It has always been true that, if you want a straight answer to a straight question, ask an Australian. If you don't believe me, have a read of Mark Webber's thoughts on McLaren's disastrous pit stop and the storm that resulted from it.
Mark Webber
Mark cuts through the bovine excreta as only an Australian can; in two sentences he deals with Hamilton's claimed lack of awareness that drivers are sometimes held in the pits for strategy purposes:
Every team does it - bringing two cars in at the same time and inevitably delaying one driver. At the Nurburgring both David and I lost our last qualifying laps because the team weren't organised in that kind of situation and we didn't get out in time.
Well dang me, Mark, you're right - I remember that incident. But tell me, how come the stewards didn't intervene to see fair play between you and David?
I just don't understand what the stewards were doing. One team drops the ball, ruins their own guy's chances of getting in a final lap and the team get punished? How does that work? It happens to teams all the way down the grid but they don't get their points taken away. It's just baffled me.
But you're an F1 driver. Surely you must understand how these things work?
When you go to such extreme margins and try to leave the pits with say a minute and 30 to go when you know it takes a minute and 25 to do a lap, you're always taking a risk, and sometimes you screw yourselves.
I just don't understand the points penalty though. People have tried to explain it to me but I just don't get it. You screw yourself over and then get penalised for it. It's crazy.
I have to agree with you, Mark, but the fact is it has happened. And now everyone is saying that one of the two McLaren drivers will leave, perhaps even before the end of the year. Can you see that happening?
The relationship between Lewis and Fernando looks pretty tense at the moment. But I don't see that it's such a big deal really. Prost and Senna hated each other but they still won loads of races in their time as team-mates.
I've never really had a great relationship with any of my team-mates. Not just in F1 but in my whole career. It's not that we hated each other, I mean I used to talk to them, but it's not like we were friends or spent time together off the track.
That's just the way things have to be. F1 is a competitive sport after all and we all want to win. It's just that they're both fighting for the championship so it's a bit more intense.
So it's just business as usual? You reckon Ron will patch it up and they'll be able to continue, at least to the end of the year?
It's getting like Prost and Senna. They only lasted two years together at McLaren and I don't see this one lasting any longer. I don't know if that means Fernando or Lewis leaving the team. It will be interesting to see.
Hedging your bets a bit on that last one there, Mark. Still, I can see why - we were all a bit surprised when Lewis finally showed us his nasty side and Fernando does have that hot Spanish blood that makes him a bit unpredictable. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Maybe we should have a few more Australians in F1. There would certainly be a lot more straight talking if that happened and we might not have debates such as Pitpass' one asking whether the fans are ready to give up on a sport that has descended to such petty arguments and interference by the governing body.
We now have a three-week break before the next Grand Prix and this is a good chance to take stock and digest what has happened in the season so far. We can also hope that the powers that be will realize just how bad things have become in F1 and start listening to the good sense spoken by those who care most about the sport. It's a faint hope, I know, but Bernie at least shows the occasional flash of understanding and might be able to knock some sense into a few heads. After all, he's the only one trying to get Spyker and the customer car teams to reach agreement rather than go to court.
Ah, you'd forgotten about that one in all the recent kerfuffles, hadn't you...?
Mark Webber
Mark cuts through the bovine excreta as only an Australian can; in two sentences he deals with Hamilton's claimed lack of awareness that drivers are sometimes held in the pits for strategy purposes:
Every team does it - bringing two cars in at the same time and inevitably delaying one driver. At the Nurburgring both David and I lost our last qualifying laps because the team weren't organised in that kind of situation and we didn't get out in time.
Well dang me, Mark, you're right - I remember that incident. But tell me, how come the stewards didn't intervene to see fair play between you and David?
I just don't understand what the stewards were doing. One team drops the ball, ruins their own guy's chances of getting in a final lap and the team get punished? How does that work? It happens to teams all the way down the grid but they don't get their points taken away. It's just baffled me.
But you're an F1 driver. Surely you must understand how these things work?
When you go to such extreme margins and try to leave the pits with say a minute and 30 to go when you know it takes a minute and 25 to do a lap, you're always taking a risk, and sometimes you screw yourselves.
I just don't understand the points penalty though. People have tried to explain it to me but I just don't get it. You screw yourself over and then get penalised for it. It's crazy.
I have to agree with you, Mark, but the fact is it has happened. And now everyone is saying that one of the two McLaren drivers will leave, perhaps even before the end of the year. Can you see that happening?
The relationship between Lewis and Fernando looks pretty tense at the moment. But I don't see that it's such a big deal really. Prost and Senna hated each other but they still won loads of races in their time as team-mates.
I've never really had a great relationship with any of my team-mates. Not just in F1 but in my whole career. It's not that we hated each other, I mean I used to talk to them, but it's not like we were friends or spent time together off the track.
That's just the way things have to be. F1 is a competitive sport after all and we all want to win. It's just that they're both fighting for the championship so it's a bit more intense.
So it's just business as usual? You reckon Ron will patch it up and they'll be able to continue, at least to the end of the year?
It's getting like Prost and Senna. They only lasted two years together at McLaren and I don't see this one lasting any longer. I don't know if that means Fernando or Lewis leaving the team. It will be interesting to see.
Hedging your bets a bit on that last one there, Mark. Still, I can see why - we were all a bit surprised when Lewis finally showed us his nasty side and Fernando does have that hot Spanish blood that makes him a bit unpredictable. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Maybe we should have a few more Australians in F1. There would certainly be a lot more straight talking if that happened and we might not have debates such as Pitpass' one asking whether the fans are ready to give up on a sport that has descended to such petty arguments and interference by the governing body.
We now have a three-week break before the next Grand Prix and this is a good chance to take stock and digest what has happened in the season so far. We can also hope that the powers that be will realize just how bad things have become in F1 and start listening to the good sense spoken by those who care most about the sport. It's a faint hope, I know, but Bernie at least shows the occasional flash of understanding and might be able to knock some sense into a few heads. After all, he's the only one trying to get Spyker and the customer car teams to reach agreement rather than go to court.
Ah, you'd forgotten about that one in all the recent kerfuffles, hadn't you...?