Today I found myself bitching again at the FIA officials during, and after, the Formula One race in Japan. Still in disbelieve about the decisions FIA officials made during the Belgium Grand Prix, I found myself wondering what the heck Hamilton did wrong this time. I looked at the start over and over again (since I recorded the race, because somehow the official F1 broadcast did not replay it…) to find nothing but racing-to-win on Hamilton’s side and others.
If Hamilton did brake way to late, and Kimi didn’t, why didn’t Kimi let Hamilton pass-and-go-wide to get Hamilton on the inside again? What about Kovalainen, Massa and the others going wide too? If you watch the start closely, Hamilton was already aside of Kimi to pass him in the first corner, and Kimi wanted to go in behind him again, and it was Kovalainen in his path; if someone forced Kimi to go wide out of the track, it was Kovalainen. Massa even choose to go wide early, obviously to gain some speed for the next straight or pass cars inside getting out of the first corner, however Kimi was in his path. Also, there are more cars that brake late, and run wide since you can in the first corner. So, if this is now also a reason to give drivers a penalty, I’m wondering what F1 still has to do with racing at all. Isn’t it the FIA and FOCA that put out all the regulations to achieve more overtaking in F1 GP races, so making it more attractive? Isn’t it the run-for-the-first-corner-and-try-to-sqeesh-in that almost happens every race, without any penalty whatsoever? I bet the FIA will ‘clarify’ the racing rules again resulting in a ban on passing at the first corner right after the start of the race, just like they ‘clarified’ the rules to justify the penalty on Hamilton’s great passing maneuver on Raikkonen at the Belgium GP.
If they put it on dangerous driving, then Massa should have received at least a stop-and-go penalty for his ‘outside-the-lines-and-hit-on-the-back-wheel’ action towards Hamilton in lap two (a classic Shumi-Hill maneuver, he learned good from his mentor), and a drive-thru penalty for his ‘dangerous’ agressive overtaking action on Webber, and his cut-off action on Bourdais. But to fool the neutral racing fan even more; after the race the FIA decided to punish Bourdais for the incident Massa caused by cutting the corner around Bourdais, while both where racing for a place. Now tell me…
I don’t know what Ron Dennis did to mister Max ‘FIA’, but it must be something real bad (maybe the rumours about tipping the press are real?). Or Luca di ‘Ferrari’ did something real good to Max, like arranging some more kinky private parties for him… Or is it maybe Jean Todt pulling the FIA strings already? That would at least clarify something…
Let me recall some things that come into my mind. Kimi Raikkonen braked way to late in the Monaco GP and hitted Sutil in the back, causing Sutil to end the race while in a good position. No penalties given at all. I’m pretty sure Sutil would receive a penalty if it was the other way around. Ferrari did several ‘risky’ pitstops, obviously caused by their new pit system, with on top the incident with Massa causing to cut Sutil during the exit of the pitstop. No racing penalty given at all, just a fine, leaving Massa with the race win. Convenient, since other drivers did receive a penalty for the same error. And then we have the issue with cooled fuel. Seems that one is just put away in silence completely.
Anyhow, if this is gonna be the way F1 racing will be from now on, I’m pretty sure I won’t be watching it at all any time soon, since it has nothing to do with racing anymore. Racing should be a, decent, fight, with some risks and spirit. That brings the excitement. Right now I’m watching a GP race wondering, when someone overtakes another, what the drivers did wrong this time and guessing what penalty they might receive. And on top of that having the knowledge that the finish podium is not what it looks to be, since the results will be adjusted after the race anyway…
