Rommel jumps for joy at Shanghai F1

By Al S. Mendoza

SHANGHAI, China – It was a story of near misses.

That, in a nutshell, was the China Grand Prix on Sunday, April 17, which I was privileged to cover – thanks chiefly to Foton Motor Phils., China’s No. 1 truck manufacturer.

Foton is relatively new in the country but already, mainly because of its superior engine and world-renowned quality as partner of Daimler of Germany, it had sold a fleet of ambulances plus dozens of pick-ups.

I take delight in Foton having me as guest to this year’s third leg here of Formula One, the world’s fastest motor sport, where driving at 200kph is considered too slow.

It is a race for the brave, courageous, honorable.

The Formula One car, once it gets mishandled, could fly out of the track, right smack into the stands that teem with fans too rabid enough to make football enthusiasts mere sissies.

No driver can advance to Formula 1 without first winning a Formula 3 event, such as the Macau Grand Prix.

And the Macau GP, mind you, is no picnic, either. It tests your skill, stamina and sense of racing to the hilt.

Take the Shanghai F1 on 17 April.

The day before, during the qualifying races for pole positions on Saturday, Australian Mark Webber almost got bumped off the starting blocks due to poor showing, plummeting to 18th on the grid.

I’ve watched him race three times from the sidelines in Malaysia (twice) and Singapore (once).  He is really good.

But on Sunday, Webber outdid himself, climbing from 18th to third. I said to myself, “Wow!  Is this real?”

Not even the 7-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher, in his prime, had not done such spectacular feat.

“Webber has probably passed more cars in one day than in the last five years,” said

Christian Horner, Webber’s boss at Red Bull Team.

To grab the crucial third place, Webber overtook former world champion and then third-running Jenson Button with two laps to go.

And who was the driver who almost didn’t make it to the grid on race day?

Lewis Hamilton of England, the 2008 world champion.

With seconds to go, Hamilton’s McLaren seemed not in shape to run.

It was in the nick of time that Hamilton got to his spot before the 24 cars were fired off.

And, just when Sebastian Vettel, 23, seemed all set to win as pole sitter, Hamilton, 26, zoomed from behind, grabbing the lead from the defending champion German.

It came with only four laps to go in the 56-lap race as Hamilton stopped Vettel’s winning streak at four, adding the last two legs of the last season.

The crowd of more than 20,000 that included Rommel Sytin, the sweet-smiling Foton Motor Phils. President, erupted with joy over Hamilton’s trick of winning his first leg of the season after Vettel swept the first two races in Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur.

It was a repeat of Hamilton’s victory in 2008 when he won the world crown, moving him to 47 points (25 pts to the winner).  Vettel still leads with 68 going to Turkey in two weeks time.

This was the seventh China GP since it debuted in 2004.

As I said, if it weren’t for Rommel, with his very low-key wife, Ada, and their two young sons joining us for the trip (Vince Licup of “GadgetsinStyle” and his son, Yves, we also with us), I wouldn’t have made it here.

“Are we coming back next year, Manong Al?” Rommel said.

“Umm, wait,” I said. “Why not?  Thanks. Sana lang, the F1 next year won’t coincide with my birthday or the missus might torpedo our plan.”

Rommel smiled.

“Let’s pray it won’t,” Rommel said.  “I hate to see lovers having a spat.”

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