The Vee8 and Formula One 26/07/2008 There are times when the F1 world goes quiet, when all the rumors and off-track excitement goes away and the bloggers are left to dig deep for subjects to pontificate upon. This has been one of those weeks for me - I had a lucky hit on Thursday, when a post on KERS suddenly fired me up about environmental issues, but otherwise there has been little to get excited about.Atmospheric shot of a Toyota TF108Mosley's win in court? Hardly the surprise of the year after the star witness for the defence ducked out. Testing at Jerez? Meaningless, since everyone was trying out new stuff for 2009 as well as preparing for the Hungarian GP. And yes, the prospect of the Hungaroring hardly sets one on tenterhooks. Admittedly, the race does sometimes produce a great contest but, in general, it is seen as a processional circuit where overtaking is impossible.In looking for something to write about, I come eventually and inevitably to Doctor Vee's Vee8 blog. In the short time that it has been given its independence from its parent blog, Vee8 has become a must-read. The good doctor has evolved a format that is ideal as an overview of the sport, including his own thoughts, guest articles, live blogging and the outstanding daily pick of articles from F1 sites and blogs (I never understood the Twitter thing and think it an improvement that it has been knocked on the head, therefore).It might be thought that I am recommending Vee8 because my own blog gets the occasional mention; but that makes no sense, really, since any of my readers will already know about F1 Insight before they wander over to see what Doctor Vee has to say. I review Vee8 at this time because it is one of the best - honest.As an illustration of the blog's excellence, note that Doctor Vee has written of his thoughts on the Mosley case, something I decided against as many of my thoughts on the matter are unprintable. In essence, I agree with the doctor's take, although I might have put things a little more strongly. But the point is that Doctor Vee has had the courage to say what he thinks, always a slightly risky matter when commenting on things of a litigious nature. Max has not singled out any blogs as yet, but there is a first time for everything.The doctor's opinion posts are always well worth a read but I must return to those daily links to other F1 posts - they save me a lot of digging around and invariably point at some articles that I would never have found. Thank you, Doctor Vee.It might be wondered why I continue to refer to Doctor Vee when he openly admits to being Duncan Stephen in reality. The truth is that I like the assumed name because it gives me a chance to refer to "the good doctor" (and thank you too, Dr Mario Theissen); plus, I enjoy the quote from the doctor's personal blog that states that he is not really a vee. The implication, for those who don't get it, is that he is, in fact, a doctor - and that amuses me as a roundabout way of stating the fact.So I have no hesitation in recommending a daily visit to Vee8. It really is the blog that reaches the parts other beers do not (sorry - obscure reference to a Brit TV advertisement).
Clive
LazerFX Technically, it's "Refreshes the parts...", but I'll let that slide ;) Thanks for the link, very interesting. Date Added: 26/07/2008
Clive Ah yes, "refreshes". It was all a long time ago... ;)Thanks for the correction, Lazer. Date Added: 26/07/2008
doctorvee Wow, thank you very much for those kind words! You've got me a bit worried about the Max Mosley thing now though!Also you got the quote from my blog slightly wrong. It says I'm not a real vee -- the implication being that I am a real doctor. :-)But wow again, thanks. I didn't realise vee8 was one of the best! Date Added: 26/07/2008
Clive Dang, you're right, Doctor Vee - I was so certain it was the other way around. But I like it still, even if it means that I have to be on my toes, now that I realize I'm dealing with a doctor, not a vee!All the rest is true, however - a fine blog and one of the best. Date Added: 26/07/2008
Alianora La Canta vee8 is indeed a good blog.Wish mine would start working again (at the moment, the forum forbids me from entering it or anything subordinate to it, including the blog). Date Added: 27/07/2008
Pink Peril Well, Dr Vee's was the first F1 blog I ever read, and look where it's lead me !He got me hooked, for sure ;) Date Added: 28/07/2008
boy george Great post. I didn't know about Doctor Vee's blog. I checked it out it's pretty cool and informative. Thanks Date Added: 28/07/2008
Clive Alianora: I'm getting a similar problem with F1 Pitlane at the moment - the past few days it has been extremely slow to let me in and sometimes refuses altogether. As a result, I have been late in editing or publishing some articles and must apologise for that. Must have a word with John about it... Date Added: 28/07/2008
Clive Peril: A happy chance for us both, then! And another illustration of how connections throughout the net are good for every user. Date Added: 28/07/2008
Clive Boy George: Much better! You still get the link in your name and demonstrate to me that you actually read the post. So much more friendly than just inserting an ad for one's own site! Thank you for reading! Date Added: 28/07/2008
Becken I do love this reviews, Clive.Talking about Stephen´s blog and about what concerns me, McLaren and Lewis, I confess that Stephens has made one of the most interesting and constructive criticism about Lewis and McLaren (including the media, been more specifically, about the hype around Lewis) in the last months. He is always very balanced and never writes such nonsense that I use to read around other blogs.I really love the blog and the way Stephen runs it. It is always a contraponto in the F1news about Lewis and McLaren. Date Added: 28/07/2008
Clive Absolutely, Becken - Vee8 is one of my favorite blogs and the doctor's balanced and measured views are always a pleasure to read. Glad you enjoy it too. Date Added: 28/07/2008
patrick I'd read Dr Vee's site occasionally before, but I've only just realised that he's another Edinburgh-based F1 blogger. I'd assumed I was the only one!It's an interesting site - thanks for reminding me of its' existence Date Added: 31/07/2008
Clive Entirely welcome, Patrick. It seems you Edinburgh bloggers are all very good! Date Added: 31/07/2008
RSS comments feed
Back to the main blog
You may use some HTML in comments. For bold text use <strong></strong> and for italic text use <em></em>. If you know what you're doing feel free to use more complex mark-up but please no deprecated tags, break tags or JavaScript.
Enter the code shown above: Name * Comment * Email * URL
