Tag Archives: felipe massa

Formula One Championship race taking shape

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McLarenFollowing the Singapore Grand Prix, in which he crashed out when colliding with title rival and Red Bull driver Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton all but gave up the Formula One championship. It’s two races now since Hamilton has posted any points and he’s slipped to third behind Webber Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Webber.

“Twenty points is a massive gap with four races to go. I have to hope for something,” Hamilton told BBC Sport. The way Alonso is going at the moment though, he’s unlikely to get it. The Spaniard has now won three of the last five races following his victory in Singapore and sits just 11 points behind Webber.

Hamilton is now 20 points behind, Sebastian Vettel 21 points back and Jenson Button 25 points adrift. All are still in with a shout of clinching the Drivers’ Championship but the momentum is definitely with Alonso. He himself has claimed he’s in top form and is going to chase it right to the end – which is exactly how it could work out in this, the most exciting of Formula One seasons in a long time.

“Right now, at this point of the championship, I’m at a peak – 100% motivated, focused etc…It feels like the championship is starting now, so I feel very happy we will be going to Japan next race.”

Fernando Alonso

Webber still has the title in his hands. Consistent podium finishes will see him home to his first Championship but if he slips, Alonso is ready. For the rest they need a miracle – or rather a disaster for Webber and Alonso with only four races remaining.

It’s a wonder Alonso has forced himself into contention in the Ferrari which his team mate Massa has struggled with all season. There’s no question Red Bull have the quickest car but Ferrari have worked hard on their vehicle and it’s reaping its rewards now.

McLaren haven’t had it easy with the hardware and their drivers are only in with a shout because they are the best two out on the track this season. If Hamilton and Button were driving for Red Bull this would have been a two horse race between them, wth the rest way behind.

As we all know though, it’s the combination of car and driver that matters and McLaren haven’t been good enough. I don’t think either of the drivers will get a sniff of a victory between now and the end of the season.

If Ferrari retain their recent consistency I’m tipping Alonso to snatch the title from Webber. If not, Webber will take it home. It really is a case of who blinks first loses here and I’m thoroughly enjoying the way this season is playing out.

Who is your pick to lift the title in Abu Dhabi?

Ferrari should have been disqualified from German GP

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Alonso and MassaRules are rules but Ferrari’s power within Formula One told as they were issued with only a fine for deliberately breaking Rule 39.1, which states that team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited, during the German Grand Prix this weekend.

The Italian team had set out at the weekend to make a statement and get back into the championship race and to be fair to them they did just that, leading the majority of the race through Massa with Alonso second.

However, it became clear that Alonso was marginally quicker than his team mate and with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel threatening to challenge for the lead Ferrari took the decision to ‘hint’ to their drivers that Alonso should be allowed through to prevent a proper race between the two drivers.

“Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understand?”

Those were the words of Ferrari’s race engineer Rob Smedley to Massa and moments later the Brazilian allowed Alonso through – as clear a case of team orders as there can be. That was confirmed when the Ferrari team were punished post-race with a trifling £100,000 fine.

Guilty as charged then, but it’s the level of punishment I’m taking issue with here. Rule 39.1 was put in place to prevent just this sort of thing and to give the F1 audience proper racing up front. Both McLaren and Red Bull have allowed their drivers to fight it out for the lead this season and Ferrari should have done the same.

Instead they cheated, pure and simple. It would have been fantastic viewing to watch Alonso and Massa battle each other and it could also have allowed Vettel to get involved too, serving up a three way fight for the victory. Who wouldn’t want to see that?

Ferrari robbed us all of that chance and as such should have had both drivers disqualified. It may have been unsatisfactory, but so was what happened. It would also have sent a clear message to the other teams that team orders will not be tolerated.

Eddie Jordan was apoplectic with what happened, as you would expect from the fiery Irishman.

“It was unlawful and was theft. They stole from us the chance of having a wheel-to-wheel contest between the drivers. Ferrari should be ashamed. This was a team order. For me, it is cheating and these two cars should be excluded.”

Strong but fair words in my opinion, and it’s rare I agree with Jordan. This is potentially the best F1 season in a very long time. Ferrari – and a weak willed FIA – have put that at risk by inferring you can get away with only a small fine if you want to cheat. It’s outrageous and the precedent set will not discourage team orders being used in the future.

Not that I’m surprised. As I said, Ferrari have a lot of power in Formula One and they put it to good use here, forcing their way back into contention for the championships through very underhand tactics. I can only hope Red Bull and McLaren reinstate their dominance so far this season and ensure Ferrari have had their moment of ‘glory’ for this year.