I'm perpetually amused by how much Formula One drivers and bosses whine and complain. It adds to the drama. Someone always gets upset about something, whether it's legitimate or not.
It seems like the latest wrong doing involves the FIA and its ruling that the rear underbody diffusers used by Toyota, Brawn GP and Williams were legal. In particular, Renault team boss Flaivo Briatore seems very upset. Briatore said this about the teams:
"Our (McLaren, Ferrari and Renault) drivers are or have been world champions, and then you have a (Brawn) driver who was almost retired, and another who is 'paracarro' (Italian for a roadside concrete post) fighting for the championship,'
'I don't know how we can say we have credibility. It is impossible to recover the ground we have lost on those teams.
'In three or four races the championship will be decided and I don't know what the interest of the TV viewers will be when Button has 60 points and (Williams' Kazuki) Nakajima 50. It will be better to listen only on radio and watch something else"
Briatore has it all wrong. What has happened in the first three races -- wins by Brawn GP and Red Bull combined with a lack of competitiveness from McLaren, Ferrari and Renault -- is exactly what Formula One needs. When it's proven that any team can have a chance to win in a season if it innovates (which, by the way, is at the core of F1 spirit), that makes for an extremely intriguing season. I've seen Ferrari, McLaren and Renault win championships ... big deal! I want something new, something different ... and this season has delivered results. In my opinion, this season has been the best in years. I haven't been this into F1 since Bernie Ecclestone and Tony George put an end to the US Grand Prix.
Your bad, not the FIA's.
That I'm this interested in F1 this season shouldn't come as a surprise. What's happening in F1 this season has brought success to other professional sports in the US -- namely the National Football League. The NFL is by far the most popular sport, and a contributing factor is that any team can win in any given season. Between the hope it gives fans of the lesser teams and the change of scenery at the top, what's not to love about a little shakeup every now and then to keep things fresh? I'm sure Briatore was thinking the same thing when Alonso won his first championship with Renault after years of Ferrari dominance a few years back.
Briatore's comments sound more like sour grapes because he didn't hit on the key innovations in the off-season to field a competitive car. If anything, Briatore ought to be frustrated with himself that he allowed these diffuser teams to gain an advantage on his Renault team.
Briatore and the others must now stop their whining, step up to the challenge and attempt to implement a solution that makes their entires competitive with Brawn GP. That will make the F1 season even better.
1 comments:
Flavio Briatore does have a habit of putting his foot in his mouth, but this outburst takes the biscuit. He simply hates losing and tends to resemble a headless chicken when his team is hanging around the lower points-paying positions - something it has now done for the past three years.
You are right. Times change and Renault needs to change instead of demanding the same thing all the time.
Post a Comment