Get On With It And Race Already!

Wednesday 25th June 2008

Several PF1ers are growing tired of the conspiracy theories and just want everyone involved in the sport to stop getting distracted by the controversies that are dogging F1...

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Get On With It And Race Already!
Conspiracy? Ferrari favouritism? It's funny how penalties imposed for obvious infractions are causing such alarm amongst the McLaren and Hamilton faithful. If this is indeed the case, then what was the deal with the penalty on Kimi Raikkonen in Monaco for not having tyres selected in time on the grid? Surely if the FIA and Max Mosely's number two (Alan Donnelly) have the ability to alter races in Ferrari's favour, wouldn't they have brushed such a small infraction under the rug? Such an infraction would have not even been caught by any cameras, and I highly doubt any other team would have noticed either. But once the race started, Kimi was penalised, and there was no post race squawking of conspiracy from Ferrari's camp.

By contrast, McLaren has been penalised for :

1. Rear ending a car in pit lane due to the neglect to notice an OBVIOUS red light (and obviously caught on camera)

2. Getting in the way of a driver on his hot lap in qualifying while on his own cool down lap (caught on camera)

3. Passing Vettel and using the off road to maintain the manoeuvre, as had he tried to keep it on the main road would have had an off, and therefore prove it was a unsafe pass attempt to begging with (caught on camera using the off road to MAINTAIN the pass)

Well doesn't this all scream conspiracy? NO! It screams of poor judgement, demonstrated by both it's inexperienced drivers and the team that employs them. Time to get on with it!
Caleb Hayward

...I'm growing tired of the conspiracy theories around McLaren, Hamilton etc.

If a driver (or footballer too) is good, near the top, and courts so much publicity, then their every move is going to be under scrutiny (ask Michael Schumacher or Cristiano Ronaldo). Sometimes the moves are good, sometimes they are dodgy, sometimes they are a bit ugly - but one thing is certain. Any driver nowadays who is bold enough and brave enough to have a go, to try to race, to try to overtake (something we all say we want to see more of), will sometimes get it a little wrong, and will inevitably be penalised sometimes.

On some occasions the penalties may seem undeserved as it looked on Sunday. However, there are many other sports where the referees make a bad decision or even a wrong decision, which alters the outcome on the day - but it is still their decision and not the start of a debate. Could this perhaps explain the decision on Sunday rather than this 'conspiracy' against McLaren? Not as interesting, but probably more likely. Football fans respond with a well-known terrace chant - I think many of the letters on your page are the equivalent!

I've watched F1 for long enough to know that Ron Dennis has long seen conspiracies that don't exist. Perhaps he (and Lewis) should remember that success is an achievement and not a right.
Wendy

...It is usual in a conspiracy theory for someone to be paranoid and this seems to be McLaren. Many other teams have received penalties and the drive through for Raikkanon at Monte Carlo for late fitting of tyres would have caused a feeding frenzy if it had happened to Lewis Hamilton.

Rosberg accepted his penalty for Canada even though unlike McLaren the car he hit was already out of the race. The fact is McLaren and most of the top teams push things to the limit for any little advantage, the problem they have is inexperience. Any canny driver would have let Vettel back the reason not to do it was to keep an advantage! Lewis Hamilton hasn't gone the usual route into F1 has been elevated into a team that lacks a driver with an experienced viewpoint.

I suggest he learns to be careful what he says in an attempt to be liked. If you analyse the Canada accident with his version you will come to the conclusion that faced with a choice of who to crash into he chose his biggest rival I think he didn't see the red light and took evasive action not to hit Kubica.

Kubica also from his quotes believes this. At France he explains cutting the corner due to marbles being forced wide by a Red Bull and all of this meant he didn't have to brake so hard and carry more speed in and out of the corner. I think it a shame that Alonso and his relationship soured as he could have learnt a lot equally a more experienced team-mate could have been hired to help but again McLaren chose a riskier route and therefore are part architect of their problems. If anything goes wrong their tendency to dispute must annoy the officials and the other teams and the belief that Ferrari get special treatment only seems to come from them and who do they see as their biggest rival .

They (McLaren) should heed their own words and just get on with doing the job the only heads they are meddling with are their own.
Roger

...Hamilton is not a victim of conspiracy in Formula 1! Please remember the previous season. It is hard to deny he had an incredible year, but was it only his hard work that made him a runner-up in World Champion?

Well... no. I always had a really great impression that on many occasions he was treated by the steward like vulnerable egg. Just remember what happened in Nurburgring, when it started to rain and Lewis ended up in the mud he was the only one who was carefully given a crane lift back to the track where he could continue the race. Then on many occasions other drivers were punished or were considered a punishments because they were brave and insolent to try to overtake little Lewis. He lost his greatest chance to win World Champion because he couldn't handle the pressure and he thought that the long straight in Brazil GP was the pit lane so not thinking to much he hit the button... just let guys trough.

But even then, for a few days nobody was sure who will win the World Champion, because FIA had just taken under the consideration that if they disqualify BMW and Williams that finished before "the wonder child" he will get just enough points to lift the trophy in his debut season. But they didn't find any reason.

Hamilton is a really good driver and one of the best on the grid, but this season he is just treated fair by FIA and, unlike previous season, he is being punished for his dreadful mistakes. Stop taking over some conspiracy theory because it's just the greatest bulls*** of all.
Artur

...I can't believe that some people can say that the penalty on Lewis was unjustified. He caused the situation. As a driver in the highest form of motorsport, you should be able to assess all the possibilities and look at all the obstacles before you make the move. I am by all means no Alonso fan, but look at his pass on Nick Heidfeld at the same corner 2 years back. This shows you that Lewis is just still a rookie that gets far to much credit for just being in the right car at the right time. He must have known that Coulthard was in the way and that Vettel would not just let him by. He should have known that passing over the chicane would be investigated. There is nothing more to it.
Steyn, Cape Town

Give Hamilton Some Support
Let's make this a fact, I absolutely do not like Lewis Hamilton, I am a Schumacher fan, and I will always remain that (I'm afraid).

However, the punishing he is receiving from the media is absolutely absurd. The moment he wins he is the hero, but the moment things do not go as planned he gets shot through the kneecaps, and left for the vultures. I then wonder what the papers will write when he becomes WC, because that is just a matter of time. I hope he will remember the way he was treated by them when it did not go his way.

The actual fault lies with McLaren of course.

They have plonked all the responsibility of a No 1 driver on his shoulders, where, although his success of last year might suggest different, the guy is actually still learning the cracks of the whip, which does not make him the real Indiana Jones yet.

What should have happened is that McLaren would have had a second (much more experienced) driver (Ralfie springs to mind), bearing the grunt of the responsibilities, and let Lewis roam free, to learn and to race. Had they done that they may have achieved a lot more this season, and have Lewis in a much more stable frame of mind.

Such a pity.
Fred de Klein

...Hamilton, being a rookie, is making all those mistakes rookies have to make to become experienced drivers: pressing the wrong buttons, forgetting to put the car into launch mode, pitting into the sand instead of the boxes, not handing a place back after illegally overtaking, neglecting red lights, overtaking just some hundred metres before pitting, irresponsibly driving behind the Safety Car under the rain and causing an accident, impending other drivers fast lap during qualifying.

Most (if not all) of them could have avoided if the team behind Hamilton had been just a bit more proactive and had advised Hamilton on each and every situation. Team management seems to be one of the most unprofessional these days amongst F1 teams, though it could be easily argued that last year was even worse. But looking at what Kimi and Montoya went through during their stay at McLaren, it is clear that the situation has been that bad all over the last years.

Some years ago, Kimi lost eight points against Alonso when he had a literally "flat" tyre and he blew the whole suspension up. He collected 0 points instead of eight, had he conceded Alonso the victory that anyway he got. Compare that with Hamilton pitting in the sand last year and it is obvious that neither Kimi nor Hamilton were advised to drive more carefully in order to secure points that would have proved essential to win the Championship.
Daniel Rodriguez - Munich, Germany

F1 Must Clean Up Its Act
I have been a keen observer of F1 since the early 1950's. My father was an admirer of the late great former World Champion Phil Hill, whom you might recall drove for the prancing horse bunch when he won it all. There was much rejoicing in our house the day Hill clinched the Title. My dad was able to visit Hill for an entire afternoon once in both their dotage's. They were both fans of classical music and vintage automobiles.

That prologue was simply to inform that I am not necessarily a fan of McLaren today, but some things are becoming crystal clear. The FIA has deemed that McLaren will not win either Championship this year or perhaps more to the point, Ferrari will win. I am not a fan of conspiracy theory either, but this has gone far enough. The egregious spy fine stupidity followed by on track penalties that lack all sense are beginning to amount to a farce.

The French Grand Prix stood out as laughable. Hamilton gets a drive-through penalty for having passed Vettel before he gets to the chicane. The decision is held behind closed doors (sound familiar?) led by one of Mosely's cronies and we can't see the supposed tape that captured the bad deed. Uh the Toro Rosso has a Ferrari in the back, right? It looked like Hamilton was going to score points, didn't it? The telling incident was, however, the Kimster running around with the exhaust system flapping about lap after lap after lap. Where were the stewards? Do you really think they would have let ANYONE ELSE drive around with that dangerous situation? Only Massa. Luckily it came off without incident, but it was just luck.

Frankly, I have come nearly to the end of my rope with F1. In my eyes there is more to this story than just favouritism towards Ferrari.

I watched a Nascar race this weekend in Sonoma, California. Montoya came from 21st to second before being punted back to finish sixth. The winner, Kyle Bush started 32nd. When was the last time anything like that happened in F1? The big cars are fun to watch on a road course. Pity they do only twice a year. Bush looks like he has an F1 test lined up with Honda. Goodbye Rubens.

Ferrari don't need help to win anything. If Todt gets the FIA post I will stop watching F1 altogether. Period. F1 needs to clean up its act.
Dave - Tucson, Arizona

...Instead of being surprised, horrified or delighted whenever McLaren get drive through penalties, moved to the back of the grid etc why doesn't PlanetF1.com start a "Guess the penalty" feature where your regular F1 supporters try to guess what penalties will be given to McLaren drivers at all future Grand Prix for the rest of the season.

PlanetF1 could award points to the most accurate guesstimates and as we all know "Points mean prizes".

This would have us all watching all qualifying and races through the eyes of Max's henchmen and we would stay glued to the TV of the most boring processional races just looking for Heikki Kovalainen and/or Lewis Hamilton to cut a corner or fail to move over to allow a following car to overtake.

Ferrari will obviously win both Championships and we can cheer on the FIA in their efforts to give the McLaren drivers an uphill struggle.

You know it makes sense.
Anthony

The Death of Grands Prix
The one thing to suffer from this unfair, biased affair is Formula One as a whole. How can the so-called pinnacle of motor racing be ruined by a few, as ruin it they surely will. Why is Ferrari held in such high regard, if they dropped out of F1, they would be no more missed than Super Aguri, Arrows, Prost or Minardi.The sports bigger than any one team, in my opinion anyway. McLaren should pull the whole operation stateside.

Indy Racing is the new pinnacle. They actually race in that form of racing. The grand prix / procession of France was the height of boredom. I really felt I wasted my time getting up to watch a forgone conclusion, thanks to a few selfish people inside the FIA.

I bet ze Max was in his element. How many World Championships is he going to be allowed to help Ferrari win? The list of aid he's heaped on the Scuderia is expanding annually. Think the Scuderias complaint to their old mate Max about McLaren use of beryllium engine components, upheld. Think Michelin tyres, and there width, mid season no less, upheld. Think Renault's mass damper system, complaint made by the Scuderia, mid season again, upheld. Renault had incriminating data on the McLaren at the same time as Stepneygate, you guessed it, only one team was fined 100 mil euro and full loss of Constructors points.

It's like the All Blacks bemoaning the Springboks' new rugby boots mid game, and the ref making them change their footwear. It's a farce.
T Hohaia, New Zealand

Three Simple Comments
1. Felipe Massa has been very consistent, just watch what happened since Bahrain and you will see his ascendant performance.

2. Lewis do not need to fall in hysterical crisis for fighting for position on lap 1 with a Toro Rosso. Lewis need to shut up his mouth, see himself as a human being, stop pushing himself as a super hero ("nothing can distract me") , know better his own limitations and work on it.

3. Positions and roles are relative in life. Today the "victims" are McLaren; last year Ferrari, who will be the next? Someone else of course!!!! McLaren should stop crying and focus on manage your team and it's poor performance.
Carlos - Honduras

Poor Driver Quality
Has anyone else noticed the amount of errors and issues that all of the current top drivers are making/causing? It looks as if no one wants the Championship! He is fantastic, but how can Robert Kubica be second?

Up the professionalism. We all know that Michael would have one in 2007 if he stayed, and it looks like he would have blitzed it this year too.
Mathew Hinksman - UK

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