Formula One silly season, rumor roundup and superhero shenanigans
F1 is all about performance, speed and technology. But did you know that there is a lot of intrigue and speculation that is associated with F1 too? All of a sudden I find that the F1 ecosystem is abound with juicy driver and team gossip. Everyone’s focus seems to have shifted from race predictions and strategy analysis to conspiracy theory discussions like which drivers will shift teams and where they will end up. Certainly seems that Lewis Hamilton of McLaren is at the center of these theories, and a change in teams for him will lead to a sort of domino effect that will be felt through the F1 world.
I have been quite captivated by all the speculation and possible permutations, so I mentioned it to my resident F1 expert and guide. His response? “Oh, it’s just the start of silly season.” So apparently all of this speculation occurs every year during the F1 season and has its own moniker. Excellent. There are lots of sites and blogs out there dedicated to it, in fact. Here’s one to check out from real-motorsport.com that will give you the lay of the land.
I wondered if there was anything analogous to silly season in the technology world. Apple and its i-product suite come to mind. As soon as a new version of an i-device is announced the speculation begins and boy oh boy, can it get wild – and can the speculators get it wrong. I remember last year while waiting for the iPhone 5 to come out a picture of a prototype started making the rounds on the Internet. Turns out this “prototype” was just a design that an average citizen with no relation to Apple had come up with on their own. As we all know now, the iPhone 5 was further delayed, and we all had to settle for a scaled back version – what we all lovingly refer to now as the iPhone 4S. As it turns out, CNET has actually resurrected the iPhone 5 rumor roundup to cover the new tidbits from 2012.
Since it’s my first silly season with F1, I certainly won’t be foolish enough to make any predictions of my own. Well, none that I will say out loud anyway. I’ll just watch the shenanigans and enjoy the fun.
Speaking of shenanigans, be sure to join us at the Atlanta TechCrunch mini meet-up this Monday, July 9th. Adult beverages will be flowing as we visit the SweetWater Brewery Co. in the heart of the ATL, and we’ll be sponsoring the food truck. We’ll also be giving away $500 in free cloud services to one lucky winner. Plus, our “cloud superhero” (made famous by our “The Top 5 Mistakes You Want to Avoid When Becoming a Cloud Superhero.”) will also be on hand for photo ops. You can RSVP to the event here.
