Perfect Pastor's Barcelona Fairytale

13/05/2012

Whatever happens today, the fact is that the race has been tainted by the stewards ruling that has pushed Lewis Hamilton from pole position to the very back of the grid.

Whatever way one looks at it, whether it was deliberate or an innocent mistake, whether Lewis was complicit or a victim, damage has been done.

By the looks of it he was almost certainly going to be on pole anyway, witness not only the fact that he has already claimed pole twice this season, but the (tyre) tactics of his rivals, Vettel, for instance, opting not to post a time in order to save tyres.

Even so, does Lewis deserve to be pushed to the very back of the grid as opposed to tenth, thereby suggesting that he was guilty. And if he was, then why not exclusion from the race.

A couple of hours after today's race ends, one of the most important days in English football gets underway, as teams battle for the Premiership, a place in the European Champions League and against relegation. If, post match, fans were to be dished out any of the nonsense that regularly gets served to their F1 counterparts there would be trouble, questions would be asked in the House, it would dominate the headlines for days, there could even be trouble on the streets.

It is time that F1 get its house in order, come up with as fixed set of rules and punishments and be seen to be running the sport fairly, transparently and for the good of the fans as opposed to those with a vested interest, large institutions that care only about profit.

All that aside, and ignoring the fact that Barcelona often produces snore-fests, this has the ability to be real classic today. In addition to thicker cloud, and even the threat of rain, a mixed up grid - with Hamilton at the back, Button eleventh, Webber twelfth and Massa seventeenth - should guarantee some fun right at the very start.

Then, as ever, there is the question of tyres, with two drivers in the leading ten - Vettel and Schumacher - opting not to run in order to save tyres, whilst others further down the grid point to their spare sets barely unable to hide their grins.

Even before Hamilton's demotion yesterday we described qualifying as a lottery, and that will surely be the case. However, returning to football, is that really what we want? Surely, while we all like a fairytale ending now and then, should success be about the best, the most consistent, rather than luck, changing circumstances.

While we do not expect to see Pastor Maldonado win today, we do expect a good handful of points, the likable Venezuelan finally proving himself this year, pay driver or not.

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