the biggest loser of this farce would definitely be formula one. there's no winner.
of course we shouldn't point the fault to one particular element of the sport. contreversies of all sorts have happened in formula one since before i was even alive. it is part of the sport. for that, we have to see the bigger picture of this whole event, understand the chronological situation, and analyze each parties point of view.
first of all, you can't be baffled with the decision of bridgestone teams to actually go on racing. they were supposed to race on a race weekend, that is the spirit and it is what they do. you should however be baffled with the decision of the michelin teams to quit racing. six teams on the grid is disgusting? well, imagine no teams.
of course there is the argument of safety. this safety issue is real, and it's not some storm kicked up from ralf's blown tyre. however, the problem is that michelin tyres were totally unsafe because they compromise safety for speed. i commented on this issue before the qualifying on another f1 blog:
how fair is this one tyre rule? bridgestone compromised speed with safety, whereas michelin focused more on speed. now bridgestone teams get penalized somewhat just so the marketing value of the usgp can go through? if the michelin can't follow all the rules and provide safe tyres (supposedly a priority), then too bad, the ought to withdraw from the race. else they should be penalized. no sympathy should be given at all.
this brings me to the threats made by the michelin teams, which were uncalled for and insensitive to the fans. let's face it, it was all business and all politics for them. they knew their tyres were unsafe beyond repair (even the new tyres they flew in had similar problems). they knew they will break many rules and pay for the penalties if they were to change their tyres in the race. they knew it will be impossible to create a chicane just for their benefits. ultimately they knew they will embarassingly lose the gp. so what did they do? they quit and they created a farce.
they diverted the blames to fia for not accepting whatever demands they put out. they diverted the ugliness to ferrari for not co-operating to their requests (in actual fact ferrari had no say in this). they diverted the pressures to jordan and minardi for pact-forming and not racing (chicane or no chicane at turn 13 is of no difference to them). frankly though, why should any of them co-operate?
it isn't their fault if you cannot make your tyres safe enough for formula one. it isn't their fault if you want to compromise the drivers lives for championship points. it isn't their fault if you cannot follow the rules applicable to every team. nobody sympathized when a double puncture occurred to ferrari, or when kimi's tyre caused a suspension failure. there is no way the fia is going to back down from this sort of unreasonable threats just because it didn't benefited the majority of the teams. who would be running the championship then? the michelin teams or the fia?
finally, for those who blame the fia on this issue, you are sadly mistaken. for those who blame ferrari on this issue, you are totally biased. if you're an f1 fan, you know there's no winner from this f1 debacle. only losers.
single tyre-manufacturer rule couldn't come sooner, and we all know which company this will be.
formula one's next stop is at the brickyard of indianapolis. everytime the circus stops here, it brings back great memories of my live f1 experience at the circuit.
the recognition is picking up in america, and it is definitely a great thing. i could see the atmosphere is more fantastic as compared to two years ago when i was there. the people are getting more knowledgable, and they do become quite passionate (especially towards montoya where the fans come out in full force).
as for the 2005 first/second practice, no surprise with mclaren as they looked extremely strong. on the contrary, renault hasn't been doing more laps with finding a nice balance an issue. and interestingly ferrari taking the third and fourth spots. of course, we can't really make out the true potentials from these results. we will know more when race day comes. it's going to be exciting!
needless to say, another fantastic race. plenty of action, controversy, and strategy. we have a bit of everything in this race (except the rain), and it was definitely worthed staying up for.
kimi took the win, and with both ferrari taking the podium for the first time this season. the ferrari drove a consistent race, nothing spectacular, and they were rewarded for it. it is interesting to note that i haven't seen the ferrari team so happy ever since japan last year. jean todt and ross brawn were smiling so happily as though they have won the race.
there was great team spirit in f1. i liked how the oppositions were clapping and cheering for the each other. norbert haug and ron dennis congratulated michael and rubens as they drove down the pit, and the ferrari mechanics clapped as kimi passed them as well. it was a priceless moment. plus the hand gesture of 'thanks' as front runners passed the back markers was quite interesting.
huge loser to montoya, who had a great race until the safety car period. there was probably some controversy and he probably lost his mind when he realized kimi was in the pit instead of him. he wanted to make up time and just subconciously crossed the red light. dumb move. then we have jenson button who decided he prefers crashing out instead of finishing a race. dumb talk.
three shunts into the infamous walls. first it was narain, who after a terrible week, just made his future prospect in f1 worse. then alonso, who was supposedly a very composed driver, drove his car to the wall. interestingly, he thought his car was having a mechanical problem. it was hilarious how the commentator pointed out that the only problem was that he had broke his car. finally button into the wall of champions. maybe after this he'll become one? well, not until he can start holding off michael (remember imola?). surprisingly, only couple of brake failures with trulli and sato's car burning up at the disc.
team radio is back, and i love it. we heard button's gear problem in the formation lap, where he had trouble getting out of first gear. then we heard of alonso's frustration when he desperately wanted to pass fisichella. finally, it was interesting to hear mclaren and ferrari's radio towards the end of the race, with the teams telling the drivers the instruction and the order of the race. who would have thought about hearing the mclaren and ferrari's radio. cool.
finally, i can't stand webber. he's a lousy race driver who makes mistake here and there. how he got fifth place is a mystery, but a williams couldn't overtake a sauber? go figure. then kimi mono-robotic voice in the press conference is god damn annoying. then when he spoke in finnish, you could see all michael and rubens wanted to do were to shut their ears, or his mouth. and michelle yeoh! oh my god get her out of there, she's a jinx to the ferrari team.
so that's it for montreal! another interesting race, i'm sure of it, coming our way this weekend in indianapolis.
the infamous wall welcomes the racers and fans alike to the canadian gp 2005. the race at montreal has long been regarded as one the best races on the calendar. it's a fast track that is also hard on the brakes. plus the scenary is just beautiful.
the north american gps are live after midnight for malaysian viewers, which sucks for some because the race will be on early monday morning. well for me, i don't really care because while i was in the states, all european races were at early morning (ie 5am). and i woke up for each and every race. i guess tiuniasing is right, i can't live without f1. ;)
the free practices got underway last night. not surprisingly, mclaren and renault still seem the strongest. more so for the mclaren as they have all three cars on the top five. they are doing some amazing job with the car-tyre combo. as montoya got healthier and comfortable with the car, he is also a force to be reckoned with. i hope he gives kimi a run for the first spot as well.
ferrari, on the other hand, hasn't solve the car-tyre combo problem. they are still running in the mid-section, and you wonder whether bridgestone did anything to the tyres at all. it's been seven races, and we still don't see any consistency from them. what the hell are they doing, really?
i am not sure what ferrari is doing as well. however i did pick up one obvious difference between michael's car and ruben's car:
update [2.47am]:
so jensen button of bar sits pretty at p1 for tomorrow's race, with p2 for michael (what the? i certainly didn't expect that). well, definitely both cars are running on low fuel strategy. i definitely expected ferrari to do so after the rubens' strategy worked out at the 'ring. unfortunately rubens had to retire due to an engine failure (seems like it) while doing the warm up lap.
the renault and mclaren are right behind the front row, and i can expect a lot of competition at the start of the race. plenty of surprises with jv at eighth (is he still going to wish for rain?), williams right behind the order, and albers beating a red bull. this mix-up in the grid is really interesting and it sets up nicely for tomorrow's race.
f1 testing heated up as they prepare for the north america leg of the season. teams tested in silverstone, monza, and fiorano. ferrari going all out to test the new bridgestones they get, and to test out the aerodynamic parts.
interesting thing to note on the ferrari in silverstone:
take a close look at the *. it's weird that the mirror on each side looked and placed differently from one another. i don't think i've seen anything like this before. are they trying two different aerodynamic packages on one car, or are they deciding that this will increase performances? i can't believe that the biggest visible change is the mirror.
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