Yes, this is another controversial post, so what, it’s a controversial issue.
Formula 1 has engineered itself criticism again, through the same rules that got the sport into hot water years ago, and even more worrying – by the same team, Ferrari.
I fully agree that it’s a team sport, and one driver should be able to help out the other driver, but, and this to my mind is crucial, it should be that driver’s choice, not the team’s enforcement.
However, once one driver doesn’t have a realistic expectation to win the title, then, I think it is a reasonable expectation from the team that the driver should “move over” during the course of a race, and again, crucially, if, and *only* if that driver’s team-mate is immediately behind them on the track – but *not* by the team deliberately sabotaging the drivers car in the case of what Ferrari did to Massa’s car at the US GP.
What they did, was to deliberately break the seal on the gearbox of Massa’s car, so that they would deliberately get a penalty, of 5 grid positions for Massa, thus both dropping Massa behind Alonso, but also pushing Alonso to the “clean” side of the grid.
That is deciding the outcome of a race outside the scope of actual racing miles.
A race has got to be defined as multiple cars and drivers doing their best with their talents and machinery, to beat the next man out there, the desire to battle it out against all others, and come out on top.
This fight is why I like Hamilton’s style, he is that fighter, like Schumacher, Senna, and Mansell were. (and, to my eyes, a little unlike Prost, Button, Hill, good but too “professor-ish” only doing *just* enough)
Did it work ? Well, it appears that way, Alonso got a good start, and ended up on the podium.
Did it influence the outcome of the championship, definitely, it has pushed the championship to the last race, Bernie and the FIA have got to be delighted about that, which is one reason I think that no sanctions will be metered out to Ferrari.
Ferrari says, through Domenicali, that the deliberate tampering of the seal on Massa’s car was done within the rules, ok, maybe I grant them that, at least to the letter of the rules, however, he also says it was done within the boundaries of the “spirit of the rules”
That, I very much disagree with.
The spirit of any rules in *any* sport is to ensure a fair, consistent level playing field amongst all competitors, this artificial tampering, alters those rules, it changes the playing field, it creates a nasty taste in the mouth.
All the drivers that busted a gut in qualifying, i.e. all of them, ended up the session knowing where they were, and by all judges in the crowd, you know, the important ones, the ones that *PAID* to see the quail session, they had witnessed a proper shoot-out, people ended up in grid slots that were appropriate to the level of skill, both from car, and driver.
To alter that when *NO* technical rules were broken, is quite frankly appalling.
The grid place penalty is there for one reason, to penalise the driver/team of the car that has *unfairly* gained an advantage through either poor driving, or infringement of the technical rules that ensure the level playing field, such as ensuring the same level of reliability by restrictions on number of gearboxes etc.
Now, if Massa’s gearbox had really broken, then ok, not a problem, but it hadn’t.
I also not sure about the status of things such that if an engineer saw that a gearbox was *going* to fail at some point during the race, should the team be allowed to change it and incur a penalty?
No, I think they should be forced to race, and take the consequences, i.e. a retirement, that is a *MUCH* bigger penalty for mechanical failure than a 5 place grid drop in my (very humble) opinion.
Anyway, back to the “problem” with Massa and his deliberately tampered with gearbox seal.
Well, the 5 place drop made 5 other cars change their positions on the grid.
OK, some could argue that someone who was in 5th, now got promoted to 4th, but, it’s not that easy.
At all circuits, there is a “beneficial” side of the circuit as that is the side of the circuit that the racing line is on, and this means there is more rubber laid down, on this piece of tarmac, which means there is more grip.
In Austin, the track is new, so there is a massive difference in the two sides of the track, so those that qualified in the odd side of the track, and thus behind pole, are on the grippier, or better side of the track.
So, the demotion of Massa, meant a group of drivers got penalised by being put onto the less grippy side of the track – HOWEVER – in Alonso’s case, this meant that he went from the less perfect side, to the better side – all for the team.
Bottom line – Ferrari artificially altered the grid, thus Alonso’s chances in the race at the *detriment* to a number of other drivers on the grid, and *not* because of a technical infringement or technical failure, but by a cynical manipulation of the rules, in complete contrast to the spirit of the said rules.
Martin Whitmarsh, the Mclaren team boss, is a little on the fence.
Reading between his lines here, I get the distinct impression that he doesn’t approve, and also from the same article, I get the impression other teams feel a little uncomfortable.
I can understand why, I feel uncomfortable as a spectator (albeit armchair one)
From where I sit, could I say, that in my humble opinion that Ferrari have brought the crown in the motorsport world into disrepute again ?
Yes – I do, that is what I would charge Ferrari with, bringing the sport into disrepute, but I will bet that no action is taken at the FIA, as it made the last race of the season the title decider, and that will pull in the crowds in Brazil, and on the TV…. and make Bernie a fair few more dollars.
