BAR-Talk.com Newsletter 003

By Phil Huff (11/08/2004)
August 11 2004

So where do we start this weeks newsletter? I was hoping for a quiet time during F1's extended three week break, but Jenson Button saw fit to take over my weekend.

Life's been made all the more hectic following a fire and flood at chez BAR-Talk.com, but we've coped through the misery.

The first misery then must be Jenson's departure. After building himself into an irreplaceable and fully integrated part of Lucky Strike BAR Honda, he pops his head over the Williams fence and sees that the grass is greener.

Nothing so wrong with that, other than BAR felt sure they had the youngster under contract. One for the courts to decide there. So, apart from that, no problems?

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Not quite. Jenson, probably under instructions from his management team at Essentially Sport, declined to discuss this matter with BAR's boss and bosom buddy David Richards. Not a move that endears you to the team, that. We now hear that Jenson's race engineer is refusing to speak to him.

That's going to cause problems in the forthcoming Hungarian Grand Prix, a race BAR can win, subject to grid positions. Who'll put £5 on Takuma going quicker this weekend?

Takuma will be happy in one respect at this weeks news - his position was seemingly under threat at BAR, but Button's bombshell keeps the plucky Japanese star in the hunt.

Honda rate him as a future champ, so wouldn't it be funny to see him heading Jenson in the championship table in 2005?

That championship battle has already been dealt one blow, though, with news that BAR's advantageous Torque Transfer System has been banned by the FIA, even after an appeal. This news surprised nobody outside of BAR, as such systems were outlawed a few years ago. The appeal was unlikely to work anyway, with only 2 appeals in the last 50 years actually succeeding. It's good to see BAR trying new things out, though, and 2005 looks very interesting already.

That's a long way off yet, though. First we have to contend with 90 minutes of boredom in Budapest as 20 cars follow each other in a line round a little go-kart circuit.

Who says F1 isn't exciting?

Phil Huff.
BAR-Talk.com