Alonso Wins Controversial F1 Race
Fernando Alonso celebrates his win with a disappointed Felipe Massa and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.
Formula One was engulfed in a fresh ‘team orders’ row on Sunday night after Ferrari were found guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute by ordering Felipe Massa to stand aside and let Fernando Alonso win Sunday’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
The Italian team were fined $100,000 (R740000) on the spot, with the matter also referred to the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council “for further consideration” under Article 151c of its Sporting Code, which basically gives the governing body carte blanche to sanction Ferrari as it sees fit.
Punishments could range from a slap on the wrist to exclusion from the championship, with a hearing not expected to take place until after this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, during the sport’s August break.
The verdict capped a controversial day in Germany in which the stewards also mulled over the legality of the front wings on the Ferrari and Red Bull cars, although these were later cleared.
It was an uncomfortable victory for Ferrari, who should have been celebrating their first one-two since the season-opening race in Bahrain. But they ended up defending their Machiavellian tactics. In an ideal world it would have been Massa celebrating his first win since Brazil in 2008. The Brazilian’s dejection at the end — he looked utterly miserable in the post-race press conference — was all the more poignant for the fact that yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of his near-fatal accident in Budapest when he was hit on the helmet by a metal spring and spent almost three days in an induced coma.
Capitalising on Sebastian Vettel’s poor start from pole and the German’s subsequent preoccupation with Alonso, Massa, starting third, passed the pair on the outside and led the race going into the first corner. Although Alonso generally had the better pace, and indeed briefly passed Massa on lap 21, the Spaniard could not make the move stick and voiced his frustrations to the pit wall, and the wider world, saying: “This is ridiculous.”
Ferrari were faced with a difficult decision and eventually decided to back Alonso, who led Massa by 31 points going into the race. On lap 47 Massa’s race engineer, Rob Smedley, came on the radio to deliver the crushing news: “OK, so, Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?”
The whole world understood it. Two laps later Massa allowed the Spaniard through on the exit to turn six, whereupon a sympathetic Smedley came on again: “Good lad. Just stick with it now. Sorry.”
It may not have been as blatant a case of team orders as the incident at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix when Rubens Barrichello pulled over on the finish straight to allow Michael Schumacher past, but it was fooling no one. Eddie Jordan, commenting on the BBC, described the incident as “theft”. “They stole from us the chance of having a wheel-to-wheel contest between the drivers,” he said. “Ferrari should be ashamed. For me, it is cheating and these two cars should be excluded.”
Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, was also scathing. “The regulations are pretty clear,” he said. “Team orders are not allowed.”
Indeed. Article 39.1 of the FIA’s Sporting Regulations, introduced in the wake of the incident in Austria in 2002, states: “Team orders which interfere with the race result will be prohibited.”
Ferrari and Massa later tried to claim, half-heartedly in the case of the Brazilian, that the idea had been the driver’s. “I’m very professional and I’ve showed today how professional I am,” Massa said during a heated press conference. “You have your job to do and I have mine.”
Alonso, by contrast, was unapologetic. Asked if he ranked this result up there with Singapore 2008, the infamous race in which Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jnr crashed his car to help his then team-mate win. “I think you have a very strong result from Ferrari today, one and two, a very strong performance all weekend and if the final thought of the weekend is your question it’s because maybe you didn’t see the whole practice, qualifying and the race,” he said.
Not good enough. Pressed on whether he could understand why some fans might feel cheated, Alonso made reference to Red Bull’s episode in Turkey when their drivers crashed into one another while fighting for the race lead. “Today Ferrari has 42 points [sic; 43] in their pocket, so I think it’s what we are here for,” he noted.
The end justifies the means, in other words. It did not wash with his audience, many of whom booed and hissed, and clearly it did not wash with the stewards either.
It was not supposed to happen like this. Vettel, the darling of the thousands of fans who packed Hockenheim, was meant to emerge from Michael Schumacher’s shadow to press his claims for the world title. He again choked on the start line and finished third, thereby going level on points with Webber in the standings.
It was another spot of plundering in Spain’s bountiful sporting summer. Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, the footballers in South Africa, Alberto Contador in the Tour de France and now Alonso, back in the F1 hunt.
The sport needed him back. Even tarnished by controversy.
Courtesy of The Telegraph
Hamilton Fights Back After Costly Crash
Lewis Hamilton
Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton suffered a costly crash in practice for the German Grand Prix on Friday while rivals Ferrari and Red Bull showed off their speed.
McLaren’s Hamilton had to sit out all but 12 minutes of the afternoon session, led by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, after skidding off and smashing sideways into the tyre wall in the morning.
The impact, after the McLaren snapped right and skimmed across the grass, damaged three corners of the car.
“I’m in the wall, the car is damaged. Heavily,” he said over the team radio.
The 2008 world champion, a winner at Hockenheim in 2008, still managed to set the seventh fastest time despite completing just 10 laps after lunch to add to the eight he did in the morning.
Team mate Jenson Button, the reigning world champion who is 12 points behind the younger Briton, ended the first session third fastest but was only 15th in the second.
Overall leaders McLaren had hoped to get some testing miles on their new floor and ‘blown diffuser’ but the wet conditions made that difficult.
While they struggled, Ferrari and Red Bull filled the top four places.
Ferrari’s double world champion Fernando Alonso was fastest with a lap of one minute 16.265, 0.029 quicker than home favourite Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull.
The German’s Australian team mate Mark Webber was fourth behind Ferrari’s Brazilian Felipe Massa.
The morning session, run in heavier rain with cars skidding and spinning as if on an ice rink, saw Force India’s Adrian Sutil top the timesheets with compatriot Michael Schumacher lapping second slowest.
Sutil, always good in the rain, took advantage of a drying track towards the end of the session to post a best time of 1:25.701.
The 41-year-old Schumacher’s quickest lap in the morning on his first home appearance for Mercedes was 0.341 better than Japanese tail-ender Sakon Yamamoto, preparing for only his second race since 2007.
The seven times world champion, back at Hockenheim after a four-year absence, had talked on Thursday of his hopes of getting back on the podium and made that look more likely with the sixth best time in the afternoon.
In a reflection of the fickle conditions, Germany’s Timo Glock was 12th fastest for newcomers Virgin Racing in the morning.
Normal service was resumed later on, with Glock back in a nonetheless respectable 19th place.
Courtesy of stuff.co.nz
Mark Webber Clears The Air At Red Bull
Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing.
Mark Webber has joked that acquiring tattoos and an earring could boost his Formula One world title quest.
Webber apologised last week for his “not bad for a No.2 driver” jibe at Red Bull team bosses immediately after his British Grand Prix victory at Silverstone, which moved him past team-mate Sebastian Vettel to third in the standings.
But the Australian hasn’t given up wisecracking about the rivalry with his young German team-mate, even while denying it has divided the Red Bull team into two camps.
There were reports that Webber’s pit crew goaded Vettel’s mechanics after the Silverstone race, rubbing in the fact that he won despite having a front wing taken from his car and put on Vettel’s.
“I am part of a sensational team,” Webber told England’s Daily Mail.
“The stories that the teams on the two sides of the garage aren’t getting on is total rubbish.
“You don’t need to have enemies in life. I just want a fair crack.”
Vettel is widely viewed as a more attractive marketing prospect for the team’s sponsors with their energy drink aimed at the youth market.
Webber offered a suggestion to enhance his own marketability as the team prepares for Vettel’s home grand prix at Hockenheim next weekend.
“Of course, I am not in my 20s, but Sebastian hasn’t got any tattoos or earrings, so perhaps if I got some of those that might help,” said Webber, who made it clear their championship aspirations make genuine friendship difficult.
“Seb and I aren’t the best of mates, but that’s not unnatural as we both chase the same goal.
“Who knows, in the next few months, if we’re both still racing at the front, things could become more tense between us.”
But Webber also absolved Vettel from any blame for the tensions at the British Grand Prix.
“Seb did nothing wrong all weekend. After the race, he shook my hand,” he said.
“The first rule in motorsport is to try to avoid contact with your team-mate.
“After the race, I spent 20 minutes with Seb’s mechanics.”
Courtesy of stuff.co.nz
An Appointment With Karma
Mark Webber shakes Sebastian Vettel's hand.
Mark Webber described his victory in the British Grand Prix as “an appointment with karma” after the controversy over favouritism.
At Silverstone, as in Turkey in May when Webber and Vettel collided in the closing stages while leading one-two, the team were left nursing self-inflicted injuries in a row over favouritism.
The team had taken a new wing off Webber’s car and handed it to Vettel for qualifying after the German broke his in practice. Webber, winner of two races and very much in contention for the title, was incensed at being treated like a ‘number two’.
Webber’s comment after winning, while Vettel came in seventh, showed how much he was smarting: “Not bad for a number two driver,” he said sarcastically.
He wrote on his website that the win had tasted “even sweeter” for what had gone on.
Red Bull caused a furore by deciding to take a new front wing off Webber’s car to give to team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
Asked if the result felt like poetic justice, the Australian said: “An appointment with karma, yeah.”
Webber in May signed a new contract to drive for Red Bull next year.
He said: “Honestly I would never have signed a contract for next year if I believed that was the way I thought it would be going forward. We’ll see what happens in the future.”
Most insiders were flabbergasted by Red Bull’s choice, saying they thought the decision was effectively saying Vettel was the team’s number one driver, a situation Red Bull deny is the case.
Team principal Christian Horner’s decision also came only six weeks after the two drivers collided while disputing the lead at the Turkish Grand Prix.
The team initially said Webber was more to blame than Vettel for that crash, even though most observers and ex-drivers felt Vettel was at fault. Horner later backtracked, saying it had been a mistake to say that.
Webber in May signed a new contract to drive for Red Bull next year.
He said: “Honestly I would never have signed a contract for next year if I believed that was the way I thought it would be going forward. We’ll see what happens in the future.”
Webber made his feelings clear over the team radio on his slow-down lap after the victory, saying: “Not bad for a number two driver.”
Red Bull’s decision – made before qualifying on Saturday after Vettel’s new wing failed, leaving them with only one – dominated the rest of the weekend.
Vettel went on to beat Webber to pole position using the new wing, which is believed to be worth about 0.1secs a lap.
Most insiders were flabbergasted by Red Bull’s choice, saying they thought the decision was effectively saying Vettel was the team’s number one driver, a situation Red Bull deny is the case.
Team principal Christian Horner’s decision also came only six weeks after the two drivers collided while disputing the lead at the Turkish Grand Prix.
Courtesy of BBC Sport
Mark Webber’s Openness Is Risky
Mark Webber
There are two ways of running a race team. You can either go the Ferrari-Schumacher route, with one driver openly backed over the other. Or you can go for an equal partnership.
The first is the most effective way of winning a championship but morally dubious. The second is the fairer system but is incredibly volatile and difficult to put into practice.
My preference is for the second system. I once turned down the chance of a move to Ferrari as I would not accept being a signed-up No 2 to Michael.
Red Bull are clearly a team trying to do it the fair way, whatever Mark Webber may have said at Silverstone.
I have a huge amount of respect for Mark, and he had his own reasons for saying what he did. He clearly felt aggrieved that the team gave Sebastian Vettel his wing prior to qualifying, and he saw an opportunity to turn the situation in his favour by making his feelings plain to the media. That is his prerogative.
In many respects, that bloody-minded attitude is what I wish I had shown on the two occasions during my career, at Jerez in 1997 and Melbourne a year later, when I was asked to make way for my McLaren team-mate, Mika Hakkinen.
I will never know whether my compliance cost me the chance of a championship. Arguably Mika was the more complete driver anyway, but perhaps those incidents gave him additional confidence or subconsciously dented mine, as well as my self-esteem.
That is not to say, though, that I agree with Mark. As Christian Horner explained, his team were in an invidious position. With just one new front wing and two hungry drivers, he applied a logic he felt would give Red Bull the best chance of winning the championship. That is his prerogative.
OK, so the logic helped Sebastian as the leading driver, but to be fair to the team, with the standings now reversed, they have already said they will apply the same logic next time, which would help Mark.
The mistake Red Bull made, and which Christian has admitted, was that they did not go into the weekend with that system already in place and publicly known; that way they would not have left themselves open to accusations of partisanship.
This is not sitting on the fence. This is the paradox of Formula One. The driver-team relationship is one of the most complex in sport; a multi-million pound marriage with the divorce papers signed on the same day as the wedding. The relationship will end; that much is certain. It is just a question of time. During that time, both sides will try to extract the most they can from the partnership.
Red Bull would doubtless prefer it if Mark aired his grievances in private. Mark, who suspects Red Bull’s Austrian owners would prefer Vettel to win the championship, clearly feels he can gain more leverage by going public and trying to shame the team whenever he feels hard done by.
It is a risky strategy. If it goes wrong, the relationship with the team could sour irreparably. If it comes off, he could consolidate his position, attract public sympathy and be remembered as a steely champion who battled against the odds to win his title.
There were reports on Sunday night that Mark’s side of the garage taunted Seb’s. I have no idea if that is true — I have to say I sincerely doubt it — but race teams are tight-knit communities so this is undoubtedly a very big test for Christian. I think he is up to it.
He started the healing process with some appalling karaoke at the post-race party on Sunday night. It is easy to forget that Red Bull won the race on Sunday with a car that was out of this world; Adrian Newey has now designed 11 British Grand Prix-winning cars and the team are in great shape.
Red Bull learnt from Istanbul and they will learn from this. When the dust settles, I think they will take more positives than negatives.
Courtesy of David Coulthard and The Telegraph
Loading ...
