Sinking feeling

It is always hard to come down after a Grand Prix, especially one like we saw at Fuji. After doing our work we tend to end up in restaurants until all hours talking it all through, comparing ideas and interpretations (usually winding each other up) and generally just mulling it over. So after what turned out to be only a few hours sleep I took the train back down to Tokyo where I am staying for a couple of days before heading out for Shanghai.

I have managed to read quite a lot of the comments this morning and once again the debate is raging over the role the stewards played, especially as regards the Bourdais/Massa collision and Lewis at Turn 1. My feeling for some time has been that the FIA have got to address the whole stewarding issue, if only to reassure the sceptics who see, variously, dark forces at work or just plain incompetance. There is a perception of a misalignement between the standard of the policing of the sport on the track and the standard of the participants on the track. In other words, it seems as if the general standard of stewarding is not as professional as that of the teams and the drivers.

McLaren believe the stewards this season, in particular, are using the wrong frame of reference for their adjudications. Seemingly losing sight of the fact that this is motor racing - an intrinsically dangerous and combative activity - they are treating incidents as if they are occurring on the public roads and punishing them accordingly. 

Talking it through with the FIA in recent weeks a number of ideas have come up in the wake of Spa

1. An extra technician has been installed in the stewards box with an extra screen or screens on which replays can be played during the race. I think this was first done at Singapore.
2. There is a proposal on the table for the stewards to publish a short explanation of their decisions at the same time as the decisions are handed out. This would help all of us understand how the stewards reach their conclusions and which rules are in play and so on.
3. There is another proposal that all the various TV angles the stewards have of an incident will also be published to help everyone see what they see.

The stewards' panels are selected from the ranks of senior FIA members, presidents of national governing bodies and so on. The FIA has got a lot of money. Why don't they institute a training programme and then appoint an elite group of professional, full-time officials - just like Premier League football referees and officials - who would sit at all Grand Prix in rotation? The FIA's answer to this is that the stewards they currently use are not amateurs in the strict sense of the word. They argue that what amounts to a professional ethos is already in play with the use of highly experienced administrators who are often also legally qualified. I'm not convinced however, that a dedicated panel would not be better at addressing the fine detail.

The race director. In the wake of the Tony Scott Andrews e-mail debacle at the FIA, there is some rumbling in the paddock about Charlie Whiting's credibilty just now. The FIA has never given an adequate explanation about what was going on in the days leading up to the McLaren Court of Appeal hearing and the episode has been left hanging in the air and is doing neither the FIA nor Whiting any good.

Anyway, this is supposed to be about a "sinking feeling". As someone who would like to see Lewis fulfill his undoubted potential, I have to admit I have got a nasty feeling that things could slip away from him for a second successive year unless he gets a grip at Shanghai. In China he will have to drive on a tightrope - he cannot afford to be too cautious but he must not allow himself to be suckered into something as ridiculous as he attempted at Turn 1 on Sunday.

This is a big as it gets and even though Felipe is behind, he and Ferrari have, in some senses, the initiative. Both he and Lewis might want to keep a little eye on the dry wit of one Robert Kubica who might just have the last laugh, if they keep taking each other off. 

Comments

[Gary M]

I know what you mean about the sinking feeling, beginning to feel it myself. It is a huge race for Lewis on Sunday, it is going to be difficult to watch. My biggest worry is what happened to HK's new engine. Lewis seems due a mechanical failure.

On the subject of Charlie Whiting and the Bourdais penalty are you in a position to confirm what James Allen has said?

He claims that the team managers were told by Charlie Whiting during the pre-race briefing that a car leaving the pits should be given priority into the first corner, this obviously flies in the face of the stewards decision to penalise Bourdais.

If true (and why should it not be true?) this can have done nothing to his credibility with the teams and really does shine an odd light on the stewards decision. If it was decided that someone leaving the pits had priority then why on earth did they penalise Bourdais?

Ed, there is only one answer here and I know how much you do not believe it I can see no other alternative. Can you confirm this story?

Cheers.

[David]

Oh, dear, Oh dear, Oh Dear...

we've got a big problem NEXT year haven't we... The cars are going to be changed to encourage overtaking. Can you see where I'm going with this? As things currently stand, every race next year is going to be ruined by the stewards and their "make it up as we go along" F1 rule book. Assuming the technical changes do work, we are going to have cars travelling closer to each other at the entry into the braking points for corners, with those drivers who have a greater feel for mechanical grip being able to take advantage. From where I sit, this means more wheel-to-wheel action and cars going left right and centre as they seek to attack and defend... Brilliant. Just what I want on a Sunday afternoon. If we have some upset drivers afterwards complaining about other drivers, even better.

But if we have the stewards wading in with judgements that I simply do not understand (as an f1 vewer of some 25 odd years - I reckon I can be something of an informed fan) then what hope is there for the sport? By this years standard of stewardship, next will be carnage and then, then it will be very boring. Drivers are not stupid, they will figure out what is worth it and what isn't and will drive accordingly. You will get one kind of overtaking - KERS assisted main straight drivebys. That will be it. No diving down the inside - the potential penalty means it isn't worth it. Nope it's racing by KERS next year chums. The team with the best system will win the championship. Not exactly what I had in mind for next year. What I do not understand is how motoGP can have races where bikers have at it corner after corner and the stewards adopt a policy of light touch regulation, with the result being exciting racing on a regular basis. Why does the management of F1 not realise that this is the way to go?

[Mark B]

I think it would be a truly unique 23 year old that could not be effected by such blatant inequity & persecution.

Hamilton is a real talent, but so is Massa, Kubica, Alonso and Vettel.

The difference is that Hamilton, whilst always the consumate politician in front of the cameras, is constantly the victim of blatant persecution.

There is no way the decisions of the stewards at Spa and Japan could be compared and found to be fair.

The fact that Massa did 3 things in yesterday's race that deserved a penalty, seems to be completely overlooked.

He dropped off the track to pass Webber and didn't give the place back.

He rammed Hamilton side-on.

He hit Bourdais when it was clearly Bourdais' corner.

Now, unlike the partisan ****** on this blog, just because Hamilton and I share a homeland, I'm prepared to consider that he, and other drivers, may all be good and worthy competitors.

I happily acknowledge that Massa is a much-improved, extremely talented, fast driver and, as it happens, he also seems to be a nice guy. It seems that he, like Hamilton, is sometimes overly agrressive (but I think any 23 year old lad driving for a world championship at 180 mph might possibly be excused some aggression).

That, is why we have rules. So that all mistakes or dangerous driving can be properly and equally sanctioned by neutrals.

In F1 all pretence at justice was lost a long time ago. I think it began in the nineties with incidents like Schumacher ramming Hill blatantly in Australia to win the World Championship. Spa was the end for me.

Since then, I've just watched it as a bit of drama and spectacle, for that is what it has become. A bullfight if you will. Rigged in favour of one competitor and without honour. It's certainly not sport.

The whole thing has been devalued to nothing by Ecclestone, Ferrari and Moseley. Cynical old men who we can only assume once loved this sport and have been morally corrupted by personal and corporate greed.

Sad, and certainly not sport.

[Thomas]

I share the same concerns. I don't belive they actually favor Ferrari, but they sure does a good job making it look like they do.

It must be horribly frustrating for the teams. They spend insane amouths of both time and money to make sure they get everything out of both equipment and people, only to have three "random" guys who just so happens to have enough grey hairs to be designated as stewards for one race a year ruin it. It's frustrating for us as well.

And they seem to just come up with punishments as they go along. Yes, Lewis made a stupid move at the start, but history allows for a little carnage into the first corner. A senior steward would have recognized this and let Lewis get away with what was ultimately a racing incident.

The only reason I can see for penalising him is in light of his lack of respect for safety on the track.

Anyway, that sinking feeling you feel is Fernando winning the 2009 championship. If he was in as good a car as he is now from Australia he would have wrapped it up by Monza.

Another season-ender of brain freeze from Lewis coming up? I'm getting the feeling his cockyness is finally affecting the racecraft. It must have taken somewhat of a blackout to dive down the inside of Kimi, push what looked like the whole field wide and wrecking his own tyres in the process.

Anyway, Lewis should thank Felipe. He was due both a stop and a penalty and the Brasilian would have finished pretty high if not for his drive-through. On the other hand he needs to watch out. The general public still has Felipe as the nice guy who drives really fast, but he has a core of steel. There is no doubt that he pushed Lewis into a spin, at least semi-deliberately.

Lewis needs to settle a little. Hard but fair is good, but if he continues to talk his peers down and drive agressively they have a million ways of teaching this kid some manners on the track. Especially people like Glock and Bourdais who both comes from the tougher classes of American open-wheelers.

[Derek Smith]

The simple answer is to remove Donneelly from his post and put someone in who has some idea about motor racing.

Whiting says one thing, the stewards, or Donneely, does another. This sort of orgnisation is inept and not suitable for purpose.

Mosley, as the person who installed Donneely and as the person in charge, is the one at fault. It seems absolutely farcicial that at a time when the sport is under pressure from finances, falling gates and costs increasing with change after change being imposed on the teams, instead of concentrating on these decisions which confuse everyone, the best that Mosley seems to be able to come up with is to paint the tyres green.

Image over substance.

[javiervivaespania]

I announced it two weeks ago, when our Champion was back at the top of the podium, "Today is D-day", I said.

Things will not be the same. Magic is back and now he is going to be the judge of the remaining races. Like last year he will play an essential role in deciding who will be the next Champion. It is him and only him who will decide. It might be Kubica. That is my feeling.

Hamilton will have a bad time to ease the stress at the start of the races and during them in China and Brazil. He will remember last year. Massa makes mistakes often so this time it should have not been so tricky as last year, if it had not been for yesterday's race. Now Kubica is at reach and the Master is his friend. So Kubica could be at the top after Brazil. Too bad for the British.

Something else, yesterday I was really happy, attended church service and thenked God for His help. However, I was also sad because of the intense hatred that was shown again at the Spanish media against Hamilton and also to his father. Even at the most popular sport radio programme they spent half of the programme praising Alonso's and Nadal's fathers in comparison to Hamilton's. They say that Ham's dad only comes down to the garage when his son is going to win so he can be on tv. If not he remains somewhere else and does not go to the garage. Is that true? I do not care. God created all people equal and He is not in favour of racism, for example. And I am afraid that is the underlying reason to despise Ham's dad. I think it is sad and we should not play any longer with double meanings and mean jokes about the figure of this young man, who happens to be black as well as we happen to have mixed blood in our veins. By the way, we all came from Africa sometime 130,000 years ago.

[Tim]

The proposals about making stewards' decisions more transparent are encouraging, although the FIA needs to make clear what is actually being offered up. All three of the incidents that lead to a penalty in the Japanese GP highlighted the need for greater transparency.

Lewis Hamilton's penalty for the chaos at turn one is difficult to call based solely on the footage I've been able to find. Lewis says he didn't hit anyone, whereas Kimi Raikkonen says he had contact with both McLarens which damaged his car - who's right? The footage appears to support Lewis on this one, and some of the still photos on Autosport appear to indicate that Heikki Kovalainen was closer to Kimi than Lewis. However, the camera angles are less than ideal. In car footage would be the best way of clearing this one up and it should be possible to judge from that whether there was any contact. Presumably the stewards had access to this footage, but I haven't seen any of it. We need to be able to see more of the onboard footage, especially if it's used as the basis for stewards' decisions.

I could understand the penalty if there was contact between Lewis and Kimi, but if there wasn't what was the reasoning for the penalty? Drivers don't tend to get penalised for outbraking themselves on the first lap - if they did, the GP2 field would be able to keep an entire army of stewards in employment at race weekends. On the assumption that there wasn't any contact, the penalty was presumably given because Lewis forced Kimi off the track, albeit accidentally. We need to understand the reason for the stewards' decisions.

I'm still looking for a decent explanation of what happened on lap 1. Lewis appears to exit turn 1 in third place, behind Robert Kubica and Fernando Alonso, but just a few corners later he was battling with Felipe Massa for sixth. I haven't seen any footage that shows how Lewis dropped those places. I'm not suggesting anything sinister, just curious to see what happened.

The incident between Lewis and Felipe Massa at the chicane was fairly clear cut, although again it would be useful to see it from onboard with both drivers. Felipe's post-race comments about being forced off the track are slightly daft, it was merely a triumph of hope over experience. I don't there was anything intentional about the move on Felipe's part, it just smacked of slight incompetence - almost an echo of Damon Hill's various failed attempts at passing Michael Schumacher in 1995, several of which lead to accidents that were Hill's fault.

The reasoning behind the penalty given to Sebastien Bourdais for the collision with Massa is much less clear. I've seen suggestions that drivers were told at the pre-race briefing that they should give way to other cars when exiting the pitlane. If Bourdais ignored a clear directive given prior to the race then so be it. But again, there's a need to see the onboard footage and understand the reasons for the decision.

On the sinking feeling, China will indeed be a tightrope for Lewis. He needs to take some time out this week, try to avoid press and PR commitments where possible, ignore the headlines and just get his head back together. He'll be feeling the pressure at the moment and he needs to shake this off and just do what he does best. Whatever happens in China, Lewis won't lose the title there. He can win it in China, but even the worst case scenario of a DNF with a Massa victory would see him in with a fighting chance in Brazil.

McLaren should approach qualifying in Shanghai as they approached it in Fuji - go for pole with a realistic fuel strategy, rather than one aimed at winning the title, and aim to have both cars in contention. The race is then up to Lewis and Heikki to manage as they see fit. As long as Lewis can control himself if he makes a bad start or early mistakes, then he can let the race come to him. If things don't go well he'll have to dig deep and try to avoid making further errors.

Lewis' performances in Brazil '07 and Bahrain and Fuji '08 - where mistakes at the start were compounded by further mistakes shortly afterwards - don't have to determine what happens in China. Lewis can keep a cool head and recover from his mistakes - see Monaco '08. He can also pull himself out of difficult situations caused by car problems or bad strategy calls - see Turkey and Germany '08. He needs to focus on getting back into the mindset he had at those races and remember that races are not won at the first corner, although they can be lost.

If it still goes horribly wrong in China, for whatever reason, then Lewis can put everything into an aggressive all or nothing effort in Brazil - he'll have nothing to lose. Massa may be on home ground but he isn't unbeatable - and can he handle the pressure of a title decider in front of his home crowd?

[DAVID NS]

Ed, what smacks here is the sheer level of inconsistency in the decision-making process. The Stewards at each venue appear to interpret racing lines and over-taking very differently. I wouldn't fancy being anywhere near the front of the grid in China heading into that very tight first corner - or any other corner with the intention of over-taking.................

[guille]

I think it is now when the stewards have any credibility. It was last year when they favoured LH everytime they had the slightest opportunity.
At last, some things have changed. Last year it was a shame.
regards

[CARLOS]

What a mediocrity of title contenders.

At this stage of the season, having Kubica still with real title chances with a car undoubtely slower than McLaren and Ferrari, only tells us the quality of the supposedly real contenders... and/or their teams

And watching them in the last race its easy to find the reasons:

- Hamilton: Heavy flat spot on turn 1 after a horrible start and going wide (Racing Kimi... why?). Rejoins 3rd behind Alonso, and on turn 3 went wide again (watch it before being censored http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xq5Q07SOxs ) and then rejoins behind Massa.

- Massa: Stupidly tries to overtake Hamilton after going wide and hit him. That only gives Hamilton a excuse because he would have suffer a lot on that first stint, probably having to pit earlier anyway for changing his tyres.

What about the teammates:
Kimi has 10 useless fastest laps, and Kova is only 3 points behind Alonso.

In the meantime Alonso is the driver that has collected more points in the last 6 races... with a Renault.

Anybody still doubts that if Hamilton would have been left learning in a mid grid team, McLaren would have won 2007 and 2008 WDC and probably WCC with Alonso?

[Phil H]

I'm quite glad I won't be able to watch the Chinese GP, because I'm not sure I could endure watching it if Lewis manages to throw away another championship.

The last 2 years I thought the guy was destined to be champion each year. I gave him the benefit of the doubt last year of being a rookie, but this year he has no excuses.

That dive up the first corner was stupid and ruined his race before it had really started. I don't care how bad his start was and how annoyed he was with it, saying afterwards he realised it was a stupid thing to do doesn't make up for the fact that lots of his fans got up at 5am to see the GP, and by 5.32, it was effectively over for Lewis. What a waste of time.

I have to agree with Mark B though, I was looking forward to next year with all the overtaking that was promised, but if we're going to have steward rulings on every time 2 cars come near each other, it's a waste of time. Especially if Ferrari always get the benefit of the doubt.

[A Parker]

Ed, I too have that sinking feeling. We all know what Lewis has to do; Lewis knows what Lewis has to do: it is a definite feeling of déjà vu! Alonso has already come out to say that he will do what he can to help Massa win – what a nasty individual he is and blatantly so. So Lewis will have to contend with this character too.

[A Parker]

Mark B, you are too right. What an extremely sad thought and prospect for F1.

[ELCROWLEY]

Last year Tony Scott Andrews was the steward supporting Hamiton on every race. This year Tony Scott Andrews is OUT and Ham gets what Reglament says. Stewards are doing his busines this year.

Ham, the druver with more penalties....

[ELCROWLEY]

And about Webber-Massa "incident".....Webber was who pushed Massa to the wall. If any penalty must applied, it would be to Webber for VERY dangerous movement. Pedro de la Rosa thinks the same as he told it on TV.

Come on guys. LH is clearly overrated. UK needs desperately a national hero, but you should pick another one for the job.

[Kara]

I wish at least one of you could admit that both Massa and Lewis acted very irresponsibly and to think that one of them will be a champion is shameful.

For Lewis this is becoming a trend and my respect for him is all but gone. As for Massa this was one of the first (that I noticed) so I still hope he can change.

BTW- not a fan of Alonso but good on him to let Lewis unlap himself. And for LH- why??? very immature. Commentators thought he done it so if someone in front crashes he might pick up a point. Well- he would have needed 4 cars to crash in 1 lap- not really feasible, is it?

[Derek Smith]

talking of sinking, Ed: this is a list of how far Mosley/FiA have sunk in my opinion.

You see, I've had this IDR moment.

Seasons penalty by penalty, including non-penalties.

1994

Brazil
Benetton-Ford: Verstappen banned for causing accident involving Irvine, Brundle and Bernard.

Silverstone
Benetton-Ford: Schumacher given stop go penalty for overtaking on the parade lap. Subsequently blackflagged for ignoring penalty. Subsequently banned for two races for ignoring black flag.

Hockenhiem
McLaren-Peugeot: Hakkinen banned for causing multi-car accident at the first corner.

1997

Japan
Williams-Renault: Jacques Villeneuve given a one race ban for repeatedly failing to slow under yellows during practice. However Villenueve was allowed to race under appeal and attempted to affect the natural result.

Ferrari: Michael Schumacher loses 2nd place in the Championship after trying to put JV off the track.

1998

McLaren: Brakes ruled illegal despite being approved by scrutineers.

Britain
Ferrari: Michael Schumacher overtakes under a yellow flag, given a stop-go penalty but did not serve it. Not penalised.

Canada
Ferrari: Michael Schumacher MS receives minor penalty for causing very dangerous accident by running Frentzen off the road at high speed.

1999

Ferrari barge boards. Their defence, no advantage was gained was accepted by the FiA.

FiA sporting regulations, Article 58 then stated: If a car is found not comply with the technical regulations, it shall be no defence to claim that no performance advantage was obtained.

2002

France
Ferrari: Michael Schumacher MS wins the French Grand Prix after passing Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) under waved yellows. Stewards investigate and take no action.

2005

BAR: Secondary fuel tank penalty – race ban and points deduction, removed after appeal as ‘no advantage gain from a secondary fuel tank’.

Montreal
McLaren-Mercedes : Juan Pablo Montoya JPM disqualified for passing red light in pit lane.
Indianapolis: Michelin tyres deemed unsafe to race. Mosley refuses team’s compromise. Result was a farce. Someone later found guilty for, apparently, Mosley’s decision.

2006

Renault: Mass dampers. Another FiAsco.

Renault: Fernando Alonso blocks Felipe Massa (Ferrari) – penalty.

Monaco
Ferrari: Michael Schumacher receives penalty for blocking track during qualifying to stop his provisional pole being challenged.

2007

Australia
Ferrari: Illegal moveable floor on Ferraris. Not penalised, allowed to keep points despite it giving a performance advantage and being a deliberate design to circumvent the testing procedures.

Montreal
Ferrari: Felipe Massa DQ for jumping red light.

Hungary

Mclaren: Pathetic little spat between Alonso and Hamilton. Stewards found no case to answer. Mosley of different opinion. McLaren, who had no part in the disagreement, deducted points won.

McLaren: win race with un-approved gearbox, fine imposed. Same gearbox then approved by FIA with no issues.

McLaren: Stepneygate. McLaren punished with biggest ever fine in sporting history despite lack of concrete evidence. Mosley later concedes that Ron Dennis and McLaren know nothing of the cheating by its drivers. No trace of the 780pp Ferrari document on any corporate McLaren computers. Toyota and Renault let off for similar offences.

Japan
Ferrari: Race on prohibited tyres. No Penalty.
Brazil
Some teams contravene fuel temperature rules. FiA find no case to answer despite the performance advantage.

2008 so far, although two races still to go

Malaysia
McLaren: LH and HK receive qualifying penalty

Monaco:
Ferrari: Kimi Raikonnen given a drive-through penalty as tyres not fitted in time.

France

McLaren: LH 10 spot grid drop for causing crash in Canada pitlane.

McLaren: HK 5 spot grid drop, qualifying penalty.

France:

McLaren: LH give drive through penalty for cutting chicane.

Europe

Ferrari: Felipe Massa pit stop. Fined but given not time penalty.

Belgium

McLaren: Infamous penalty for LH for failing to comply with ruling that was invented after the incident.

Japan

McLaren: LH receives drive through penalty for not barging KR off the road.

Toro Rosso: Bourdais given 25 second penalty because Massa did not comply with Charlie Whiting’s pre-race directive on allowing right of way to the car exiting the pitlane.

Ferrari: Massa receives drive through penalty for cutting chicane for effectively taking out the driver in front of him in the championship.

Kimi Raikonnen receives no penalty at Monaco for ramming Sutil, ending his race, and was not black-flagged for having bits falling off his car in France.

Data coutesy of pistonheads

[RichyS]

Ed, if the Steward's decisions were simply incompetent, then surely they would even one another out -- much like LBW decisions in cricket (not that I'm suggesting that cricket umpires are incompentent, just that where there is room for error, these errors do not tend to favour one side or another).

But, the fact that the vast majority of these decisions (or lack of them, in the case of Webber vs. Massa; though a think a penalty here would have been unfair, at least until I watch some more replays!) favour Ferrari cannot simply be coincidence.

I agree with Mark B that this interference seemed to start happening in the mid-nineties. It probably came about through a desire to create 'down to the wire' championships -- thus bringing in more money for Max'n'Bernie (to bribe Governments with -- feel free to censor that bit!). I tihnk the FIA had got pretty sick of McLaren and Williams dominance (though who cares about dominance when it's Senna vs Prost!), and felt the need to manipulate things a bit for the 'good of the show'.

Personally, if I want to watch some manipulated sport, I'll watch WWE wrestling. I don't, so I don't.

I'm not sure I'll bother watching the remainder of the GPs until I know whether the result has been manipulated or not (thanks Sky+!). Ed: any chance The Times can set up an email or SMS notification service?

[Mark]

Neither Massa nor Hamilton deserve to be champions the way they are driving. Kubica on the other hand has had a suburb year, Alonso again showed his class yesterday, they together with maybe one or two other drivers deserve the championship more then the two leaders (although Alonso did make mistakes in the beginning of the season outdriving the Renault - but who can blame him for trying something in an uncompetitive car). I once read Prost or Senna say that WDC can make one or at most two mistakes during the season but no more since his chances would be finished. This year is clearly an exception and all that is needed is one or two good races and of course a drive in either the McLaren or the Ferrari.
About the penalties, Hamilton´s and Massa´s completely deserved, Bourdais nonsense. End of story there...
Hope next year we´ll see a competitive BMW and Renault added to the list of race winning cars so that mediocrity in a good car doesn´t become the standard.

PS. Hamilton comparing himself (either asked or not) to either Senna or any other outstanding driver is laughable at this point. Maybe he should be comparing himself more to the likes of Villeneuve in the sense that in a dominant car anything is possible. Another side note, Alonso was also 23 when he became WDC during a season where the competition allowed for less mistakes and the pressure was no less, yet another point against the view that Hamilton is an extra special driver.

[Alastair]

Kubica is a far more deserving WDC than Massa or Lewis. He kept Kimi at bay beautifully yesterday and I noticed that the two of them were very friendly before the podium, as were Alonso and Kubica.

A real pity for Robert that BMW gave up on the 2008 car so early in the season.

[Martin Mannion]

Utterly unbelievable, such inconsistancy where you get a penalty for just driving your car - the likes of Irv the Swerve, Shumi et al must be glad they are well retired or they would be black flagged before the end of lap one by today's nonsense fantasist stewards - clear Ferrari bias it is not even subtle any more and has ruined the integrity of this so called sport. This sport is about as clean as Horse Racing.

[Ben]

I agree that the stewarding system needs to be radically overhauled.

The only way to stop the quiestionable decisions we have seen recently is for a permanent panel to be appointed for all races. Then we will begin to see a system of penalties built on precedent, which will lead to consistency. And obviously, the more ex-drivers as stewards the better (tho' perhaps not the hyper-sensitive DC).

I can't see that a former dirver would have given Lewis a penalty for going wide at the start of Japan, for they would all have had similar first corner incidents.

Incidentally, am I blind in seeing that it was actually Heiki that did the 'pushing' on Kimi?

[Weasel]

Ed, you write:

"The FIA's answer to this is that the stewards they currently use are not amateurs in the strict sense of the word. They argue that what amounts to a professional ethos is already in play with the use of highly experienced administrators who are often also legally qualified."

That pretty much sums it up doesn't it? Legally qualified - would that mean lawyers? Highly experienced administrators - office managers?

How about using former race drivers as stewards instead - now that would be a suitable qualification wouldn't it?

Unfortunately medical science has not yet discovered a cure for stupidity!

[A Parker]

Here's a really good analysis of how the stewards' decisions this year have probably completely scuppered Lewis' chances of the WDC: http://www.planet-f1.co.za/story/0,18954,3261_4327413,00.html

[Alex]

So, we are supposed to take this farce at face value ?

(Edit Moderator)Moseley is waging his unending vendetta against Ron Dennis and his McLaren team by chipping away at any chance Lewis has of winning a world title that is his by all rights.

Ecclestone seems to be content to sit on his billions and watch the sport he built be reduced to a joke. Right now, the WWF wrestling enjoys better refereeing and looks less fixed.

When did someone last get a penalty for outbreaking themselves ?

What was going on in Felipe's mind when he rammed Lewis ?

After all that has gone on, how could the stewards possibly have adjudged Sebastien to have been at fault, not Felipe ?

Moseley is blatantly using his cronies as stewards and they are blatantly against Lewis at every stage of the game.

Can anybody work out how many points Felipe has already had fraudulently handed to him ? Is Lewis already "The Real 2009 F1 WDC Champion" whatever the official "FIA points total" may say ??

[al_scotland]

Got to wonder if Lewis has the full package to compete for the title. I am a fan, but he is obviously losing his head in the battle. Shame for him, with all his talent. Persecuted? maybe yes but is there something new here? all the great young drivers coming through have to knock over the old guard. Senna was vilified by the establishment in his first season as a "lunatic" as was Alonso who was also at recieving end of some bad decisions when trying to knock over Shumacher. There was a time when McLaren were the establishment and got all the decisions, likewise Williams when they ruled the roost. Now its Ferrari who are the establishment, and Lewis will have to knock them out to get a draw. Some day he will be the established driver with young psychos trying to take him out. But first he must address his mental issues and do some maturing. No offence to him but his start in Fuji was amateur at best, and dangerous. He is lucky not to get a ban. That said other drivers do the same and get no punishment. First corner pile-ups are nothing new in F1. Must also be said that Massa should have been black flagged for his obvious deliberate ram on Hamilton. What with Alonso now batting for Ferrari, you wander where the days of Gentleman Jim Clark, Fangio and Stewart. This current bunch have no honour... helping other teams because of a tiff?? Alonso... grow up, your 2x WDC not some child who got his bike stolen last season.

[Nick]

Well for what its worth, at first I thought Hamilton had caught Brown's disease and bottled it, then when the stewards started interfering, I switched off and went back to bed. Finito.

[James T]

I really want to see Lewis win it this year, and I too have a bit of a sinking feeling, but it's probably just an irrational fear based on what happened last year.

Really, it's the Felipe Massa / Ferrari fans who should feel they are doomed, when you consider the beneficial situations he and the team have found themselves in and the mess they have made each time. Massa gained an unfair swing of six points in Belgium, and now another unmerited point in Japan, but there's a prevailing gloom over his last eight races:

- Span five times in Britain, finished last.
- Overtaken by Hamilton in Germany, when McLaren had goofed the strategy and gifted him a big lead over Lewis.
- An engine failure in Hungary.
- An unsafe pit release when leading in Valencia, which - uniquely amongst unsafe pit releases that weekend and the next - was punished with a fine instead of a drive-through.
- An inherited race win in Belgium, where his performance was third best.
- Sixth place in the wet at Monza, half a minute behind a Torro Rosso, when Lewis had started 15th.
- In Singapore, a bungled, highly unsafe pit-stop dropping him to the very back, and a drive-through penalty (in a situation where it had no effect on how many points he would score).
- In Japan, on lap two, a desperate attempt to maintain his track position, in a situation where the team could have advised him that Lewis's tyres were wrecked and he was destined to pit soon anyway. A terrible bit of driving that at last lead to a deserved penalty when it mattered.

Respectively, for Massa these represent:
- a -10 point swing (lack of performance).
- a -4 point swing (lack of performance).
- a -4 point swing that would have been a +7 point swing (engine).
- a +2 point swing made safe by the FIA stewards applying some unique leniency (good performance & dubious stewards).
- a +4 point swing that should have been a -2 point swing (dubious stewards alone).
- a +1 point swing from a massively advantageous situation (lack of performance).
- a -6 point swing that could have been +2 or +4 (team mechanic).
- a +1 point swing (could have been much more) and after the race, a incredible free +1 point swing (so, rash manoeuvre & dubious stewards).

The FIA stewards have had a hand in three of the four occasions he made up ground on Lewis, at all other times they didn't have the opportunity to swing it for him. They seem hell-bent on (at the very least) keeping the championship outcome uncertain until the final race.

Yesterday's post-race result sheet editing was baffling. No driver who exits the pits and finds himself in an immediate race for position will ever do it differently to the way Bourdais did yesterday; it was entirely standard, I have seen it dozens of times before (especially in Hungary, with the similar pit layout), and Massa simply cut him up, he drove sideways into him. The Brazilian either lacks spacial awareness or has far too much arrogance, expecting Bourdais to lift off immediately. But at least it feels like there's a certain impotence to what the stewards did this time though: they could only gift him one point, and if he or his team makes a mistake in either remaining race it isn't likely they (or rather, the man who briefs them) will have the opportunity again.

For sure Lewis has made some mistakes too, and suffered his own bad luck, but he's managed to keep the points advantage for the second half of the season. Massa has overwhelmingly failed to capitalise on his big opportunities. He is as close as he is through the mistakes of (a) other drivers and (b) the race stewards.

As much as other people are tipping the odds for Massa, he still has to deliver, and on recent form he and his team are easily as likely to choke as anyone else.

[Ricardo]

Alonso to help massa to win? I can't believe that, is like Hamilton hoping DC to let him pass becuse they are both british or RD saying we are racing our team mate, nonsense!

[David - BR]

A Parker

Spa was a bad decision for F1 as a sport, maybe Sunday's too (the first corner penalty). But Lewis has made three bad mistakes this year with consquences for 4 races: Canada (and grid penalty in France), Monza (reckless tyre choice in Q2) and now Fuji. He had a good chance of raking in a lot more points from these 4 races. Massa, on the other hand, has had bad luck with mechanical problems and inept mechanics. Not the same. I'm a Lewis fan and love that racer instinct, but without moderation it just becomes a kid on a racing sim. The 'genius' comes from honing that instinct and skill with precise judgment and a cool head. Funnily, Lewis seemed to be a lot cooler at the start of 2007. Actually I think the frustratin he swallowed when McLaren told him to back off in Singapore led to the rush of blood at Fuji. He's now in a really tough position. As Ed writes, he can't be too cautious as he's going to have to win or come second on Ferrari turf (unless it rains - but then anything can happen). The issue is his split-second judgment after being passed, boxed in, etc. And his control of tyre-damage.

Really I'm starting to think Kubica deserves this championship. Lewis has been spectacular at Silverstone, Spa, Monaco and Monza, which is a lot, but all in rain. He needs another great performance in the tail-end of the season and this time, probably, in the dry. in fact what he probably needs is a good start, overtaking Massa and Raikkonen off the grid - because that's where they'll probably be, ahead of him.

[O Rygh, Norway]

A Parker: you are so funny!

Here's a really good analysis of how the stewards' decisions last year DID (not probably)completely took the WDC off Alonso:

www.hungaroring2007orhaveyouforgottenbecauseyoudontlikealonsoandhasonlyeyesforlewis.lol

Any comments? No, last year decisions were justified (because they were in favour of my boy).

[A Parker]

David - BR, yours is the kind of comment I'm so relieved to read. Not agreeing with me, but polite, well-written, and fair.

Being an LH fan is so tough. Your nerves are constantly on edge, your heart regularly plummets to the floor, your mouth goes dry. And then he does something that makes your heart sing with admiration and astonishment.

I agree Lewis has made some silly mistakes this year. I get frustrated with it myself. He still deserves to win because of his many flashes of brilliance and because he is fighting animosity from most of the grid and bias from the FIA, as well as having suffered misrepresentation in the press and racial abuse in Spain.

I suppose I judge whether the other 2 deserve it from their performance and their characters. Massa comes across as an opportunistic cheat who gloats about winning a GP he never actually deserved. And he is NEVER in the wrong. He's just happy to be on the cushy side of the FIA.

Robert has made some nasty comments in the press about Lewis saying he'd rather have Massa win, and bullying him verbally. Was it necessary for him to say such a thing? I can imagine him and Alonso at their poker table, the vicious jokes and talk at Lewis' expense. No wonder Lewis won't join the GPDA, and can understand why Kimi and Massa and Sutil won’t either. What a poisonous atmosphere there would be if he walked through the door. Kubica has also only won one GP this year - he is dull and nasty and doesn't deserve it.

[tiptoe]

Derek Smith
The list is not very accurate as I remember in hungary 2006 both Fernando an Schumacher were punished with 10 grid positions (maybe schumi with 5, I don't remember). That does not seem to be on the list.

[tiptoe]

PARKER
As you live in a world of fantasy, why don't you make it up a bit nicer?, just try, it is not that difficult.

[Marilyn]

ED, I do not have that "sinking feeling" Lewis can and will do it. And if it happens that he does not win the title this year, it's not the end of the world. He's only 23, I don't see why the fans and especially the media have put all this pressure on him. Leave him alone.

[Castor]

Forty-odd years I've been watching F1 and involved in other motorsport.

I have now completely lost confidence in the neutrality and competence of the FIA.

Rightly or wrongly; - perception is everything.

[Castor]

PS - Ed - you need to get your spellchecker sorted, sir! :-)

[Kormak]

How did you call it last year.... consparanoia??

LOL

Lewis os only getting what he deserves.

Unfortunately for him this year Alonso is not in his team, he can not ask Ron to race against Fernando, he can not copy telemetries, he can not get Alonso's set-ups, he can not ask his father to denounce his team mate....

[Francisco]

To A. Parker: "David - BR, yours is the kind of comment I'm so relieved to read. Not agreeing with me, but polite, well-written, and fair". I don't think you can ask for politeness when you are indeed the most unpolite and disrespectful person that writes on this blog.
Regards

[Kormak]

To KARA:

"BTW- not a fan of Alonso but good on him to let Lewis unlap himself. And for LH- why??? very immature. Commentators thought he done it so if someone in front crashes he might pick up a point. Well- he would have needed 4 cars to crash in 1 lap- not really feasible, is it?"

http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2008/795/

That's not true. A lapped driver can get points if he finish on 8 first positions. Like in Britain GP this year where only 3 drivers were not lapped.

Martin Brundle.... would say everything to justify Hamilton.

[Jordi]

Dereck Smith, Thanks for that.
It would be interesting to know who has got more penalties since Max is in charge, which driver and which team.

It looks like a IDR job!

[Jordi]

Parker you crack me up:

"Massa comes across as an opportunistic cheat who gloats about winning a GP he never actually deserved. And he is NEVER in the wrong."

How about the one who gloats in court of been the best driver in the world, and hasn't won any WDC?

[F1-Insider]

Castor
I too have been watching and involved with F1 for 40 years and I like you have lost all confidence in the FIA, though unlike you I saw the light a few years ago, the only answer is revolution if not F1 will never be clean as it should be.

Ed,
Please read this: Last year Lewis Hamilton was investigated by the stewards in china for his alleged bad driving whilst behind the safety car only for them to find no fault.
The point here is that the stewards of the race after the race an alleged offence occurred were allowed by the FIA to investigate it. On this basis would you please ask those that at the FIA why Massa is not under investigation for his pass on Webber where he clearly went off track with all 4 wheels over the pit lane line.
I am surprised I have not seen this mentioned elsewhere and you, the press should have latched on to this straight away.
Please follow this up.

Derek
ANYONE reading your post and seeing what's happening this year will see that the FIA are cheating, they are doing their utmost to hinder both McLaren and Hamilton. Revolution is the only way if we want a clean sport.

I have said from day 1 that McLaren would not be allowed to win any championships this year (see Derek's post) but still I am finding it difficult seeing this happen in front of us all, shame in the corrupt FIA.

Just a note to all the Hamilton haters digging at the few mistakes he has made this since entering F1 less than 2 years ago.
Some of the comments have clearly been made by idiots who do not understand F1 and the pressures involved in the same.
Currenly Alonso is the youngest ever F1 champion and should Lewis win it he would take this crown and be the youngest F1 champion ever. We all become wiser as we get older and F1 drivers are no different so it's hardly a surprise that a young man with the pressures he has on his should together knowing the FIA are throwing daggers that he makes the odd mistake is it?

Finally, Ed and readers of this blog I am very alarmed at Alonso's comments where he states on the record that he will do all he can to help Massa win the championship, if this is correct then he should be charged with bringing the sport into disrepute, never before can I recall a fellow driver saying openly that they will help another driver from another team beat another driver. Alonso is a very bitter man and holds a huge grudge against Hamilton and McLaren and he above all others knows that he currently is the youngest F1 champion and he will stop at nothing to ensure Hamilton does not take this crown from him.
I would suggest that Hamilton will have at least 4 drivers out to stop him becoming the champion as well as the FIA, how many reading this could imagine handling pressure like this?

Revolution is the only way, there is no other. I urge McLaren to back a new V10 world series formula and let F1 rot in the pit its rulers have made for it.

[David - BR]

A Parker

As I said, I'm a big fan of Lewis too, and I think FIA is indeed biased (this year especially) towards Ferrari. Or at least anti-McLaren. I also agree that the other drivers have effectively ganged up on Lewis this season, producing a 'consensus' that he drivers too aggressively. This is meaningless if we recall how Senna, Mansell, Schumacher etc. drove. But FIA and its stewards have willingly responded to this idea, I think, and looked to punish Lewis wherever possible. Politics exists everywhere, including among F1 drivers. None of them were happy last season with the attention Hamilton got. Glock, Kubica, Webber, Coulthard and others were all disdainful of his success in 2007, none of which reflected well on themselves. Understandable but not commendable. Alonso is also reported to have said this week that he'll help Massa win the title if he can. What the hell that means, I guess we'll find out soon.

But. The fact is, like last year, Lewis and McLaren could have been in a much stronger position by now. Last year's loss of the WDC was primarily down to China and McLaren completely losing the plot by not calling him in. (Letting him decide, much like his tyre choice in Q@ at Monza.) This year Lewis can win - but he's now going to have Massa, Kubica, Raikkonen, Alonso and maybe Vettel all eager to get in front of him. That's a lot of action. In some ways, it's a great challenge and if Lewis pulls it off, he'll have achieved far more than Massa or Kubica. I forgot to add Germany to his list of great drives this year. But if he does win, it'll be with a dose of luck - including a season without his engine packing in or other mechanical (non-tyre) failure, for example.

Anyhow we'll find out soon! Take care.

[GP]

Ed, I think the suggestion to follow stewards’ decisions with a clear explanation as well as the specific rules considered broken is a very good one. It would help to explain this weekend’s penalties.

It seems to me the decision to penalize LH in Japan is not strictly limited to what happened in turn one. LH’s behaviour before the turn was dangerous. Just before the braking point he jerked the wheel to pull out and outbrake KR. This forced HK to instantly jerk right to avoid contact with his team mate. Plus, immediately after, LH locked up solid. This was fairly reckless driving (all unnecessary for one in his position at this point in the championship).

I could easily be persuaded that the stewards’ call took all that into consideration. If HK had been looking in his right hand side mirror (to see if anybody was coming down his inside) at the moment LH jerked right there would have been contact between the two team mates. The two out-of-control and damaged McLarens would then have collected the others turning into turn one (did it also cause HK to hit KR? We’ll never know, will we?). Who knows how many cars would have been out on the spot? What if there had been a car on HK’s right and they made contact?

A steward’s job is not limited to a specific incident in a vacuum. They also have to take into consideration what led up to the incident in question. There are two reasons for this:

One, where a car is at point A is a function of where it was, say, a second before. How did the car get there? What did the driver do to get there? The answers to these questions are part of their decision making process.

Two, a decision sets a certain standard for on-track behaviour. If a given action is penalized, then drivers will know what is and is not acceptable. In this weekend’s specific case, the message is: If, after a bad start, you ignore the other cars around you, leave your braking way too late, impede the others who took a better start, and risk causing a major pile up, you WILL be penalized.

Penalties are warranted when a driver fails to consider potential chain reactions caused by an overly aggressive move.

So, yes, stewards’ decisions should be explained. It would restore their credibility and (hopefully) lower the level of frustration for f1 fans. However, I don’t think the current stewards are competent enough to do this, so here’s to hoping changes are coming.

[martin]

Lewis will be crowned wdc 'cos Massa won't overtake him. Kubica is too far behind. However I don't expect Massa nor Lewis to have more than 8 points each in the remaining races. Its been an interesting season but the winner, unless Kubica pulls it off, will be mediocre.
To A Parker, I gather you are not white, as you seem to have a chip on your shoulder on racism on black people. The colour of Lewis seems to be your only reason for wanting him to win. Sorry to let you know that Lewis' mum is white, same as Obama (colour, not mum!). It seems most of the world wants Obama as the next USA president whilst not that many want Lewis as champion. Its not a matter of colour. Amongst other things its personality and their behaviour. One could become a legend for humanity. Guess which one.

Has Niki Lauda finally seen the light?

http://www.f1sa.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7758&Itemid=219

[May]

Apologies if this post is duplicated - I am having problems with posting.

On the Massa/Webber incident - some people have pointed out that Massa overtook Webber with all four wheels off the track (Gareth, I think that you mentioned it). I understand that they refer to the fact that Massa was on the pit lane exit.

If I remember correctly (and please let me know if this is not the case), there is a precedent where the stewards took the view that the pit lane is part of the track - the penalty impossed to Alonso in Hungary 2007. That was a controversial decision too (in fact, the first statement issued by the stewards at 10-11 pm on Saturday confirmed Alonso's pole position, but they changed their decision overnight), but it can be used by the stewards as a precedent for Fuji.

Also, in the case of Spa, there is a precedent in the Suzuka 2005 Alonso-Klein incident.

I am not saying that I agree with any of these penalties, just pointing out that the stewards could use precedents if their decisions in Spa and Fuji (Massa/Webber) are questioned.

A. Parker,

Please be consistent - if you do not consider RTL a reputable source and therefore question them when quoting a driver, you surely should dismiss As and Marca on the same grounds..

[Marco]

Do you realize that this year the champion won´t be the best the driverbut the least bad one? Check the points LH and FM could have at the end of the season. Are these champions the pretend to be???? What a joke

[Pau]

A Parker: it is really amazing how you change the facts to make an unreal story. You talk about a poisonous atmosphere ...

Well, let me tell you who had to live a poisonous atmosphere last year at Mc Laren. Alonso. And who was the backstabber? Lewis. With his nasty comments in Monaco and his dirty little tricks in Hungary. Who started this bad atmosphere? Fernando? No, your boy Lewis. I hope it really hunts him at the end of this season. Already too many drivers hate him: Webber, Glock, Massa, Kimi, ...

Btw I am sure you watched the same race I did on Sunday, did you see how Lewis almost crashes against Fernando in the last lap, not being able to control the rage of seeing his ex-teammate with a far inferior car running one lap behind him?

British double standards ... pathetic!

[May]

Mr. Gorman,

I understand your point about having a sinking feeling after Fuji - the display of the two main title contenders was disappointing, to say the least.

However, if you look at the results, it is as if Massa had won and Hamilton had been second. This is not a bad result for Hamilton. The only issue is that now Kubica still has a shot to the title, but it is a long shot.

But I agree with those that have pointed out that Hamilton might be better off if he restricts his exposure to the media and stops talking too much, as he just increases the pressure on himself. For example, he has no need to say that "we are still going to win" (as quoted in the Times) - he is probably right, but then the need to deliver increases.

He is a very good driver. I understand that he wants to win WDC, but he might not - and that should not be considered a failure, he has been fighting for it till the end. But that is precisely how it would look like in light of his comments.

But you, Mr. Gorman, should know better - whatever happens at the end, this has been a very good season for him. So forget about that sinking feeling, and enjoy the fight! (And keep us posted...)

Best regards,

[langue d'oc]

The currenrt stewards are not necessarily the best people for the job? One of the Spa stewards allegedly rigged an African rally already!

[Jose M. Doval]

A. Parker, little paranoic man, this time you have cross the line. Now everyone in this blog know that are a racist and xenophobic man. You're always putting words and comments on Alonso's mouth that only exists in your blatant, dirty and vicious imagination, and now you're doing the same with Robert Kubica and Felipe Massa. Many of us know exactly what happens in England with polish people. Some people, like you, consider them "second class human beings" and you're demonstrating clearly in your comments. The same happens about spanish or latinamerican people. It's hard to remember what happened in London with DeMenezes, the brazilian young killed by Police just because he looked "different". Last year you, and many racist people like you, put all your rage on Fernando Alonso and made him the nº1 enemy of England and the New Knight, Hamilton. This year you're doing the same with Felipe... poor man if he finally wins the title, then all the racists like A. Parker will be difamating him for years in every place they can. The reason, only one, like happened with Alonso and like happens with Kubica, the three of them are from countries considered by you as 3rd world places with 3rd class people.

... do you like the comment? It's your own remedy, man. Try to assimilate it now!

[Thomas]

I'm just gonna have to correct a few mistakes:

First to KORMAK:

Yeas, a lapped driver will get points if he finishes inside the top 8. However, if a driver is lapped and then finishes the race behind the leaders, then someone goes out the last lap he will be classified the last position of the drivers on that lap - e.g if Alonso is 6th and there is 8 people on the same lap as Sutil who is winning, and Hamilton finishes the race 9th right behind Sutil. Then Alonso would be classified 8th and get a point despite crashing out.

One in general:
And for the love of god stop bringing out Kimi's crash into Sutil as an example of Ferrari favoring. If you even bothered to watch that accident you can cleearly see Kimi losing control of his car on a damp patch or a bumb or something and desperately trying to regain control of it. As much a racing incident as anything.

And lastly to Ed: Man, it is very hard to discuss in the comment section when comments takes so long to get approved:/ What about implenting a registration system and simply banning offenders instead?

[Anon]

Derek SMith: In japan '07, if I recall, Kimi and Felipe had to serve drive-thrus because of that. Much like in Monaco'08. Might be wrong, as so muhc happened in that race. Anywa,t hey were forced to take them off. (WHY did they put the drys on? i mean, it's like you have tires meant to drive on lava, you see lava and say, I'm gonna put the ice cube tires on...)

A Parker- one post about you. One. I'll answer any quesiton you have about hwy I'm saying this in case you ask it in a manner that is above your usual intellectual level.

You stroll this blog, critizizing so and so for this and so and so for that. If somebody says they liek Alonso and disliek lewis, than they are wrong, rude, pathetic, etc.etc.etc. Meanwhile, you never, never, ever mention a thing to a rude Lewis supporter.

That is because you are the rudest supporter of them all. All you do is call ALonso, Kubica, Massa, Trulli vile, despicable, horrible, etc.etc.etc. If anybody were to call Lewis a snake in the grass as you have, you would go insane. Your bias is so apparent it is a psychological wonder you don't notice it. In the same breath you can call it disgusting to call Lewis disgusting AND call Fernando disgusting. THat's pretty disgusting.

And your race thing...

Again, I'm not racist. I could not care less about Lewis's race. I am unimpressed by it and if it weren't for you I would have forgotten a long time ago about it.

What I find hilarious is your response to Jordi's talk of racism in English football... all hyou manage to do is spew out some half-sorry excuse that you know you would roar at a Spaniard if he said the same about his country. You say there is a problem of racism in Spanish. You hardly have any evidence for it. I think it was you who also met some guy who said there was racism in Italy. THerefore, you discovered racism in Italy...

Therefore, I shall formally label you a stereotyper and prejudist. Both of those go hand in hand with racism. You don't want to admit it, but you yourself are racially prejudist. You've stereotyped whole nations and people for... stereotyping.

You might wonder why people like Javier don't get criticized at by me... here's why.

1.) Javier has a sense of humor.
2.) Javier spends most of his time being positive about his driver.
3.) You spend most of the time being negative about the others.
4.) Javier can admit to racism in his own country.
5.) You mumble through some explanation as to "there is racism but we care and you don't"
etc.

As long as you remain in usage of a bunch of rude judging and criticizing, don't expect me to criticize those for the same things (but almost always to a lesser extent).

You might be wondering- aren't criticizing vilely etc? Yes, I am. But apparently that is the only language you can understand.

[Bog]

@Thomas

Very well said indeed.. all of it.

[Anon]

Ah yes and A Parker-

Of course, there are always some things that are impolite and should be noticed. But you don't have to take care of everything that you disagree with.

I've started skipping many of the comments directed at me.

For exmaple, I think Mark B was wondering about what I said about Lewis's collisions. Why go in some detailed affair as to why I actually think Lewis and Kimi touched or at the very least Lewis thourhg Kimi off line? We would go and fight, would never agree, get worked up for nothing, and just spend some energy for nothing. I stated my opinion, he stated his.

Call Fernando and the rest vile and the rest of your colorful adjectives. But don't get all depressed if somebody calls Lewis vile. And don't go saying that then they are racist. Especially when you go on putting two huge countries in a group of countries with race problems. Especially when you create such double-standards for your own country.

PS: you might be wondering why I pick now out of all times to "attack" you... guess it has been awhile that I have been graduallly ticked of hearing frantic screeching of "Lewis isn't evil! THat's disgusting of you to say... Let's talk about Fernando the toad!"

[Mrs Bishop]

*Is it true Alonso will help Massa???*

[I read it on planetf1, but don't know wether to trust it...of course it could be a misquote. But if its true...]

If any driver on the grid crashes into Lewis in the next 2 races we know why... because Alonso has a big following on track and has major influence! OR Massa is taking tips of Alonso and getting Kimi to sacrafice himself ;D
Gosh, will Lewis ever win? Drivers hate him, FIA hate him, fans hate him, need i go on?

But then of course it could mainly be his own undoing, the British are like that, we tear ourselves down all the time :(

[Planetf1 also did a tally of what the championship should look like, but then again since when can you truely trust pf1? Still, entertaining to read, they are completely biased...love it.]

[LAK]

I too am suffering from the "sinking feeling" fever. And I'm dreading the Chinese GP, I have never felt this way about watching a GP, not even before Brazil last year. I'm just worried that it affects Hamilton too, he cannot afford to feel down! As TIM said, he must shake it off and refocus himself.

As IDR pointed out in your other post, Lewis needs to focus on his main rival, Massa. He shouldn't be distracted by what Kimi, Kubica, Alonso, or any driver does. If I was his race engineer, I would've screamed let Kimi pass in his ears as loud as I can! What happened happened, and now there's no more room for any mistakes. I wish him all the best, and wish for a calm and peaceful race on Sunday.

I wish I can be as calm as you MARILYN lol. I have a strong belief that he can do it too, but it's the unfairness that just lets me sink. Let's hope whoever wins the WDC wins it fairly!

Mr. Gorman, I think all 3 points you've mentioned are all equally important. It would be a dream come true to see them implemented!

I'm very touched by JAVIERVIVAESPANIA's concern about the Spanish media being too harsh on Hamilton and his Father. Thank you JAVIER for your respect and concern. It's funny how the media now started comparing dads! I wish all drivers' fans would be as respectful as you. We all have our favorite drivers but there's no reason for any rude remarks. :)

[Gary M]

May, you make some good points. However in this case the issue is not that the pit lane was used for overtaking but the marked red area in between the track and the pit exit (I am sure it is marked red for a reason, maybe it means Ferrari only?).

It is clearly not part of the track and if there was grass there and not red paint then one could clearly say this was exactly the same breach of the rules that saw LH lose his win at Spa.

There can be little doubt that this section of the circuit is not considered part of the racing track and therefore Massa left the track to overtake.

And before everyone jumps down my throat I agree we should be not looking at every single racing incident like this and shouting for penalties. I would be more than happy to see less penalties and more ballsy overtaking from great drivers like Massa and Hamilton. But what I do want is consistancy and this season both LH and HK has been penalised for every single incident like this and yet the Ferrari's just seem to escape time and time again.

This was not even the subject of a stewards enquiry, surely it was worth looking at at least? What if someone had been exiting the pits at the same time? There could have been a very nasty accident, is this not exactly what the Hamilton haters are saying was reason enough for his penalty for the 1st corner incident?

Massa's onboard video is here: (before FIA have it removed).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y9DKCLLHjs

[DJH]

Of course the FIA would say their current officials are professional - saying otherwise would be criticising their own members! What a joke.

It doesn't take lawyers to referee/umpire a football game, so why is their use in F1 of interest or benefit?

There's less money in cricket than the F1, yet cricket can afford to employ full-time dedicated umpires and match referees. Unlike football, which many would argue also suffers from inconsistency, but needs multiple umpires controlling multiple games simultaneously, F1 only has one race on at a time, so could improve its decision-making consistency by employing a single team of officials that went to every race.

F1 will never be consistently officiated while the officials are different at every race, and thereby left to re-interpret the rules at each race.

The FIA and its officials also need to make better use of precedent in defining how it came to a decision. The FIA loves to boast about its prolific links to lawyers and the legal profession, but it does not appear to use or make public any case of precedent to justify how it came to a decision, dispite precedent being a powerful decision-making tool.

That said, I think they'd struggle to find a previous case where a driver running wide causing other drivers to take evassive action resulted in that driver being penalised, as was the case with Hamilton at turn 1 in Fuji.

Finally, the teams should give up talking to C. Whiting, because how can they possibly value the advice given from someone who doesn't make the final rulings?

[Anon]

Mrs. Bishop- Yes Fernando said that.

I made my own tally. One where I can took in account everything- Lewis's problems in Malaysia and the Massa blow-ups, for example. I had Massa leading by two, even though I gave him 25 seconds in Valencia and let Lewis keep Monaco.

[Peter]

Ed, it is outstanding that THIS year britons talk about FIA, but last year we found a big silence coming from there, as, among others, were the "Nürburgring", "Hungary" or Japan incidents, and no penalties for Lewis, this year seems to be more solemnity.

[Jose M. Doval]

Mrs. Bishop, I can't believe that you, (Edit Moderator)Parker and many others are from William Shakespeare country... Do you know what means the word "irony". I suppose you've read the words but not heard it and I'm sure that you, like many english people, don't know a single word in spanish and have no interest in do it. Then you're in the last line and we, many people from countries that A. Parker despise, are in pole position because we try to write, talk and understand your lenguage, even doing not very good, like me, sorry.

[Daniel]

Dare I take my 'Fia-rrari' banner or my 'forza javiervivaespania' banner to Shanghai with me ? ;-) I'll be a turn 6, grandstand eight, £70 grandstand ticket for three days! That'd be about £300 in the UK....

[Mrs Bishop]

@Jose M. Doval

HOLLA!

I know irony, us British are the kings/Queens of humour! [I advise you watch Black Adder, Monty Python, Mighty Boosh, Ricky Gervais, QI...need I go on....]

Just like some people don't understand Lewis' humour. [people are always talking about bigger *****! even if it's to do with taking a spider out of the bath!]

But yes that is why I asked about the misquote, and the ;D at the end is a wink! Which means I wasn't entirely being serious...maybe it was lost in translation!

BTW I did try to learn spanish, but I am very weak at it, as I chose to take History instead, and really i have no time to learn any language, and i haven't got the passport or money to go abroad so there really is no need...

Also your english is very good, well done but i really am not persistent enough to do such a good job!

Adios

[Kormak]

TO THOMAS:

"Yeas, a lapped driver will get points if he finishes inside the top 8. However, if a driver is lapped and then finishes the race behind the leaders, then someone goes out the last lap he will be classified the last position of the drivers on that lap - e.g if Alonso is 6th and there is 8 people on the same lap as Sutil who is winning, and Hamilton finishes the race 9th right behind Sutil. Then Alonso would be classified 8th and get a point despite crashing out. "

I think you are wrong.

http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2006/763/

Michael Schumacher got points but only 1. 3 lapped drivers got more points.

[May]

Gary M - thanks for the clarification! I wish stewards really did publish a full explanation to their decisions, as I am often lost when trying to follow their thinking line. I was reviewing old news regarding the Hungary 2007 penalty, trying to find some background data that could apply to Fuji 2008, and the more that I looked, the less that I understood... It is not a matter of agreeing or disagreeing with their decisions, but of understanding the process.

Best regards,

[A Parker]

Thanks David – BR. Fingers crossed.

Martin, nice to know you consider everyone who is not white who mentions racism has a chip on their shoulder. Or maybe are pc gone mad or playing the race card – all dangerous terms to stop people complaining of racism. Lewis may be mixed-race, but just like if you go back to slavery, people don’t see the white side of you only the black. Only an idiot can’t see that. There are plenty of people who will not vote for Obama because he is BLACK or have you airbrushed that out of your sphere of existence. I won’t stop mentioning racism until racism doesn’t exist (you have a long long wait).

[Jose M. Doval]

@ Mrs. Bishop,
Iwas sure you understood the irony, and if you can heard the words, the tone of it and also the way that journalist were talking with him you'll be more sure that was an irony, like I'm sure it was when Lewis asked about who won in Monza.
About the commedy, thanks, I know all of them and specially like "Alò, Alò", "Fawlty Towers" (I'm Manuel, frrrom Barrcelona) and more recently "Little Britain". BTW I love England and use to spend my summer holidays in the Costwolds since 12 years ago (let me say, now that no one is listening, that, YES, I love the english weather) and for this reason I can't understand the nasty attitude of people like A. Parker against everyone that is not Lewis or disturb his aparent "reigning" in F1. Did you know that the first time I've ever seen Fernando Alonso in person was jogging around Oxford in 2004. He has said many times that he loved to live there but, unfortuntely, last year he was forced to live out of England because the preassure of "some kind" of press.
Aniway, take your time and learn some spanish. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

[Thomas]

KORMAK:

As I am just an observer I might be wrong. But, in the race you linked (Hungary '06), Schumacher retired 2 or 3 laps from the end while those lapped cars in front of him was still running 1 lap back. He was more laps behind than the three lapped cars classified ahead of him.

[tiptoe]

A PARKER
You are right, racism exist, but that fact does not give you the right to accuse everyone who does not like LH of racism.
Do you realize that prejudice is the embryo of racism too?
Besides this is a F1 blog and after more than a year I don't remember a single racist comment from anyone.
Take care and enjoy F1 with us, we are nice chaps and our only fault is supporting Fernando