How goes this year so far?

By Parminio
June 24 2003

Is it the new rules? Is it that Bridgestone have lost it? Is it that the other teams are finally catching up? What is it really...and how on earth did we ever get to this point to begin with?

This season has seen some really interesting races…to say the least. Am I pleased with the season so far? Oh yea. BIG TIME. But let’s talk about the goings on so far. Let’s talk for a moment about the FIA.

Racing used to be simple. You built a car the best you could. Put the best driver you could find that would race for you in it, and turned it lose and prayed. That’s racing in its purest form. That’s probably why Bladrian and I love GPL so much. Although there is a definite hierarchy of which car is faster than which, it’s still up to the driver to make it happen. There are many different motor sizes, cylinder configurations and chassis in GPL…not like today’s Formula 1.

There’s been some talk running around…mostly by Ferrari fans…about the FIA being a bit unfair. Well, they may just have a point…but it goes back farther than just this year. To me, it all started in 1996.

Ferrari are without doubt the best known marquis in Formula 1. They almost always have been. In the golden days, you had Lotus, Honda, Cooper-Maseratti and Brabham that could compete with anyone. Back before that, even Porsche was in on the act…as was Alpha-Romeo. But things changed. Marquis after marquis quit. It just got to be too expensive. It just got to be too much. Even for Ferrari.

Ferrari went south in the late 70’s…allowing just about everyone to mop the floor with them. 20+ years later, the FIA that was in control took a look around. They realized that ratings were down. Interest in the sport was down. Money wasn’t coming in. Stations wouldn’t pay for TV rights anymore. The United States, which at one time pumped more money into, and had more GP’s than any other two countries combined had bowed totally out.

The FIA needed something. It needed brand recognition in a big way. It needed Ferrari…more than anything on this earth. Everyone knows Ferrari. EVERYONE. No one really knew who Jordan was, or Williams, or BAR or Arrows or Benneton…hell…they don’t even make a car. But EVERYONE knows who Ferrari is. So, the FIA set their plan in motion. IF they could help Ferrari win a title once again, they believed that ratings would rise, that interest would rise and that Formula 1 would once again reign supreme as the best that motor sport had to offer.

They started by nit-picking McLaren and Williams to death. Everything they did was suddenly “against the spirit” of the rules. McLaren never broke any rules…but this mysterious “spirit” thing crept up, and changes had to be made. Mind you, McLaren were never penalized, never disqualified (with one exception that I’m about to cover) and were never asked to pay restitution on any kind.

Brazil. David Coulthard is disqualified for the front end cap of his wing being too low. Never mind that it was KNOCKED that way by the piss poor track. Never mind that people had to withdraw from the race entirely because the track was in such poor shape that it beat their cars to pieces…LITTERALLY. Never mind that at race end, EVERYONE ON THE GRID except for ONE car (a Benneton) had more than the allowed plank wear. According to the rules, only one car was legal at race end and it should have been given the victory. Was it? No. Why? That wouldn't help Ferrari. Did anyone else get DQ’d? No. Just David. Why? Ferrari was next in line and got the points. We could also talk about Ralph’s being stop and go’d for crossing the white line…something that had to date never been done before. It gave Ferrari the lead though…and the win. We could also discuss that Toyota, having bought a grid position at last and were working on a V12 configuration were told AFTER they bought the grid position that their V12 would not be allowed. Why? They didn’t want to take the chance on Toyota coming in and making everyone look stupid. They outlawed Toyota’s V12 simply because Ferrari wanted them too. Maybe a few others were in on it as well…but in the end, NO ONE ever made a V12 work like it should. If Toyota had figured it out, it would unseat the FIA’s new found cash cow named Ferrari…and they just couldn’t let that happen.

The FIA needed Ferrari to win. BIG TIME. It worked like a charm. Ratings went up, money came in, TV revenues went up…the FIA made a killing. For the teams you ask? Nothing really. Ferrari sold record numbers of cars…but other than that, they got nothing out of it. Nor did anyone else.

Flash forward to the 2002 season. Ferrari walked away with it. Ratings sank lower than they were even before 1996. Even Ferrari fans were tuning out. It wasn’t even a race. (Unless you count the mid field and below…but they never really show that do they?)

Flash forward to now. The FIA realizes that they need competition. They realize they really screwed up by helping Ferrari to become so dominate. So what do they do? They try their level best to help McLaren and Williams take up the slack. Has it worked so far? Yes…I believe it has. The FIA seem to change the rules at will now. They seem to also favor everyone BUT Ferrari.

Am I happy about it? Well, to be honest…no. Let’s Q & A with me:

Do you think McLaren can beat Ferrari straight up?
YES.
Do you think McLaren needs the FIA’s help?
NO.
Do you think the FIA’s interference has hurt Formula 1 over the last 8 years?
YES..BIG TIME.

It’s a mixed emotions thing for me. I’m happy that we (McLaren) are in the hunt once more, and I’m excited about our new MP4-18. Thing is though, what if the MP4-18 is such a dominate car, that the FIA starts helping everyone else against us once again?

So what IS the answer? What are we to do? What can the teams do to make sure that it’s not a governing body deciding who wins and who loses?

Get rid of them. It’s the only way. Get rid of the rules. Keep the safety rules about car construction. Keep the rules of driving. Keep the rules of pit safety. Other than that, let’s go back to what Formula 1 was and should be all about:

Build the biggest, fastest, best car that you can. Find the best driver that will drive for you to pilot it…then, LET THE BIG DOG EAT. If you can’t run with the big dogs…keep your slack ass on the porch.