My Motorsport Blog

Ferrari Disaster: As if the qualifying strategy for Ferrari were not bad enough, the Prancing Horse Team decided to make a total hash of it with their disastrous decision to bring Kimi in for full wet tyres on a dry track. Even intermediate tyres would have lasted longer and would have made their gamble pay off. Common sense tells me that full wets would only last for about two  laps of serious racing and then turn to jelly. Ferrari will have to get another “Ross Brawn” to help with racing strategy because I do not believe Michael Schumacher’s consultations are paying off, if, that is what he is there for. I might be wrong and Michael’s only responsibility is mentoring Massa, but Ferrari will have to do something to improve this aspect of their racing. Brawn GP is showing their true colours and they are contenders for the driver and constructors championship.

McLaren Chaos; This team really have to get their act together and a reduction in media coverage might not be a bad idea. Lewis is seen as Ron Dennis’s “spoilt brat” and people blaming Dave Ryan’s suspension from the McLaren team on Lewis might not be far from wrong. I am not sure if I agree, but even the excuse that Lewis happens to be a “Young Man” is rubbish. He is the number one driver in a very high profile F1 team and should leave if he can not handle the heat at the moment.

Did Dave Ryan hold a gun to his head when they went to the stewards in Melbourne? I think not. Would he have been fired if he refused to lie in the initial hearings? Again I think not. The investment in Lewis is huge and span over many years and more money than most of us can imagine. Lewis can not claim the innocent young man attitude in a very serious and expensive sport.

Formula One is a “big boys with serious toys” fraternity and Lewis should not just threaten to walk as his camp apparently indicated in a phone call to Max Mosley but do so.  An old proverb says “Strange new experiences will add to your joy of living”, Lewis is certainly not having much of this at the moment.

While we are on turmoil aspects of F1 in 2009 I would like to add that the late start in these countries (Malaysia and Australia) really do not work due to weather and lighting aspects. The quality of the race is being influenced by these aspects and this is unfair to the local fans who attend the race at the circuit. The regulations or the start times will have to be changed to allow for weather and enough daylight conditions when things go wrong as we have seen in Malaysia. Bernie should realise that motorsport fans do have toys like DVD and video recorders, some even have access to that wonderful item called Sky Plus, to record the races. Even though it is risky I do this all the time and make sure I do not listen to the news or any broadcasting media until I have looked at the programme. Stating that he is catering for the European TV viewers must be the worst excuse he could think of. Bernie looks after number one and that would be the money in his back pocket!