The F1 Pit Box

There’s nothing like a bit of psychological warfare to really rub salt in the wound.  Not content with smashing into the back of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari in Canada, Lewis Hamilton has now completely forgotten the Fin even exists by publicly stating that he sees Robert Kubica as the main championship rival this season.

Now, Robert was awesome last weekend, but does BMW have the performance to continue to take wins?  Perhaps, but certainly not with the regularity that Ferrari does and even if Kimi does seem a little off colour, no-one in their right mind would write him off so early in the season.

No, what we have here is Lewis subtly pointing out Kimi doesn’t even appear on his radar as a potential threat, and that he will be looking for something blue and white in his mirrors rather than something red.  Will this be the case?  Doubtful, but wouldn’t it be fun if Robert were looking at something silver in his mirrors a little more often.

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Must he though?  It seems that despite Tuesday’s FIA ruling, everyone still wants to see the back of him, which has revealed what we all knew anyway - it was all just an opportunity to oust him.

Max has never been the most popular man in F1, but then how many people in such a position of power are?  Think back to the days when he was due for re-election and so many where calling for him not to stand - Minardi team boss Paul Stoddart was one of the most vocal - a situation which as continued ever since.

When the News of the World published their story, it must have been viewed as manna from heaven by Max’s detractors and sure enough, calls for his resignation came almost instantaneously.   The FIA have now spoken, but nobody can leave it alone, making their intentions all too transparent.  Max is his own man and probably won’t listen to anyone, with perhaps the exception of Bernie who has also suggested retirement may be wise, but seeing the same old story from a different person each day just embarrasses the sport probably more so than Max’s alleged activities did.

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It was a great drive and Renault have improved their suspect car considerably.  What makes it fascinating is the timing of the team’s sudden resurgence.  Obviously, and as Pat Symonds more-or-less confirmed, they are lighter than the cars surrounding them and in front of the flagging Spanish crowds, but more importantly, it follows Alonso’s comments of how impossible a decent result would be this season.

The team don’t want to lose their star driver and will even fiddle the grid in order to get him up there for a fighting chance of a decent result.  For they have certainly improved, but it will only become clear at the end of the first stint of the race just how much.  Should BMW be concerned?  Should McLaren be concerned?  How will Lewis react when faced with that Renault rear wing again?

If they’re really back (and not just show-boating), this season just got very interesting indeed.

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Now this is hardly a ‘new’ rumour, but today’s comment made by Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz does seem to add further weight to the possibility that Alonso is going somewhere next season.  His words were that although Alonso wanted to join Red Bull for 2008, he was available for just one season, and the team were interested in two years as a minimum contract.

So let’s look a little closer to Alonso’s soundbites since the beginning of the season.  First, he warned Renault he would have little patience if the car showed no improvements, then, a week later, Alonso decides that Massa has had his chance and that ‘logically’, Alonso should be taking his place.  My how proud Renault must have been.  However, the team chose to stick by their driver in a way that he wasn’t by mentioning what a calming influence he was around the place.

Prior to last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, the subject of contracts happened to come up in a conversation with the media, allowing Alonso to slip in details about a possible get-out-early clause in his two-year Renault contract.  Of course, he had ‘forgotten’ if it was actually there and he would be sticking his pole firmly in Renault’s front lawn for now.  He then ruined this sweet moment by adding that as he himself proved in 2007, ‘contracts are flexible’.

After the team’s lacklustre performance in Bahrain, the team have stated they are committed to providing Fernando with a better car, essentially saying ‘hang on!  We’re really trying!’.  Further Alonso-love followed, which has yet to be reciprocated by the man himself.  Has he written 2008 off as a bad thing?  Renault say he’s driving the wheels off the R28, but is he?

So, what about from Ferrari’s side?  All I recall from a televised interview with a Ferrari spokesman was denial and a refusal to comment on rumours.  All very well, but this is exactly what they said about Raikkonen joining the team and we all know what happened there!

Obviously, all this comes down to Massa.  If he continues to build on his great Bahrain drive, Ferrari may not want to let him go (unless they have already) and if he beats Raikkonen in the Championship (unlikely, but not impossible) it would be very strange for the team to replace him with a driver who has trundled round the track in a sub-par car for a year.  It also raises the question whether Alonso is Ferrari material?  Yes, he has the ego and the ability, but would he really want to partner someone as strong as Raikkonen?  Time will tell, but one thing is for sure, there is a lot going on behind the scenes.

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Why is this happening? One great and one normal race into the season and F1 is hit by a nationally publicised scandal already. But this time it’s nothing as gentlemanly as a bit of spying or even ‘handbags at dawn’ dueling team mates; this time F1 has a good old British sex scandal. It’s not a Paris Hilton style private tape featuring moderately attractive people either, no it’s an old man who looks a bit like Max Mosley in an S&M session.

If people wondered how much lower F1 could stoop, well here’s your answer. True or not, it doesn’t help anyone.

What’s interesting is how the buzzards are circling. Crisis talks are going to be held and there are calls for Mosley to resign, something that many F1 people have wanted for a while. Seems to me as if some people may take this as a golden opportunity to wrestle Max from power. Even ex-Minardi boss Paul Stoddart has popped up asking how Mosley will survive such a scandal. Shocking! Mosley and Paul were always such great mates…

I don’t know, having seen the video (shudder) I can’t say that the man is the spitting image of Mosley, after all it amounts to fleeting glimpses anyway, but then it’s been edited for general viewing, plus presumably, the NotW must have had good sources inside to get this in the first place. You’d think they would have the bloke’s name right too.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the paddock…

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Although the spam is sure to come rolling in, it simply has to be said.  Max Mosley, naked, on a video.

Please, God, make it stop!

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Despite a British driver poised to fight for the championship this season, ITV will not be broadcasting Formula One next year.  Announced across various sources this afternoon, the rights to show F1 have been passed back to the BBC.  I began to seriously watch F1 during the late 90’s and regardless of having heard Murray Walker in action when I was younger, do not recall the station’s treatment of the sport.

For what I can gather, the quality of broadcast was excellent and as the BBC is not advertising supported, the race will be uninterrupted.   However, what will happen to the crew who currently present and commentate on the sport?

I always liked Jim Rosenthal and his replacement Steve Rider is also a good watch.  Mark Blundell is knowledgeable, but a little annoying at times, and Louise Goodman and Ted Kravitz are both excellent.  James Allen gets a lot of stick and fair enough, his mouth tends to run away on its own, but in all honesty he is not that bad.  Martin Brundle however is superb.  His knowledge of the sport, gained from both driving and commentating is astounding, really assists in bringing a race to life.

So now the commentary box has become just like an F1 team; who will fill the two available seats for 2009?  Will Brundle and Allen defect from ITV to join the new BBC show, or will the Beeb prefer to make a fresh start with a full all-new team?  I know I would like Brundle to continue on, but I have the feeling that the BBC will want to distance themselves from the ITV way of doing F1, making new commentators likely.

Provided the BBC doesn’t turn F1 into a hideous reality-style program, fill each seat with fashionable cretins who know zero about the sport, bring back Murray Walker or decide not to re-hire Brundle, I’m sure it will all be OK.  There is also one other thing to consider:  BBC-HD.  Now that would make the move worthwhile.

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What a great start to the season!  Although I was looking forward to F1 2008, I was slightly concerned that the sport on general had lost its charm for me after last season, but Melbourne had no trouble in reminding me how fantastic F1 can be when all the ingredients are right.

After qualifying, sensible money had to be on Lewis Hamilton taking the win on Sunday and he didn’t fail.  With very little TV coverage and metronomic laptimes, Lewis did the job, returned to the garage and asked ‘what’s next then?’.  Joining him on the podium was Nick Heidfeld who despite qualifying behind teammate Kubica, raced in his typically cool way to secure second position and Nico Rosberg taking his maiden F1 podium with third.

Rosberg was excellent all afternoon and it’s clear that the new Williams car has decent pace and reliability - giving the team not only a big confidence boost, but a brilliant platform to improve as the season continues.  Aside from these three, the other big winner at Melbourne was Fernando Alonso whose 11th position start translated into a fourth position finish and the satisfaction of re-passing Kovalainen in the final lap.

The list of big losers really consist of the remainder of the field, since crashes, mistakes, disqualifications and car faults eliminated almost everyone else, including World Champion Kimi Raikkonen.  Ferrari, who everyone fully expected to blitz everyone, looked ill at ease all weekend however the car (before dying on the track) looked as good as ever, so perhaps new team principal Luca Baldisseri just needed a bit of ‘running in’ and the team will be back with a vengeance in Malaysia.

Honourable mention has to go to Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Bourdais, who held off a variety of big name challenges and nearly finished high in the points - better luck next time!

Looking forward to this momentum being continued in Malaysia!

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Williams finished fourth in the World Championship in 2007, a considerable achievement after 2006 and still impressive when McLaren’s disqualification is taken into account. Williams are the reason I became interested in F1 and I would love to see them back at the front and challenging for race wins, but is their 2008 challenge up to the job?

Nico Rosberg was superb in the closing stages of 2007 and will be one to watch this season. He has got the guts and determination on the track, plus a little more experience, to take advantage of a reliable car - something that Williams claim to have produced. Partnering Nico this season will be Kazuki Nakajima, who made his race debut following Alex Wurz’s retirement-that-wasn’t in Brazil (mind that mechanic! Never mind…) where his performance was better than expected for a green driver.  One slight concern is Nakajima’s status as a Toyota Young Driver, and we will not know their level of influence over his appointment.

The driver line-up is a good one and in theory, Williams should have got to grips with their Toyota engine and provided the car has made some steps forward from the FW29, then the team could be on to repeat their marginal 2007 success.  There was no official launch of the FW30, the car being first seen on track at Jerez at the end of January, an unusual step for a sponsored team and something which may highlight their keenness to put money into the car rather than expensive venues and flashing lights.

Wouldn’t it be nice to see Williams do some giant slaying on track during their thirtieth anniversary year!  Their staff stability, continued partnerships and the level field in terms of new regulation technology could make this more than just a possibility.

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