There are times when F1 appears determined to commit suicide, and the events of Sunday 7 September 2008 appear to one of them.

Whatever team one supports, one has to agree that the closing stages of the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix were 'edge of the seat' stuff, what F1 should be all about.

We were already on tenterhooks anticipating the rain, not to mention the reliability of the Ferrari and the way Lewis Hamilton was reeling in his Finnish prey.

As the McLaren driver crossed the line, there will be few of us who didn't let out a huge gasp, having held our breath as we watched events unfold. Whatever team you support, you have to admit that those last couple of minutes as Hamilton and Raikkonen struggled in the wet and Heidfeld and Alonso took more than 30s off of their rivals, were wonderful.

Then, just as we sat back and started contemplating next week's race at Monza, came the ominous news that the race stewards were investigating. The rest, as they say, is history.

Whatever one's view of what happened, and everyone has an opinion, a great afternoon suddenly turned sour. McLaren were in the dock once again, and, yet again, the 'injured party, was Ferrari.

Now before you Ferrari supporters start sending in the abusive e-mails, please re-read what I've just written. I am not saying that Ferrari is the guilty party, or that Ferrari did anything wrong, what I am saying is that the whole situation looks that much worse today because it was Ferrari that benefited from the decision. Had Heidfeld or Alonso been handed the win there would have been outrage, but nothing like that we are witnessing following the decision to hand victory to Felipe Massa.

F1 is in the headlines yet again for all the wrong reasons. I have lost count of the number of e-mails and texts received in the past twelve hours from friends and fans totally disillusioned by the sport.

We've had the cheating saga, the sado-masochism saga and now we have the Belgium 2008 saga.

Whatever the powers that be tell you, F1 is losing its attraction, not only with the casual fan but with die-hards. TV viewing figures are down, internet stats are down, while many venues are struggling to sell all their race tickets.

On Friday, while editing the pictures for our practice gallery, I noticed something very strange. A shot of one of the cars passing the grandstand at Eau Rouge - one of the most legendary corners in F1 - revealed fewer than forty people in the stand. OK, this was a Friday, but I know from experience that this stand is usually pretty busy during the Friday sessions. So where were the fans?

F1 probably won't feel the affect of losing 'man down the pub', however, if the diehards start switching off CVC has a problem on its hands. Make no mistake, what happened yesterday will do far more serious and long-lasting damage to the sport than the spy saga and Max Mosley's antics combined. However, when placed alongside these other scandals it really does appear that F1 has a death-wish.