Monday, June 23, 2008

THE FRENCH DISASTER

I was working during the Magny-Cours race so I couldn't really enjoy the race or catch as many details as I could. But going into the race with a 10 place grid penalty is no good and wouldn't help anybody's chances of winning the race.

An addition of a drive through penalty really does not help either. I watched the race as much as I could and did manage to see Lewis try to overtake Vettel which caused the said penalty. And after getting back home, I managed to read up on the race reports and opinions from all parties. The information I had was from a few respected F1 websites such as Planet F1, F1fanatic, Pitpass, etc.

Yes, Lewis did make mistakes and he might have been wrong here and there, sometimes he is right too. But it seems to me overall, my impression that is, is that the FIA (read Max) is really out to get McLaren. There I said it, even if so many people don't want to say it. It's so obvious. Here's a paragraph from Planet F1 under their article called "French GP Winners and Losers" (which is re-published here):

Losers
FIA Credibility
In Canada Lewis Hamilton was rightly penalised for his pit lane accident - at the same grand prix Sebastian Vettel was only able to stop Heikki Kovalainen overtaking him by repeatedly cutting the apex on the last chicane. He wasn't penalised.

In France, Lewis Hamilton overtook Vettel but could only do so by making the pass then running over the Imola chicane. He too got an advantage from cutting the chicane and was rightly penalised. So if Lewis in France, why not Vettel in Canada?

In qualifying (Q1) Heikki Kovalainen tried to get out of the way of Mark Webber who was on a timed lap, but did it too late. Webber didn't lose out, yet Kovalainen was penalised and demoted five places down the grid. Also in qualifying, we were riding on board with Sebastien Bourdais on a timed lap when we came across a Ferrari heading towards the Adelaide hairpin. The Ferrari didn't move out of the way and Bourdais had to go off the racing line and round him. So how come that is not worthy of a penalty?

The inconsistent application of the rules makes F1's race stewards a laughing stock.

Come to think of it, Felipe Massa's glorious overtaking move on Kovalainen and Barrichello at the Casino hairpin in Canada was only possible by cutting the apex with two wheels on the grass on the inside of the kerbs. What about that then...? He didn't just cut the apex, he cut the grass on the apex.

Also, please read the article I re-published here titled "FIA man involved in decision to penalise Hamilton". Plus please read up from as many sources as you can. At the end of the day, it is inescapable that a bias will reveal itself and that bias is from the FIA towards Ferrari, or should I say against McLaren. When will it end I wonder? When Max leaves office? I'm sure he'll put a replacement that listens to him to protect Ferrari and makes sure Ferrari wins for years to come based on FIA support. This is really making me sick.

I really look forward to a non Ferrari team to win both championships one day. Then we can all go back to enjoying our beloved sport and fairness shall return.

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