At least the FIA is consistent. It has made it clear that the rules and conventions of F1 are meaningless and will be interpreted and changed as and when the FIA see fit to do so. The decision of the FIA Appeal Court to reject McLaren's case as inadmissible was totally predictable in view of the governing body's previous decisions.
Precedent has no weight with their courts; they are there merely to rubber stamp the increasingly absurd decisions of FIA officials. The fact that this proves the whole organization to be even more corrupt than we ever suspected apparently means nothing to anyone within the FIA. Prove that an FIA official has deliberately misled a team regarding the rules and has then falsified evidence and the Court ignores you - it will do as instructed by its master.
I admit quite freely that I have suspected the FIA of favoring Ferrari in its decisions for years. But the blatancy with which it happens these days amazes even me. There is no shame in this organization - it has all of the power, and uses and abuses it openly and cynically. It is truly the creation of its president, a man who does not argue for any of his decisions through logic but insults the intelligence and standing of anyone who disagrees with him. I suppose I should not be surprised.
Well, at least there can be no doubt now. All the teams know that the FIA will manipulate the championships to their own ends and they will continue to work with that. But the fans also know it now and there is no imperative upon them to keep watching. They probably will but will also understand that the championships are so devalued as to be worthless. As can be seen from the comments to my previous post, many enthusiasts are merely waiting for the day that Mosley goes and their only fear is that he will have destroyed the sport before that day comes.
The sad thing is that it is not only the FIA that has been brought into disrepute. Association with so corrupt an organization drags the mighty name of Ferrari down too and we can no longer regard any of their recent championships with anything other than contempt. It does not matter whether the machinations of the FIA have been effective in giving them championships or not; the team's willingness to benefit from such practices shows that they have departed all decency and honor.
F1 itself suffers, although to a lesser extent, I think. The racing machines produced by the teams are still marvels of technique and design, fabulous creatures that delight the eye and ear of any racing enthusiast. The drivers too remain the best that feeder series can provide, experts in their field and masters of car control. Each team is a well-oiled machine that functions at the limit of human excellence. That is what we will continue to watch - but we will do it now with our faces turned resolutely away from the self-serving toadies that run the sport.
I never expected to be writing words like these when I began blogging F1 over two years ago. In many ways, I was an innocent when I started, believing that F1 remained a sport in spite of the huge commercial and political pressures upon it. But the research and study that writing demands has revealed the sport to be in the grip of men who care nothing for fair competition and who seek only to further their own wealth and power. I continue to write but now with a bitter taste in my mouth as I think of how this greatest of competitions is being dragged down into the mire.
It is a matter of a mere seven points on the face of it. But in reality, it is one more step towards the death of F1.