrichello has managed to get the car into the points, finishing ninth in Montreal and Monaco. Apart from those two races he has reliability issues and simply not been on the pace.

So what has relegated Williams from a championship outfit into an also-ran team?

For sure the financial issues the team has by remaining independent means that they are unable to do some of the the more extensive development programmes done by the front-runners. Also they have had to, in some people's eyes, look at drivers in terms of what money they can bring as well as their talent.

Kazuki Nakajima was placed in the team many feel due to his Toyota connections rather than his race results. The 2009 season saw him totally outclassed by Nico Rosberg, with Rosberg scoring 34.5 points through the season compared to Nakajima's zero.

Also, many people were surprised to see Nico Hulkenberg being replaced after what was considered to be a promising first season. Maldonado brought so much money it was impossible for them to keep Hulkenberg and with Pastor winning the GP2 title showing he has some ability it was no contest. If they didn't have to worry about money I feel they would have probably kept Hulkenberg.

The team was recently placed on the stock market, something done purely to help secure new investment in an attempt to keep the team running at a decent level.

Also in the last few years they haven't managed to earn a truly competitive engine with power coming from Cosworth or Toyota V8 engines. The best engines over the past few seasons have been either Renault, Mercedes or Ferrari and they haven't been able to get hold of these.

However, they will be running a Renault V8 from 2012 which should hopefully see some improvement.

Whatever has caused the problems for Williams, I do find it rather sad that a team with such great history is struggling so badly.

Hopefully we will see them become more competitive in the seasons to come.

*Note: Anderson spoke first, then Edsall, and then both answered questions after Edsall spoke. I have the Edsall quotes first because he was the focus of today’s event.

Randy Edsall

Opening comments
• “Very special day.” “This is a dream job for me, [for me] this is THE dream job.”
• “My first college game [I ever saw] was right here at Byrd Stadium… It was the 70’s it was against Villanova.”

On Friedgen
• “I’m extremely proud to follow Ralph Friedgen.”
• “I look forward to taking the program that Ralph built to a higher level.”

On Current Team
• “Those men I spoke to last night, I was very, very impressed with.”
• “I’m honored, and privileged to be the head football coach.”
• “We’re gonna work our darndest to be successful [in the classroom and the field.]”

On Recruiting
• “It’s gonna be a grassroots effort.”
• “We want the community to be proud of their state institution.”

On Expectations
• “I came here to win championships.”
• “I’m a coach and I want to win at the highest level.”
• “Every year our goal is to win the ACC Championship.” “If you don’t then there is no sense in me being here… There is no sense in putting that uniform on.”
• “Every place I’ve been, we’ve won… People thought I was crazy for going to [UConn], thought I was crazy for saying we’d win a championship. Then we won two championships while I was there… You can win here at the highest level here at Maryland… You can’t be afraid to say it.”

To his former players at UConn
• “That’s always the toughest thing. When you make a change in life, the timing is never good, it never turns out the way you’d like it to be. I tried to do the best I could given the situation. I would’ve like to have seen those men in person.”
• “I told them I loved them, wished them the best of luck.”
• “The special thing about college football, is the relationships you develop with the young students… It’s the relationships that last forever… I will root for them in every game they play, except for in 2012, and 2013, when we’re supposed to play them.”

On increasing Maryland’s exposure
• “We created a 40,000 person fan base at Connecticut. You do that by becoming visible, going out and speaking to people.”
• “There are things you have to do to make this program more viable throughout the state, and I intend to do that.”

Other key notes from the Presser:
• Edsall attended Lefty Driesell’s basketball camps as a kid for 4 years.
• Edsall acknowledged coaching with Friedgen Georgia Tech in 1998, and called Fridge “a good coach, and a good person.”
• On coaching staff
o Some Maryland assistants will be retained.
o Some will come from the UConn staff.
o Some from other places too.
o Gonna be a great staff.
o He would not announce specific names.
• Edsall admitted when Ralph was dismissed he was “excited” because Maryland is his dream job.
• He is looking forward to meeting Gary Williams, and picking his brain.
• His brother, and an NCAA referee, ref’d the last game in Cole Field House.
• Edsall says he likes to work with the personnel on the team, and not make them do things that do not fit their abilities.
• He plans on calling back every UConn player who left him phone messages.

Kevin Anderson

Opening comments
• “It’s a great day to be a Terp!”
• After thanking President Loh, Chancellor Kirwan, and the search committees, he thanked Ralph Friedgen. Called Fridge, “A great Terp.”
• “[Coach Friedgen] laid the foundation for why we are here.”

On Edsall:
• “[Randy’s] body of work speaks for itself.”
• “Randy wanted to be the head coach at the University of Maryland.”
• “No one said ‘I want to be the head coach at Maryland, and that is my dream job,’ except for the person sitting to my left.”
• “Randy has won at all levels. He built a program from scratch.”
• “This man is a builder, he’s a winner, and he’s a champion.”

On the dismissal of Ralph and the search
• “I had to make a hard decision… we want to go from good to great.”
• “Chancellor Kirwan was not involved in any way possible. [This was] my decision, and my choice to be the next head coach.”

On fan reaction
• “We got a damn good football coach here.”
• “I’ve gotten a bunch of people sending me emails and texts from the football community telling me what a great hire he is.”
• “It’s about graduating kids, its about making people the best that they can.”
• “Randy said, ‘We’re gonna win. But we’re gonna win in the classroom, and we’re gonna have good people go back to their communities and [lead].’”
• “Randy’s work with the kids will speak for itself.”

On Leach
• “Coach Leach came in here and did a great job. I had a wonderful experience with him. There were other opportunities out there I wanted to pursue.”

Other notes from Anderson
• Anderson challenged current recruits to stick with Maryland.
• On the “Business Decision” / Future Success/ Attendance
o Anderson is looking to elevate football from a 3rd place team to a 1st place team.
o Noted Randy increased attendance at UConn by 20,000 people.
o He added, the move isn’t just for football, but for the entire athletic department.
• Anderson mentioned that some candidates refused to come to campus. Only 2 came, Randy was one of them, and Leach was the other.
• When both were asked about beefing up the schedule, in particular Penn State, Anderson noted PSU does not do Home-and-Home series’ and Maryland isn’t about that. Edsall added, Maryland doesn’t have to bow to anyone and that “We’re the University of Maryland.”

Force India may have just finished ahead of Sauber and Toro Rosso in the 2010 F1 constructors championship, but then Sauber just recovered from the whole BMW exit fiasco.

Toro Rosso, apart from the 2008 season where Vettel gave the team its only win in F1 so far and managed to place the team sixth in the table, have always been perennial backmarkers and is a training ground for Red Bull’s junior drivers.

If you look at the second half of the season, Sauber was actually better than Force India, while Williams managed to sneak past and finish ahead of Force India by just a point.

In the end, Force India managed only a seventh-place finish in the table, which was boosted by three new teams. A major worry for Force India is that a lot of key staff from the team has left to join other teams like Sauber and Lotus (or whatever it will be called).

Force India should address this situation immediately, or else the team may be further behind next season and will find the likes of Toro Rosso and even Lotus ahead of it.

The current set of drivers for the team, Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi, did not exactly have a stellar season and both were pretty patchy and inconsistent.

Sutil had a strong start to the season, but towards the end he really struggled, while Liuzzi was never really consistent but he was unlucky at times too.

Sutil and Liuzzi have been in F1 long enough, and with decent cars never really looked like they are going to set the world on fire.

Sutil all along was looking for a better drive and was linked to both Mercedes and Renault, but Schumacher has confirmed that he will race next season while with a Russian GP coming in 2014.

Petrov, apart from being a well-backed Russian, drove the race of his career in Abu Dhabi by managing to be ahead of Alonso and Webber, who were fighting for the title. But in the end, Petrov made Vettel’s job even easier.

Liuzzi has a contract with Force India for the next year, but then the team will be better off by buying him out of his contract, as he has lost them more money on the track and in the end they lost sixth place to the Williams team by just a point.

Force India is a proven team with a decent car and currently has the most attractive seats on the grid for any driver.

In Paul di Resta, they have a young driver who is quick and backed by Mercedes. Since he is backed by Mercedes, the team can actually get some discount on the engines and even ask Mercedes to foot his bill.

But more importantly, di Resta won the Formula 3 Euroseries in 2006 and the man who he beat to the title is currently the youngest F1 champion in the world.

Only one man has a similar junior racing pedigree similar to Nico Hülkenberg and that is Lewis Hamilton. The only difference was that Hamilton made his debut in a McLaren, while the Hulk had his chance with a struggling, cash-strapped Williams team.

Though the Hulk had a slow start to the season, towards the end he was even better than his teammate Rubens Barrichello, who happens to be the most experienced driver on the grid.

Despite having an inferior car, the Hulk managed to get a pole position during the Brazilian Grand Prix and that definitely is not a fluke.

It is a shame to see that a team like Williams, with its rich heritage, is dropping an exciting rookie for a pay driver, but then the team has a history of treating drivers poorly and that, along with various other decisions, has now made the team a midfield team.

Apart from these two promising drivers, Force India also have the option of hiring Nick Heidfeld, who apart from being a very solid car developer, has also raced with some esteemed names as teammates and have managed to beat them.

The list includes Kimi Räikkönen, Felipe Massa and Robert Kubica. Given the exit of technical staff from the team, Heidfeld will be a very safe bet for the team.

Apart from these drivers, there is always Karun Chandhok and with an Indian GP coming next year, it would be an amazing PR exercise for the team to have an Indian driver.

But then Vijay Mallya would not want the driver to overshadow the team, but Karun did do a decent job with HRT and he would not be any worse than its current set of drivers.

If Vijay Mallya is very serious about Force India, he should race di Resta, the Hulk or Heidfeld rather go back to Sutil or Luizzi.

It would be exciting to see di Resta and Hulk go against the other drivers, as both these guys would be driving for places in the top teams for the future.

Entering Week 11, let’s take a look back at the first 10 weeks and who the biggest fantasy duds have been this season.

Randy Moss:

For a top 10 pick in most leagues, Moss has definitely underwhelmed. He his on his third team this season and he better become effective soon.

Moss has only two double-digit fantasy outings this season and only four TDs on the year. It’s not even like Moss is piling on yardage this season either, he has yet to break 100 receiving yards in any game this season and i’m not sure that stat will change.

While I feel that Moss can still be that deep threat, I’m just not sure if that’s how he will be utilized.  Moss may be just used as a decoy for the remainder of the season, so while Moss owners may be unhappy, Nate Washington owners might be ecstatic (just like Wes Welker and Percy Harvin owners were earlier).

Carolina backfield:

What a dismal year it has been for any Panthers fantasy option. But running back was an area that no one doubted. With DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart both coming off 1,000 yard seasons, there was no sign these two would slow down.

Both backs never got on track and they have burned their fantasy owners (not to mention Panthers fans everywhere) this season. Williams only had one TD on the year and never broke 100 rushing yards. Stewart had two total TDs (one rushing and one receiving) but he never even broke 50 rushing yards in any game.

Both have been hurt the past few weeks and Williams is on the injured reserve, thereby ending his season with only 361 rushing yards. Stewart only has 208 rushing yards and will miss his second straight game with a concussion.

Brandon Marshall:

While Marshall had two 100 yard games in his first five games this season, he has been disappointing in the other eight game played. He only has one TD on the year and in my ESPN league this season he has only mustered 16 total fantasy points in the eight games outside of his 100 yard performances.  

Marshall has a lot of room to improve and the change at QB might be a good thing for him. While he didn’t “Wow” anyone this past game with Thigpen, Marshall did have three catches for 41 yards, right on par with the rest of his weak performances.

Maybe he can develop some connection with Thigpen in the weeks to come.

This is just an opinion…so please Pardon My Bias.

Every sport has a moment that shakes it to its very foundation, a moment after which things are never the same in that sport. In Formula 1 that moment happened in 1994 on Lap 7 at Tamburello. Ayrton Senna left the road and smashed into the concrete wall. One of Formula 1's best exponents was gone.

The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix weekend had already been a tragic one with the horrific accident of Rubens Barrichello and then the tragic loss of Roland Ratzenberger. The Grand Prix weekend was already rivaling the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix in terms of horror. According to Italian law a sporting event should be cancelled if a participant dies during the event. Ratzenberger technically died in hospital rather than at the track (despite it being clear that there was no chance of him surviving) so the weekend continued.

Why Senna died isn't disputed but why Senna left the road in the first place is something very much debated. There are two main theories. One of which if true should mean that people working for the Williams Formula 1 team could and possibly should have been sent to prison.

There are two main theories behind why Senna went off the road at Tamburello.

The first of these theories is the 'bottoming out' theory.  In Formula 1, aerodynamics is one of the most critical parts of a car. If the car is aerodynamically good it can be a winner but any aerodynamic weakness and your car will fall down the grid rapidly.

One of the most important parts of the cars aerodynamics is the car's ride height. By running the car as close to the ground as possible without it touching the ground gives you improved acceleration and a huge downforce boost. The cars run millimetres from the ground and reducing the ride height by a tiny amount can improve a lap time by several tenths of a second. At Imola, the cars were running as close as humanly possible to the ground.

Now to explain the theory totally you have to go back to the very start of the race. At the start of the race fifth place qualifier JJ Lehto in the Benetton stalled on the grid and was stuck unable to move. From 22nd position Pedro Lamy in the Lotus got off to a good start was coming down the straight looking to get himself into a good position for Tamburello. 

He failed to see the stuck Lehto until it was too late and smashed into the back of the Benetton. Sadly in the crash a wheel flew of Lamy’s car and ended up in the crowd causing minor injuries to nine spectators.

The cars suffered severe damage and the safety car was brought out to allow the track officials to clear the track. Being behind the safety car although vital for the safety of the track officials plays havoc with Formula 1 cars. Behind the slow moving safety car brakes become cold and most crucially to this theory, tyre pressures drop.

In current Formula 1 the safety car is a V8 Mercedes super car, meaning that the cars despite not being able to do the speeds of Formula 1 cars, can still run at a speed in which the brakes don’t lose as much temperature and tyre pressures drop less. But in 1994, the safety car was an Opel basic road car. The car could do nothing like the speed required to keep the pressures and temperatures at the required rates.

When the pressures drop, this causes the cars to lower. Now at the conclusion of Lap 5 the safety car pulled in and Senna led the field away. Senna set an incredibly quick lap considering the pace car had been out and as it turned out it was the third fastest lap of the race (more on this later) On that 6th lap Senna's car was seen grinding heavily along the ground whilst going around Tamburello.

On Lap 7 the car began to grind across the ground once more. When a Formula 1 car bottoms out and is brushing along the floor it loses a huge amount of downforce. On this lap as Senna’s car was going around Tamburello when the car bottomed out and lost downforce the back of Senna’s FW16 began to slide. Senna immediately steered into the slide.

According to the theory, in a horrific stroke of misfortune just as Senna steered into the slide the car came back off the ground. The downforce and grip suddenly returned. The car responded to Senna’s steering input and turned to the right and pointed his Williams straight towards the concrete wall and despite Senna braking he couldn’t avoid the wall.

Now, there is a couple of flaws with the bottoming out theory. The first is if it was low tyre pressures that caused the problem for Senna then why did he not crash on Lap 6? He entered Tamburello at the same speed on both laps so why did Senna crash on the lap when his tyre pressures had increased once again.

Another problem is the fact that if suddenly Senna had grip again why did he not steer back to the left which looking at the footage of the accident the car never does. Also, Michele Alboreto and many other Formula 1 drivers stated that looking at the lap time Senna produced on the lap before his accident and their personal experiences Senna’s tyre pressure would be normal once more.

Overall it provides a compelling, if flawed theory

The second theory is the steering column theory. Now if you believe this theory then Williams could very easily charged with Senna’s death. The Williams FW16 was a tricky car at the start of the season and the major cause of this was the widespread rule changes put into place for the 1994 season. Narrower tires were now being used which resulted in their being less grip and all of the major electronic aids such as ABS, traction control and active suspension were all gone.

Senna was very negative saying that the car never left him with any confidence to push to the limit. He even found the driving position for his car unsatisfactory. Senna asked the team to give him a longer steering column to make the car more comfortable to drive. Williams didn't have the time to get a new longer steering column delivered so they decided to modify the steering column present already in Senna's car.

To do this they cut Senna's steering column, inserted a piece of smaller diameter tubing and welded the column back together with reinforcing plates. This obviously made the steering column longer and gave Senna a more comfortable driving position.

Now the footage from on board Senna's car shows a visible yellow light moving a significant number of centimeters down in the seconds before the crash. Many have suggested that based on this evidence that where the Williams team changed the steering column that the weld had broken and the column was broken making Senna a passenger. To reinforce this view that after the crash the steering column was found to be snapped.

However, Williams have provided some evidence that would seem to discredit the theory. The first is footage shown during the court case of David Coulthard in a identical Williams car whilst sat in the Williams factory. He was shown deflecting the steering column a large amount with Williams saying that the car was designed with the steering wheel being able to move not only round and round but up and down.

Now I have since gone back and checked the footage from the 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix at the Interlagos which is well known for being a particularly bumpy race track. I have yet to see any such movement like there was at Imola. Small movement you can see but nothing like the amount of movement shown at Tamburello.

Also Senna was quite a small man and the amount of force needed to move the steering column like Coulthard showed in footage was clearly huge.

A second piece of evidence I first saw on a National Geographic documentary on the accident. They showed some of data from Senna's car before the accident. In particular they brought up a piece of data to do with the amount of twisting force that Senna was putting through the steering column. The last reading from the sensor before Senna hit the wall was -7.16 N/m. If the steering column was broken then it should of been impossible for Senna to have put any twisting force through the column at all.

During the investigation they looked extensively at the steering column and it was shown through testing that steering column was showing signs of very high stresses and that it was braking. Seventy-five percent of the circumference of the steering column was broken before the accident. But it wasn't fully broken fully before the accident.

What could prove it either way would be the footage from Senna's car all the way as he hits the wall. In a cruel twist the TV director cut away from Senna's car 1.5 seconds before he hit the wall. Many people believe that in the missing 1.5 seconds shows the steering wheel clearly coming off in Senna's hands. Even those who don't believe in the steering column theory believe more answers would of been found in that missing footage.

These are the two main theories on the Ayrton Senna accident. There are many more and just like these they have flaws in them. Whatever caused the accident once Senna hit the wall it was clear to all those watching that Senna was clearly injured. Some hope was raised when Senna's head was shown clearly moved once after the crash.

I will let you decide what you believe I just am trying to give you the options. If you comment feel free to give your thoughts on why Senna crashed.

When Professor Sid Watkins arrived at the seen of the crash and he removed Senna's helmet he was left viewing a horrific sight. Senna in the small amount of time between crashing and Watkins arriving lost four litres of blood. I could give you more details on what Watkins saw but I feel that if you want to find out more of the gory details then you can do that for yourselves.

Anyone of three injuries could of killed Ayrton Senna. When the suspension pierced the visor of Senna's helmet it went through just above his eye causing damage to Senna's brain. When the wheel struck Senna it smashed his head back into the headrest causing severe skull fractures and a piece of upright attached to the wheel also pierced the visor of the helmet causing more damage to Senna's brain. Just one of these injuries would of probably been enough to kill Senna.

However, yet again the race was not cancelled. Technically Senna wasn't dead due to the fact he still did have a pulse and once in hospital he was put on to life support. But Senna had no chance of recovery. Senna died to the world at Tamburello. The world didn't let him go for a few hours more.

After the horrific weekend in San Marino a vast amount of new regulations came into increase driver safety. To this day no driver has died behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car albeit two marshalls have been killed during a Formula 1 race, Paolo Ghislimberti at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix and Graham Beveridge at the the 2001 Australian Grand Prix. Since these tragedies more safety regulations have been brought in and again the level of safety has gone up once more.

Formula 1 is dangerous, it always has been and always will be and as horrific as it sounds someone else will die behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car. But credit where its due the FIA has done and is doing everything it can to make Formula 1 as safe as possible.

RIP

Ayrton Senna

March 21st 1960- May 1st 1994

It's official...and very surprising. Nico Hulkenberg is on pole position for the 2010 Brazillian Grand Prix.

And this is not just a title contender making a mistake—Vettel, in the Red Bull car, was over one second behind the Hulk.

One second: That's like a year in qualifying.

He has not even secured a place on the team next season; there are rumours swirling around about him being replaced by someone else with more money.

However, I think the majority of fans will want the young German to be at the top level of motorsport next season.

If we look at his results at other levels, he dominated the German Formula BMW Championship in 2005—also the year Williams got their last pole position in Formula One—and he became the most successful driver in A1 Grand Prix history for Team Germany.

Following a season in German Formula Three where he finished fifth, he joined the Formula Three Euroseries in 2007 and finished third, and won the Masters of Formula Three event that year.

In 2008, he came first in the Formula Three Euroseries and second in the Masters of Formula Three event.

In the 2008-09 GP2 Asia series, he finished sixth with one win, before winning the 2009 GP2 Series, once again with ART Grand Prix.

This left him with a drive in Formula One for 2010. In the first two races of the season, he was worse than teammate Barrichello, finishing 14th in Bahrain and retiring in Australia, though this was because he was hit by Kamui Kobayashi.

Malaysia saw him score his first points in F1, finishing in 10th place. He then had a run of finishing outside the points for six races before finishing 10th once again in Great Britain.

As the team's results improved, Hulkenberg also benefited, with a sixth place finish in Hungary.

After the Belgian Grand Prix where he finished 14th, he reached seventh place in Italy and 10th place in Singapore.

Vitaly Petrov, another high profile rookie, crashed into Hulkenberg before he even reached the first corner.

In Korea, he finished in 10th after overhauling Alguersuari in the final laps of the race.

And now he's got pole position after controlling the car on the wet track in Brazil, while more experienced drivers slid wide on the dry weather tyres.

He may have gained only 18 of Williams' 65 points this season—and he is behind fellow rookies Petrov and Kobayashi in the drivers championship—but he has impressed in qualifying sessions and races this season.

He might not win tomorrow, with the Red Bull drivers behind him on the grid, but he has definitely reminded us that he is in Formula One, and he is doing rather well.

From that, signing a F1 contract for next season might just come a little easier than it has in the past.

And who knows where his career could go from there.