Email and Espionage 04/10/2007 Grandprix dot com has managed to upstage us all with more interesting revelations from Stepney, but PitPass hits back strongly with a Mike Lawrence article on the future of Ferrari. So what to write about?Sebastian VettelYesterday I looked at Stepney's statements and considered the implications for the FIA; today's stories merely make it doubly clear that Max and Luca should be a little more circumspect in their posturing. Whether Stepney's version of events is true or not, it becomes clear that there is much yet to be revealed in the "espionage" saga and the facts may be considerably more uncomfortable for Ferrari and the FIA than may appear at present.Elsewhere, the storm in the teacup concerns Hamilton's driving during the pace car laps at Fuji. Why the stewards should suddenly become so upset at what amounts to the normal jostling for position in such circumstances is beyond me. To concentrate on this whilst ignoring Massa's use of the run-off area to get past Kubica at the final corner looks like yet another instance of McLaren-bashing by the FIA.I have seen the video that has caused this latest investigation by the stewards and yes, it is true that Hamilton closed up to the pace car and fell away again, took some strange lines through corners, almost stopping at one point. But to say that he was responsible for Vettel driving into the back of Webber is just ridiculous. Have another look at that video, guys, and note that Webber's antics are just as haphazard as Hamilton's; at times he was right alongside the McLaren, at others well behind. If a fuss is to be made about Hamilton's driving, it needs to be made about Webber's too.The fact is that this is normal behavior in the situation. The first man wants to make sure that he gets away first when the pace car leaves the circuit, the second man wants to be in a position to get the jump on him, and the same is true all the way down the line. If there is any fault involved in the driving at Fuji it is Webber's - he drove so close to Hamilton that the leader had no opportunity to expand the gap to the pace car as they usually do just before the re-start. It was gamesmanship by the Australian that backfired rather badly on himself.But this is all irrelevant really. Vettel drove into the back of Webber; whether he was distracted or just clumsy doesn't matter - it is the responsibility of the man behind not to drive into the car in front. Ask your insurance agent.The penalty handed out to poor Vettel was extreme considering the state of the track and the antics of those in front of him. But the right man was penalized, if penalty there had to be.Otherwise, the only talking point has been the mysteriously late email that would have prevented Ferrari from making the worst tire choice in their history. In fact, email seems to have been a theme running behind much of what has happened in F1 this year. The FIA found a few and built a case on them, Stepney regrets that he hasn't got any, Coughlan can't work out how to stop the flow of the darn things into his computer, Max gets into the habit of sending emails to drivers, and Jean Todt prefers hand-delivered messages to the electronic variety. It seems that the sport is having difficulty in accommodating to the new and wonderful world of information technology.In 1995, realizing that I was becoming severely out of date in business systems, I went on an IT training course and discovered the wonders of this new-fangled thing, the computer, and its soulmate, the internet. Twelve years later, it seems that many of those involved with the most powerful computers used in sport could do with taking a similar series of lessons.It's nice to know you're one up on the great and powerful!
Clive
Magnus Was it Webber driving erratically or was it Hamilton trying to trick Webber into passing him (and thus getting a drive-through)? I think we can agree there was some bad driving and maybe the FIA should at least have a talk with the drivers and explain how to drive responsibly behind the safety car.Also, wasn't the safety car lights on still at that time? In that case there is really no reason for anyone to play any tricks at all.As for the Massa/Kubica thing, perhaps the stewards aren't looking simply because no one has filed a protest? Anyway, looking at the youtube clips of that fight it seems they're running each other off the track every other corner so it would be hard to decide who gained the most from off-track driving. Date Added: 04/10/2007
Don Speekingleesh The fact is that this is normal behavior in the situation. The first man wants to make sure that he gets away first when the pace car leaves the circuit, the second man wants to be in a position to get the jump on him...While that's true when the SC is about to come in, that was not the case here - the SC lights were still on.Hamilton repeatedly broke the rules about 5 car lengths - each time he was behind the SC.The only reason Webber was close to Hamilton at times is because Hamilton was driving erratically and dangerously. Date Added: 04/10/2007
Clive Fair enough, Magnus, it's a good idea that the stewards should have given the drivers a good talking to about their behavior behind the pace car. Certainly better than handing out penalties to drivers who have already suffered the consequences of their mistakes.But I've never noticed any difference in the driving behind the pace car, regardless of whether it was due to pull into the pits or not. They get a little more excited on the last lap, perhaps, but tend to drive all over the place during all pace car laps.And Don, you have to admit that the reason Hamilton couldn't give the pace car much space was that Webber was right up behind him all the time. Hamilton says he was worried about Webber running into him and, looking at the video, I think he had good cause to worry.To say that Webber was close up because Hamilton was driving erratically doesn't seem logical to me. Surely you'd give such a driver more room, not less? Date Added: 04/10/2007
Haplo Well, see, these guys become F1 drivers to avoid, well... safe and responsible driving.This is nonsense, really. Responsible driving? A F1 driver? WTF!Vettel is just blind. Hamilton and Webber were both doing what they always do behind the SC, and that is brake hard and accelerate fast, to keep the engine and brakes up to temp.A load of bollocks. The marshals (or whoever) to have a chat with Hamilton at the chinese GP to settle this. Date Added: 04/10/2007
Clive Obviously, I agree with you, Haplo. But I'd include Webber in that little chat with the marshals... ;) Date Added: 04/10/2007
Haplo No no! I mean that the supposed chat is a load of bollocks and should not take place!!!!What should is send Vettel to the oculist. Date Added: 04/10/2007
Clive Oh, I see! Well, I still agree with you! :D Date Added: 04/10/2007
patrick Talking of blind, if Hamilton was driving dangerously, shouldn't the stewards have brought him in for a drive through penalty at the time? Or can they not see either?Actually, I thought it was Hamilton's behaviour at the end of the *first* safety car that deserved censure, but this does rather smack of interference in the world championship battle.Whether to prevent a Mclaren victory or simply to find a way of keeping it open to the last race I do not know. Date Added: 04/10/2007
Clive And the FIA would never do that, would they, Patrick? Date Added: 04/10/2007
Haplo I'm really tired of all this nonsense of driving dangerously, and driving responsibly. A F1 driver CANNOT, by definition, drive responsibly, and certainly cannot drive safely.You want that? Go with the missus to pick up the lads at soccer practice.And with that goes that crap of nursing the wheels and saving up fuel. This is about going as fast as possible, making the most noise imaginable in the way. Date Added: 04/10/2007
Haplo Oh, and the engine rule too. All F1 engines should last exactly ONE GP, and not a single lap more. Saving costs my a**. Let the teams expend in one race what NASA in one year. Date Added: 04/10/2007
Clive Haplo, you're a man after my own heart. Racing has always been irresponsible, dangerous and about going faster than anyone else. And, if the racers want to bankrupt themselves doing it, that's fine by me. Date Added: 04/10/2007
Number 38 Investigating Hamilton? I have to agree with most, Hamilton didn't CAUSE the Webber/Vettel collision, but Hamilton did attend the drivers meeting where all were instructed (or at least reminded) about pace and distance behind the safety car and I believe THAT is what is being investigated, even without a collision his conduct was erratic. At the time of the Red Bull/ STR contact Hamilton's McLaren is nearly OFF the right side of the circuit, it is possible Webber thought he was about to pull off with a failure and Webber is nearly even with Hamilton on the left side, just about to get punted by Vettel. There's certainly a lot of room for speculation from our distance. And penalizing Vettel doesn't accomplish anything. Let's see P1 times in China are now posted.......Vettel 20th minus 10 places, yep! That does it! Date Added: 05/10/2007
Clive I think Hamilton had good reason to be so far to the right, Number 38 - he was avoiding collision with the pace car. But the whole things is unnecessary. Vettel should not have been penalized and the whole incident would have been forgotten by now. Date Added: 05/10/2007
Uppili The piece on emails and computers....diamond!! :) Date Added: 05/10/2007
Clive Thank you, Uppili - I was kinda proud of that one myself. ;) Date Added: 05/10/2007
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