They started out with a couple of guitars and a shared dream of reaching Arcadia, yet only after achieving their dreams of success did the relationship between them break down to the point of mutual hatred. What had happened to The Libertines? How did a band that were once the laughing stock of record company offices become Britain’s first cultural icon’s of the 21st century?

Led by the unique and intimate friendship between co-frontmen Pete Doherty and Carl Barat The Libertines were heralded as the successors to Oasis as the leaders of British rock/indie music. Yet only 3 years after being signed by legendary British Indie record label Rough Trade the band split up after various infighting. Why did such an influential band implode just as they achieved mainstream success?

From the outside 2003 was proving to be a good year for The Libertines. Their debut album Up The Bracket had achieved critical success and  magazines such as the NME were hailing them as the next big things for British music. Yet behind the scenes all was not well with The Libertines as Doherty increasingly felt that he was alone in respect to taking the band seriously, exasperating this was a period where Carl Barat would often go out in London to find what he later described as “the movers and shakers” , often bringing strangers home with him to carry on their party.

The anger Pete felt at this time was numbed with a significant increasing in his drug abuse. Whilst other members in the band had occasionally took drugs in the past Doherty’s increasing use of crack cocaine and heroine led to increasing tensions in the bad during the recording of Up The Bracket. This tension continued into 2003, reaching critical mass around the time of Barat’s birthday in June. Doherty was deeply hurt when Barat didn’t attend his celebration gig, refusing to take part in their European tour . After finding out the band left for a Japanese tour without him things reached fever pitch when a distraught Doherty burgled Barat’s flat and was subsequently arrested and sentenced to 6 months in prison (afterwards reduced on appeal to 2 months).

Doherty’s period of incarceration appeared to vastly improve his relationship with the band with Barat waiting outside the prison gates for him, even managing a comeback gig that same night.  Again the outside perception of increasing mainstream success appeared the reality as their string of gigs at the London Forum in December 2003 became “I was there moments” for the fans in a similar manner to how Spike Island 1990 felt for Stone Roses fans or how Knebworth 1996 felt for the legions of Oasis fans.  Afterwards these gigs were frequently used by music journalists to explain the significance of The Libertines for breaking down barriers between fans and bands as each night saw stage invasions . The band’s success morphed into 2004 with a Spring UK tour receiving rave reviews from fans and journalists alike.

The time had come for their second album yet it would prove to be their last. Tension’s flared again as Doherty’s ongoing drug addictions hampered recording. The protracted recording time only increased the tension between Doherty and Barat, to the point of bodyguards being used to keep them apart during the album process. Because of their close relationship with fans the troubles were soon common knowledge with the ticking time-bomb as The Libertines were now seen coming close to detonation by the end of the album recording process in Summer 2004. Indeed, this proved an awkward period as by the time of the album’s release in late August 2004 the relationship between Barat and Doherty had broken down completely to the point of mutual hatred. The Libertines had jettisoned Doherty by this point yet it quickly became apparent the band had lost their major spark as they struggled on the rest of 2004.

Ironically, the band’s best selling single was “Can’t Stand Me Now”, a autobiographical depiction of the once deeply intimate and close relationship between Doherty and Barat breaking up. Doherty later described the lyrics as being intended as ” a Beckett like dramatic statement of intent on both mine and Carl’s parts, yet in reality it’s more a sort of play for today.” Barat would also later describe the song as being “an awkward one to sing.”

In conclusion it appears that the mainstream success the band achieved affected Doherty in a major way to the point that he felt the need to escape it all which is where his drug abuse started. This abuse then led to both professional and personal tension between him and Barat, with their easy compatibility also meaning feelings of jealousy and anger an everyday part of their relationship. These feelings were exaggerated as Doherty’s life was increasingly controlled by drugs which seems to have worried and scared Barat a great deal. Whilst the relationship ultimately ended in despair and sadness a sign of it once love and intimacy were revealed as Barat admitting to considering becoming a heroine addict himself simply to remain close to Pete.

This story of sadness and betrayal does however have a happy ending as The Libertines announced their comeback in early 2010 by headlining Leeds and Reading festival. The sold out shows were a must see for fans of music not simply The Libertines which shows their ultimate significance to British music, and in my opinion what a fucking great band they were.

Last week at the results of a meeting between the F1 strategy group and the Formula One Commission were published by the FIA. Whilst a number of new sporting regulations were revealed it was one in particular that grabbed the headlines. The FIA announced that the final race of the F1 season, for 2014 it’s the Abu Dhabi GP, will now be a double points race for drivers to teams.

The explanation behind this drastic move was to increase the likeliness of a final race title showdown’s. Many journalists and fans of F1 has condemned this latest move as simply another gimmick to spice up “The Show” as F1 is increasingly referred to within the paddock.This argument appears to have some merit with other recent examples of what can be considered “gimmicks” are the deliberate introduction of tyre’s with  a short life span when Pirelli entered the sport in 2011 and the introduction of the DRS system, also in 2011, to aid overtaking by allowing cars within a second of each other to open their rear wing and therefore significantly increase their straight line speed.

On the other hand this double points final race will inevitably increase the future likelihood of a final race title showdown which is subsequently improve future numbers of television audiences  which then means more money for F1. The main reason for the level of criticism this rule has received center’s on the viewpoint of many F1 fans and journalists that this is simply an artificial “gimmick” to improve the racing. What is telling about this recent uproar is the fact drivers and teams are speaking out in criticism of this rule when usually they offer the words “no comment” to press reporters quizzing them about it. Indeed, Lotus went as far as posting a picture of their version of the 2014 rules openly mocking the new rule changes on their official Twitter page a few days after it was introduced. Current world champion Sebastien Vettel also described the double points rule as “absurd”   showing the utter contempt many within F1 feel towards the new double points rule.

Whilst many of the media will focus their reports on the polarising double points rule this was not the only rule changes announced by the FIA last week. Indeed, there have been a flurry of support for the other rule changes with the most popular appearing to be that from 2014 a driver will get to choose the number they will carry for their F1 career. This has been introduced by the FIA to make it easier for fans to follow certain drivers in races as a result of the fact many drivers now change their helmets for a majority of F1 races which has made it increasingly difficult for fans to find their favourite drivers when watching the races. Another upside for this new rule in the eye’s of particularly nostalgic F1 fans is the fact that it conjurs up images of the fantastically brave Gilles Villeneuve in his red Ferrari with the number 27 on the rear wing or even pictures of Nigel Mansell and the iconic Red 5 number that adorned his car for most of his career.

Something else that was introduced for 2014 by the FIA last week was a new 5 second penalty, which is to used for minor incidents during Grand Prix weekend’s . This was brought in because it was felt that for some incidents a drive through penalty, the previously smallest possible punishment, did not fit the crime and was too much of a hindrance on a driver’s race. This appears to be a sensible decision by the FIA as I would tend to agree that sometimes in the last few seasons a driver’s race has been ruined by a drive-through penalty.

A new and hugely significant step was taken for the 2015 last week also as the FIA announced that they plan to introduce a Cost Cap in F1 as a way to make F1 more sustainable. This is something that has been announced before yet has never happened however so whilst this is a good first step the FIA need to ensure this cost cap is fully implemented because many teams on the F 1 are increasingly struggling with finances as is evidenced by the rise in drivers bringing funding to teams these past few seasons.

Finally, from 2015 to the current day as the final rule change was to allow Pirelli to conduct a 3 day tyre test starting today, December 17th, at Bahrain with every team being invited. However,  only 6 teams have agreed to take part with those being Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, Sahara-Force India and Scuderia Toro Rosso.

Before the 2013 F1 season had even finished the talk in the paddock began on the driver market for the 2014 season. Whilst moves such as Kimi Raikkonen’s surprise return to Ferrari and Daniel Ricciardo’s promotion to Red Bull in 2014 have stolen the headlines, it the moves further down the grid which have the most long term significance on F1. In the last few years F1 has increasingly felt the financial pinch, however the 2013 season showed that the financial climate was only getting worse in F1 as stories developed through the season of star Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen not being paid at all in 2013 , and the Sauber team which needed significant Russian investment to even see out the season. This naturally has meant that finance is becoming the primary attribute teams are looking for from their 2014 drivers.

The most high profile example of these financial considerations was the ongoing Nico Hulkenberg to Lotus saga which dragged on for the final few months of the season. Whilst both were happy to team up together the deal became dependent on heavy investment from the mysterious Quantam motorsport group.Without this investment the cash-strapped team would be forced to take on a driver with financial backing for 2014. Whilst many deadlines were set the investment kept being delayed until the saga was finally put to bed last Friday when they announced Pastor Maldonado as team mate to Romain Grosjean for 2014.

Whilst Maldonado is already a Grand Prix winner with Williams in 2012 his temperament has been heavily questioned in the paddock and is believed to have been a significant factor in Williams decision to replace him despite it meaning a loss of his vast to PDVSA state oil dollars to the Lotus team.  Meanwhile for Hulkenberg, tipped by many as a future world champion, announced yesterday a move back to the Sahara Force-India team for 2014 . This move can be widely viewed as a good second choice for Hulkneberg who clearly would have preferred to have been in a race winning Lotus for 2014 , yet his lack of sponsorship dollars appears to be the only thing holding him back from a title contending drive which he clearly deserves.

Although Force-India are backed by wealthy businessman Vijay Mallaya they too are not immune from the financial crisis in F1 as their 2014 line-up appears to be motivated in part by finance . Whilst Nico Hulkenberg was clearly signed on merit it appears the second seat may be going to the highest bidder as the rumors suggest they are set to replace highly talented Paul Di Resta for 2014 with Sergio Perez , who brings a wealth of Telmex support. Whilst it is difficult to judge the talents of both individuals as they have shown they have supreme talent and deserve a decent drive in F1 the tie break clincher in this case appears to be the high level of sponsorship Perez can bring compared to Di Resta.  The current state of F1 must be hard to swallow for Di Resta who was being tipped for the second Ferrari or McLaren drive only a year ago yet now it appears he is unlikely to be on the F1 grid in 2014.

The team with the most pressing financial concerns of 2013 was surely the Sauber team who have built a reputation in F1 for delivering good results on an underfunded budget. Part of the deal for their Russian investment during the midway point of the season appears to be the fact they will promote rookie , and son of one of the investors , Sergey Sirotkin to a race drive in 2014 , however this is dependent on his ability to gain a superelicence over the winter. Whilst Sirotkin has proven to have talent during his 2013 World Series by Renault season the 18 year old appears to need several more years of experience before he could gain a berth in F1 on talent alone.  The second seat with the team appears to be also highly dependent on finance with firstly Adrian Sutil being the rumored favorite for the drive. Whilst he has shown promise on his return to F1 with Force-India in 2013 he was out-performed by Di Resta comfortably , it appears his sponsorship is the most enticing prospect to any team for 2014. The other outside contenders for the drive appear to be a return for either Sergio Perez or Esteban Gutierrez. Both are heavily backed by Carlos Slim and Telmex and both have driven for Sauber in the past . From these two it appears more likely Perez will be signed if he does not get the second Force-India drive.

Other moves such as Felipe Massa’s to Williams have drawn much less attention yet whilst he is an experienced and fast racing driver it appears his Brazilian backing was at the very least a plus point for the Williams who are still reeling from the loss of Maldonado’s state PDVSA funds, despite a settlement being agreed between both parties to end the relationship it appears highly unlikely this would be the same as the 40 million dollars sum they previously enjoyed from PDVSA.

Finally the ‘new’ teams are also feeling the pinch at the back of the grid as the chances of Marussia keeping Max  Chilton on for 2014 to partner the rapid Jules Bianchi appear to be dependent on his continued financial backing he brought to the team in 2014. Also the Caterham line-up for 2014 appears to center on the retention of rapid rookie Geido Van Der Garde , who also brings a healthy amount of Dutch backing to the team. This finance his brings appears to be a major factor in the decision for the second drive as it appears that if the team does not need much further backing to survive in 2014 they will take Heikki Kovalainen back after dumping him for Van Der Garde in 2013. If the team however needs another driver with backing it appears Charles Pic will retain his drive with the team.

In conclusion, the driver market for the 2014 season is heavily influenced by financial demands and this in my opinion is having a negative effect on F1 as it means that firstly drivers like Nico Hulkenberg are being denied the race winning drives they deserve meanwhile an even worse fact appears that even talented drivers such as Paul Di Resta appear to be off the grid for 2014. This to me shows how the financial demands teams need from drivers is allowing some drivers to attain F1 drives despite their talent not being enough to get the into F1 on it’s own yet drivers with the opposite situation are denied the F1 drives their talents should deserve and realistically expect.This is a very worrying time for F1 indeed.

At the end of his debut season in 2012 with the Lotus team many within the F1 paddock would have been perfectly happy to see the back of Romain Grosjean. Despite showing prodigious speed his race craft and spatial awareness, especially at starts, was found to be seriously lacking.

The result of this was many clumsy collisions with season low points being the first corner collision he cause at the Belgian GP which almost caused Fernando Alonso serious injury. After this the F1 stewards stepped in and gave Grosjean a one-race ban for the Italian GP as a punishment for his indiscretions during the season. The fact that Grosjean was the first driver to be banned since 1994 is an indication of the significance of the FIA punishment and the serious worries they had about Grosjean’s driving.

After professing to have learnt his lesson and be more cautious after returning from his ban, Grosjean’s race craft was again seriously questioned after he simply ran into the back of Mark Webber going into Turn 2 on the opening lap of the Japanese GP. This incident could be described at best as brain fade and at worst dangerous driving from Grosjean .

The Lotus team kept Grosjean for the 2013 season despite also publicly stating that his spatial awareness in battles and at the starts would have to improve for him to keep his drive past 2013. Initially he significantly improved his race craft and appeared to be getting into far fewer scrapes and accidents, although his blinding speed from 2012 appeared to be missing as he had only scored 26 points after Round 8 , compared to team mate’s Kimi Raikkonen’s haul of 98 points.

After a slight upturn in form over the next few races it appeared that Grosjean was beginning to make improvement’s with his driving. Then in the aftermath of the Italian GP it was announced that team leader Kimi Raikkonen would be moving to Ferrari for the 2014 season. This announcement would retrospectively appear to have had a major impact on Grosjean , as since this event Grosjean has stepped up significantly to outshine Raikkonen comfortably and become the undisputed team leader after 5 successive top 4 finishes including 4 podiums.

It isn’t just his speed which has impressed in the last few races as his race craft has also significantly improved . A good example of this is from the recent US GP where he managed to withstand immense pressure from Mark Webber in a much faster Red Bull late on to match his best ever result in F 1 of 2nd. This race single handedly showed that the Lotus team can be very happy that Grosjean will be leading the team in 2014 and that Grosjean is shaping up to be a front runner in F1 for the next few years at least.

Mark Webber also provides a good example of the 180 degree turn Romain Grosjean has made in F1 during his two years so far as he was highly critical of his driving after he had ruined his race in Japan last year, yet after the last few GP’s he has been speaking highly of his driving and leadership.