Jim Hargadon
February 24, 2001, 09:59 AM
British Formula 1 racing car commentator, Murray Walker is famous for his colourful commentary - he gets quite excited and comes up with some rare quotes - here are some of his 'Murrayisms'.
"And now excuse me while I interrupt myself!"
"This is lap 26 which, unless I'm very much mistaken, is halfway throught this 58 lap race."
"Alboreto into the pits and I'm going to stop the startwatch."
"There is a man with a great Grand Prix future behind him!"
"There is nothing wrong with the car except that it is on fire."
"The first four cars are both on the same tyres."
"There's been a major malmisorganisation problem there!"
"And Michael Schumacher is actually in a very good position. He is in last place."
"With half the race gone there is half the race still to go."
"The crowd holds its joint breath!"
"Look up there! That's the sky!"
"A sad ending, albeit a happy one, here at Montreal for today's Grand Prix."
"I imagine the conditions in those cars today are totally unimaginable."
"Schumacher is either coming into the pits on this lap or he's not."
"Twenty four points for Schumacher, twenty three points for Hill, so there's only one point between them if my mental arithmetic is correct.
"The beak of the Ayrton Senna chicken is pushing its way through the shell."
"...and now he is on Lap 77 out of 73!"
" ... and Edson Arantes di Nascimento, commonly known to us as Pele hands the award to Damon Hill, commonly known to us as... Damon Hill "
"It's raining and the track is wet!"
"And now the boot is on the other Schumacher!"
"I make no apologies for their absence. I'm sorry they're not here."
"This would have been Ayrton Senna's third win in a row had he won the two before."
"He's here again for the first time."
"A mediocre season for Nelson Piquet as he is now known and always has been."
"And Michael Schumacher, as I expected, is now extending his lead over Michael Schumacher!"
"...in 12th and 13th the two Jaguars of Eddie Irvine."
"This is an interesting circuit because it has inclines, and not just up, but down as well."
"The Benetton...handling superbly as ever. Williams have worked very, very hard on this car at the beginning of the season."
"Even in five years' time, he (Coulthard) will still be four years younger than Damon Hill."
"Jenson Button ... driving like the veteran he is not."
"And Nelson Piquet must be furious with himself inside his helmet."
"And we have had 5 races so far this year, Brazil, Argentina, Imola, Schumacher and Monaco!"
"We are in lap 19 of lap 19."
"This is lap 54. After that it's 55, 56, 57, 58 ...
"Either the car is stationary or it's on the move."
"For the second time in the very recent future ..."
"He's shedding buckets of adrenaline in that car!"
"We now have exactly the same situation as at the beginning of the race, only exactly opposite."
"His hopes, which were nil before, are absolutely zero now."
"Ralf Schumacher has been upstaged by the teenager, Jenson Button, who is 20."
"He can't decide whether to have his visor half open or half closed."
"The status quo could well be as it was before."
"Heinz Harald Frentzen has already won three Grands Prix this year - two of them last year..."
"Speaking from memory, I don't know how many points Piquet has got."
"There are four different cars filling the first four places."
"I wonder if Watson is in the relaxed state of mind that he's in?"
"The faster he goes the quicker he'll get to the pits. The slower he goes the longer it will take"
"There goes Panis in the Prost. For years we knew them as Ligiers, because that is what they were called."
"With two laps to go then the action will begin, unless this is the action, which it is."
"The battle is well and truly on if it wasn't before, and it certainly was."
"Now, in case there is any confusion - Coulthard leads and has yet to stop, Hakkinen leads and has yet to stop."
"He's in front of everyone in this race except for the two in front of him."
"He's not going to produce a winner, but if he produces second it'll be the next best thing."
"It's not quite a curve. It's a straight actually!"
"Now he must not go the wrong way round the circuit, and unless he can spin himself stationary through 360 degrees I fail to see how he can avoid doing so."
"... the man who won in 83, 85, and 86, so this could be his hat trick."
"It looks as though this year there will be seventeen Grands Prix for the World Championship, compared with the traditional seventeen."
"Barrichello is about to drive in his fourth race for Ferrari, following the great Ayrton Senna who never drove for Ferrari."
"Alboreto has dropped back up to fifth place."
"And Panis is almost literally laughing his head off in that car."
"... and the Peugeot cup of misery is filled past overflowing"
"And I usually say that if anything is going to go wrong with the car, it has done by now, but I'm not going to say that about Jacques Villeneuve ... Oh! I already have."
"As you look at the first four, the significant thing is that Alboretto is fifth."
"And now Jacques Laffitte is as close to Surer as Surer is to Laffitte."
"He's obviously gone into the pits for a wheel change. I say 'obviously' because I can't see it."
"As you can see, visually, with your eyes ..."
" ... and cruel luck for Alesi, second on the grid. That's the first time he had started from the front row in a Grand Prix, having done so in Canada earlier this year."
"At Silverstone Eddie Irvine led with Irvine second, now it's the other way round!""
"Jean Alesi is 4th and 5th!"
"The gap between the two cars is 0.9 of a second which is less than one second."
"You can cut the tension with a cricket stump."
"And the track temperature has in fact risen in degrees!"
"Just under ten seconds for Mansell. Call it nine point five seconds in round figures."
"Nigel Mansell! The man of the race, the man of the day, the man from the Isle of Man"
"There are only four cars out on the circuit at the present moment and two of them are in the garage."
"This race will actually develop into a Grand Prix"
"Congratulations to me there!"
"And now excuse me while I interrupt myself!"
"This is lap 26 which, unless I'm very much mistaken, is halfway throught this 58 lap race."
"Alboreto into the pits and I'm going to stop the startwatch."
"There is a man with a great Grand Prix future behind him!"
"There is nothing wrong with the car except that it is on fire."
"The first four cars are both on the same tyres."
"There's been a major malmisorganisation problem there!"
"And Michael Schumacher is actually in a very good position. He is in last place."
"With half the race gone there is half the race still to go."
"The crowd holds its joint breath!"
"Look up there! That's the sky!"
"A sad ending, albeit a happy one, here at Montreal for today's Grand Prix."
"I imagine the conditions in those cars today are totally unimaginable."
"Schumacher is either coming into the pits on this lap or he's not."
"Twenty four points for Schumacher, twenty three points for Hill, so there's only one point between them if my mental arithmetic is correct.
"The beak of the Ayrton Senna chicken is pushing its way through the shell."
"...and now he is on Lap 77 out of 73!"
" ... and Edson Arantes di Nascimento, commonly known to us as Pele hands the award to Damon Hill, commonly known to us as... Damon Hill "
"It's raining and the track is wet!"
"And now the boot is on the other Schumacher!"
"I make no apologies for their absence. I'm sorry they're not here."
"This would have been Ayrton Senna's third win in a row had he won the two before."
"He's here again for the first time."
"A mediocre season for Nelson Piquet as he is now known and always has been."
"And Michael Schumacher, as I expected, is now extending his lead over Michael Schumacher!"
"...in 12th and 13th the two Jaguars of Eddie Irvine."
"This is an interesting circuit because it has inclines, and not just up, but down as well."
"The Benetton...handling superbly as ever. Williams have worked very, very hard on this car at the beginning of the season."
"Even in five years' time, he (Coulthard) will still be four years younger than Damon Hill."
"Jenson Button ... driving like the veteran he is not."
"And Nelson Piquet must be furious with himself inside his helmet."
"And we have had 5 races so far this year, Brazil, Argentina, Imola, Schumacher and Monaco!"
"We are in lap 19 of lap 19."
"This is lap 54. After that it's 55, 56, 57, 58 ...
"Either the car is stationary or it's on the move."
"For the second time in the very recent future ..."
"He's shedding buckets of adrenaline in that car!"
"We now have exactly the same situation as at the beginning of the race, only exactly opposite."
"His hopes, which were nil before, are absolutely zero now."
"Ralf Schumacher has been upstaged by the teenager, Jenson Button, who is 20."
"He can't decide whether to have his visor half open or half closed."
"The status quo could well be as it was before."
"Heinz Harald Frentzen has already won three Grands Prix this year - two of them last year..."
"Speaking from memory, I don't know how many points Piquet has got."
"There are four different cars filling the first four places."
"I wonder if Watson is in the relaxed state of mind that he's in?"
"The faster he goes the quicker he'll get to the pits. The slower he goes the longer it will take"
"There goes Panis in the Prost. For years we knew them as Ligiers, because that is what they were called."
"With two laps to go then the action will begin, unless this is the action, which it is."
"The battle is well and truly on if it wasn't before, and it certainly was."
"Now, in case there is any confusion - Coulthard leads and has yet to stop, Hakkinen leads and has yet to stop."
"He's in front of everyone in this race except for the two in front of him."
"He's not going to produce a winner, but if he produces second it'll be the next best thing."
"It's not quite a curve. It's a straight actually!"
"Now he must not go the wrong way round the circuit, and unless he can spin himself stationary through 360 degrees I fail to see how he can avoid doing so."
"... the man who won in 83, 85, and 86, so this could be his hat trick."
"It looks as though this year there will be seventeen Grands Prix for the World Championship, compared with the traditional seventeen."
"Barrichello is about to drive in his fourth race for Ferrari, following the great Ayrton Senna who never drove for Ferrari."
"Alboreto has dropped back up to fifth place."
"And Panis is almost literally laughing his head off in that car."
"... and the Peugeot cup of misery is filled past overflowing"
"And I usually say that if anything is going to go wrong with the car, it has done by now, but I'm not going to say that about Jacques Villeneuve ... Oh! I already have."
"As you look at the first four, the significant thing is that Alboretto is fifth."
"And now Jacques Laffitte is as close to Surer as Surer is to Laffitte."
"He's obviously gone into the pits for a wheel change. I say 'obviously' because I can't see it."
"As you can see, visually, with your eyes ..."
" ... and cruel luck for Alesi, second on the grid. That's the first time he had started from the front row in a Grand Prix, having done so in Canada earlier this year."
"At Silverstone Eddie Irvine led with Irvine second, now it's the other way round!""
"Jean Alesi is 4th and 5th!"
"The gap between the two cars is 0.9 of a second which is less than one second."
"You can cut the tension with a cricket stump."
"And the track temperature has in fact risen in degrees!"
"Just under ten seconds for Mansell. Call it nine point five seconds in round figures."
"Nigel Mansell! The man of the race, the man of the day, the man from the Isle of Man"
"There are only four cars out on the circuit at the present moment and two of them are in the garage."
"This race will actually develop into a Grand Prix"
"Congratulations to me there!"
