dotdotdotcomma wishes to be the first to come out and proclaim that Formula1 is dead.
F1 is dead, dead, dead. And long may it remain so if today's batch of headline news stories on Autosprout are any kind of indication of the state of things.
Just look at it:
- Bernie Ecclestone is threatening to remove Spa from the F1 calendar. Spa! Yes, SPA, I ask you!!! Well, it's probably only THE MOST EXCITING RACE OF THE YEAR, and a favourite of all the drivers. That's not important: it doesn't sell enough fags.
- Toyota, a team we all thought had good relations with its drivers, can't be arsed to tell Allan McNish that they are about to announce his dismissal. Press release: "Er, yeah, we're gonna sack Allan. Tell him if you see him, would you?"
- Sauber, almost synonymous with well-considered opinions, would prefer Frentzen (a has-been, albeit a solid has-been) to Massa (an exciting young driver who currently has double Frentzen's points), apparently because they reckon they'll get a better share of prize money, NOT because Frentzen is a better driver, but because the way the prize money is CURRENTLY calculated favours the predictable German over the entertaining Brazilian. A sober decision, eh?
- Craig Pollock, a man who regular readers will know is not exactly held in high regard by dotdotdotcomma, expects a contract in the post over his bid to buy out Arrows, but is informed, after he doesn't receive it, by a THIRD PARTY, that that wanker Tom Walkinshaw has sold the company to some unknown yank. Come back, Craig, all is forgiven.
- The same Walkinshaw names a driver he has all but sacked to drive one of his cars at Spa, but obviously omits to tell Mr Frentzen, who is at home. Doh!
- The team who are obviously and somewhat tediously the best on the grid, Ferrari, can't be bothered to encourage their drivers to race. More disappointingly, the other teams can't be bothered to try to catch up. Just think of the red cars as hares, "folks".
- The anonymous yank who buys out the Arrows team is a miner, with apparently no previous interest in motorsport, and nobody bats an eyelid, because, hey! He's a billionaire and that's OK. Perhaps he smokes a lot.
- Mika Salo, arguably one of the most talented drivers on the grid, who showed Michael Schumacher his rear end on many occasions in F3, almost won a GP first time out in a Ferrari, and has acquitted himself professionally for the Toyota team this year is just let go. There is no justice. And then he claims he is happy because Toyota have paid him off well. Oh, well, that's more important than showing that teutonic twat who's boss.
It's all bollocks. It all relates more to money than performance. I'm fed up with it. Every time I actually think about it I just get angry.
Here's something else that always gets me. The cars were going too fast, so they introduced narrower, grooved tyres. The cars continue going faster. At the same time, they introduce traction control and launch control. Not because this will improve the spectacle of racing (it doesn't) but because they can't stop people using it. The cars continue to go faster. They want to slow the cars down on long straights, so they introduce chicanes. The cars continue to go faster. So they remove long straights altogether. For crying out loud, JUST LET THE CARS GO FAST!!! |
