Since Sunday’s German Grand Prix in Hockenheim I have wanted to write a short post on my opinions of the fabricated result. However, I have been unsure of what to write and how much to write having read so many different columns, reports and blogs on the issue so far, many of which have addressed the issue in great depth. I decided, as stated in my original blog post, that it is better to write something than nothing if I am going to keep this blog going!
Let me start with the bottom line of the whole issue: Ferrari broke the rules. There are those who say that it happens all the way down the paddock and that fans are naive if they think this is the first time this has occurred under the new rules [ “39) THE RACE, 39.1 Team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited.”]. The point has been made that ultimately this is a team sport not an individuals sport. All of these things may be true, but this does not mean that Ferrari did not break the rules.
Ferrari broke the rules and have been fined by the FIA for doing so. This in itself has created an interesting issue. When Ferrari pulled a similar stunt in Austria in 2002, the FIA fined them $500,000 for bringing the sport into disrepute and a further $500,000 suspended fine for improper conduct on the podium when Michael Schumacher pushed Rubens Barrichello (the driver who had yielded on the final lap on that occasion) onto the top step. The most alarming thing here is that this $1 million in fines was issued when article 39.1 was not in place, as it is now, and team orders were an accepted part of motor racing. It was that incident in Austria 8 years ago that lead to article 39.1 being introduced. Although I should add that the $100,000 fine imposed on Ferrari on Sunday is apparently the highest that the FIA can impose (presumably without it going to the World Motor Sport Council).
So the FIA have clearly stated, through the $100,000 fine, that Ferrari broke the rules. This creates a nasty situation for the upcoming World Motor Sport Council meeting that the FIA have referred Ferrari to for their actions. If the FIA have stated Ferrari are guilty and imposed a tenth of the fine they were given when it was technically allowed in the sport then surely Ferrari are going to be hit with much heavier sanctions when the Council consider the case.
As it stands, I believe that Ferrari should be very heavily penalised for their actions as they made a mockery of the rules.Poor Rob Smedley having to make the radio transmission to his driver
“OK, so, Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?”
He argued, as he had to being Ferarri through and through, that this was simply a message telling Massa that he needed to get a move on and speed up. His subsequent message following the manoeuvre was:
“Good lad. Just stick with him now. Sorry.”
He made a good Ferrari PR attempt to justify that second message saying he was merely sharing the furstrations that his driver had been passed by another car – a standard comment he might make following any car, not just his team mate, passing him.
It is not fair to criticise Smedley for making these comments despite the fact we know, and he knows, that the justifications given for those two statements are nonsense. If they were not nonsense, why would he have said “Good lad”?
Smedley loves Ferrari and had a job to do as an employee of them which included justifying something he found hard to do (although fundamentally did not probably object to in principle as he understands the way the sport works). He had to make a statement to suggest they were not team orders. Many professionals linked with F1 have made the point that Spedley should never have been put in this situation. It was more senior management or the chief engineer that should have spoken, privately, to Massa over the radio.
I do feel that Felipe Massa and Rob Smedley are perhaps the only two that really come out with any credibility from this whole saga. They were both put in an incredibly difficult position and handled it with the utmost professionalism. Good on them both for not throwing their toys out the pram as many would have and they could have.
So where do we go from here? All who work in the sport accept that this is part of the sport. The difficulty is that it is now illegal to make such calls on who wins. Had article 39.1 not been in place at the weekend, yes fans would have been a bit upset but it would have been legal – a case similar to Austria in 2002. So has article 39.1 really made a difference? Team orders, we are told, still take place regularly just more discretely – this does not make them right.
Since Sunday my view has shifted more and more towards removing article 39.1 – as voiced by many within the sport. I do think that teams should make such calls more discretely than last weekend and also in Austria in 2002 but not to try and fool us that it is taking place, just simply to not highlight it and make a mockery of the race. If fans know it happens but it happens with a bit of respect (as much as is possible) then I don’t think there would be such an out cry if it was not illegal. Perhaps it could be spiced up and made legal but only if the driver yielding was made to drive through the pit lane to do so! Or would this also be avoided by illegal moves like it is now? Let me know your thoughts on that one!
I can’t help but state my feeling that had it been McLaren who had pulled this stunt the penalty imposed would have been harsher and the team would have been greater scrutinised from the powers that be!I do think many can see the point Ferrari are trying to make when saying that it has all been blown out of proportion but I also don’t think they have or will get very much sympathy unless the WMSC hands down a huge penalty such as banning them from the championship! Ferrari should consider if what they did really has made life better for them and if they do think that it is acceptable to participate in the sport in that way then perhaps they should focus their efforts of entering the world of Scalextric competitions rather than Formula 1, the pinnacle of motor sport.
Although Ferrari management are to blame for the way it all played out, I do feel one individual that deserves any criticism thrown his way is Alonso. Remarkably he has said that winning the German Grand Prix at the weekend gave him “a great feeling”!! The attitude displayed over the past few years with Renault, McLaren and now Ferrari are not much short of a child sulking then growing into a bully. I do not believe that it is any coincidence that his name is associated with the big scandals in F1 over the past few years, namely; the planned crash of Nelson Piquet at the Singapore Grand Prix to allow Alonso to benefit from a safety car, the costly fines imposed on McLaren in the spygate saga in which he turned on his employer because he wasn’t getting his own way and now this situation in which he moaned over the radio about being held up behind Massa as he needed Ferrari to tell Massa to let him past because he couldn’t do it on his own. Alonso could learn a lot and become a greater sportsman, given his obvious talent, if he modelled himself on the grace shown by both Massa and Smedley.
What do you think? Should Ferrari be heavily penalised by the WMSC next month? Is Alonso the type of sportsman wanted in F1? Should Massa and Smedley have just said “no”? Is this all a complete over reaction by the fans and media? Would it have been the same if another team, say Red Bull or McLaren, had done the same? What could the law makers do to spice up legalising team orders?
Do let me know your thoughts and leave a comment please!
-PlaneSimple
PlaneSimple Thoughts 