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Monday, June 27, 2005 |
| Some selections of news and commentary from Formula One regarding the US Grand Prix mess. News is picking up again as the FIA hearing (in which teams may be punished for their boycott of the race) is on Wednesday. The head of the Minardi team, Paul Stoddart gives a personal account how things played out. Of note for people who aren't close followers of Formula One is his description of the politics involved: For those who have not followed the recent political developments in
Formula One, it is fair to say that, for over a year now, the majority
of teams have felt at odds with the actions of the FIA and its
President, Max Mosley, concerning the regulations, and the way in which
those regulations have been introduced, or are proposed to be
introduced. Not a weekend has gone by where some, or all, of the teams
are not discussing or disputing these regulations. This is so much the
case that it is common knowledge the manufacturers have proposed their
own series commencing January 1, 2008, and this is supported by at
least two of the independent teams. The general perception is that, in
many instances, these issues have become personal, and it is my opinion
that was a serious contributory factor to the failure to find a
solution that would have allowed all 20 cars to compete in Sunday's
United States Grand Prix.
The Minardi head has suggested that if FIA comes down hard on the teams
that boycotted the race then the teams may boycott once again.A Personal Recount of Indy Events Formula One teams could boycott future races if they
get severe penalties for their role in the US Grand Prix fiasco,
Minardi boss Paul Stoddart said.
Stoddart said it would be wrong for F1's governing body
the FIA to hand out "draconian bans" to the seven teams at Wednesday's
disciplinary hearing.
Driver Michael Schumacher notes something that I had mentioned to a friend while watching the 'race' What the fans didn’t know is that they had it in with their powers to
stop the race and have it re-started. If enough of them had been
throwing objects onto the track they would have had to stop and think
again. Niki Lauda was telling me of a race he had with James Hunt at
the Hatch of Brands, British GP and when the fans heard that James Hunt
had been excluded they stormed onto the track and would not let it
start – or similar.
Indeed, had this been a NASCAR event, the start/finish line would have been covered in garbage in short order. Schumi's Secret Diary: USGP Legendary driver Jackie Stewart suggests that FIA head Max Mosley should take the fall for the mess. Stewart said: "I think that would be scandalous. I think the sport, if it's allowed to be dealt with in that fashion, can't go on with the leadership it has if that is the case. "We've got to have a workable organisation because those teams are being supported financially by multi-national corporations around the world." Stoddart, whose team use Bridgestone tyres and did race in the US, has blamed FIA president Max Mosley for the incident and called for his resignation. Stewart feels that it is definitely an option. "I think it has to be looked at. I think there's been so much disruption caused by this event. "In the normal business sector, where corporate life has a very dim view of that kind of situation being allowed to occur, the management of the whole structure is put into question. "I think the people at the top are vulnerable."Stewart criticises FIA 'failure' Max Mosley once famously (and stupidly) described F1 like a game of chess.
Finally, a Times of London columnist gives his explanation of why this wouldn't have happened in an American sportAnswering growing criticisms that all the overtaking moves were going on in the pitlane he countered that people didn’t watch F1 for the overtaking, it was all about the strategy, like watching a really good game of chess. That analogy has come back to haunt him many times since, but on Sunday we saw a Mosley move in another much bigger game of chess. The FIA sacrificed the USGP, like sacrificing a rook or a knight, in their chess battle with the manufacturers. Even if Ferrari did or didn’t agree with a chicane, Paul Stoddart’s contention that Max Mosley personally insisted that a chicane not be built is the most damning. "Max Mosley categorically forbade the introduction of that chicane, and he's going to have some serious questions to answer as to why he actually took that decision," the Minardi boss told the BBC. Paul Stoddart is aware of the libel laws. Unless Mosley challenges him in court now we'll have to accept that this is true... Why Mosley is King of the Blame Game n America, sports are organised in a much more ruthless way. Sunday’s fiasco was especially awful because it happened in a country where tolerance for this kind of ineptitude is very low. There’s a precedent, in fact, for Sunday’s event in the early days of NASCAR. In 1969, at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, several prominent drivers refused to race, saying that they feared a tyre blowout at high speeds. Bill France Sr, the legend- arily hard-nosed founder of NASCAR, simply told the drivers that if they were concerned, they should slow down. When they walked off the track, France found substitute drivers and the race went on. America may be a democracy when it comes to organising its government, but when it comes to running professional sport, it prefers the model of medieval autocracy. Popular American sports have not grown organically and chaotically. For years they have been driven hard, like a herd of longhorn cows across Texas, prodded and shoved into line. The leading sports are run by commissioners, men who run their empires more like Soviet commissars. It is not widely known that in the 1800s, cricket rivalled baseball in popularity in the US. Baseball’s success was largely down to the ruthless management and promotion of the game over its amateurish alternative. The lesson has been well-learnt. In American football, the NFL runs everything with the attention of a control freak. From the distribution of television revenues to the precise height of the stockings that footballers must wear (let them roll down and you face a $5,000 fine), football is organised like a battalion of military police. The college draft, the salary cap and the fixture list rigidly enforce a principle of socialist equality between teams. Baseball has none of the enforced equality but is no less authoritarian in the way it is run. It is organised as a not very benevolent oligopoly in the interests of its wealthy owners. They are exempted by law from legislation designed to enforce competition. American sports are not without tensions. Labour disputes have afflicted all leading sports in the past 20 years. But that simply reflects the inevitable fight between management and unions over how to divide up the pie of revenues that for most sports has grown spectacularly, and in the end management has tended to get its way. Of course, the rigid control US sports commissioners can
exercise over their domains doesn’t make them especially well-liked.
It’s hard to imagine a less popular public figure in the country than
Bud Selig, the Major League Baseball commissioner. But then again, the
chaotic anarchy of Formula One hardly looks like a crowd-pleaser
either, does it?
Jackpotzrebie comment []8:56:25 PM  trackback []
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| Blame Nick West for this post. Inspiration was from him. To writ: I have to head up to the scary Tallahassee. The city with (too) many s's and e's.
Which made me think, actually it's too many a's and e's.So here's the shot of inspired insight derived from this: Tallahassee is the only state capital name with at least five vowels that does not contain the state's name in it. Jackpotzrebie comment []7:48:12 PM trackback []
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Last update: 7/10/2005; 4:09:09 PM .
