14/09/2009
FEATURE BY MIKE LAWRENCE
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What a busy time we are having in Formula One. Bernie has said that Force India missed a trick by not putting Karun Chandhok in the seat vacated by Giancarlo Fisichella. Were Bernie a private citizen, his view would be welcome, as a former team owner. He is, however, an employee of CVC who own the rights to Formula One and he is active in the promotion of the sport.
We call it a sport, but the Indian ministry for sports calls Formula One mere entertainment and will not assist in the establishment of an Indian GP which is close to Bernie's heart. In other words, the Indian government sees F1 as most of us view professional wrestling: amusing, but not serious. By calling for an Indian driver, in an Indian-owned team, Bernie is playing the showman. He wants to establish a race in the second most populous country on Earth, and one with a rapidly growing economy, and the government does not welcome him with open arms. Worse, it makes fun of what he has to offer and Bernie is not used to being laughed at.
Unlike some additions to the calendar, India is a democracy. It is interesting to look how the F1 calendar has evolved over the past 30 years and compare the countries which have come and gone with the style of their governments.
Hungary was a not a democracy when it staged its first GP. Argentina, once a regular fixture, has staged only five GPs since it became a democracy and South Africa only two, yet both countries have given us World Champions. It does appear that democratic countries find dealing with Bernie a little more difficult than those which are not. I have no idea why this should be, but I offer it as an observation.
Apart from the fact that the choices any team makes is the business only of those involved, I think that Force India has acted in the best interests of both the team and Karun Chandhok. Force India has 13 WC points and they translate into TV revenue in 2010. Given the team's new-found form, both BMW-Sauber and Renault could be overtaken in the final constructors' standings and that means not only TV revenue, but a more attractive deal to offer sponsors. It was more sensible to run Tonio Liuzzi, a known quantity, than take a chance on a rookie and Liuzzi delivered at Monza.
It might have been even more sensible to hold on to Giancarlo Fisichella, who was mighty at Spa, but we return to money. My understanding is that Fisi was not paid a retainer by Force India, though he was under contract, and he could negotiate personal sponsorship and space on his overalls. I am told that Force India has been tardy with settling some of its bills and among its creditors are Ferrari who supplied the team's engines in 2008.
Fisichella therefore became a pawn in a wider game, but no doubt a willing pawn because you don't have to be Italian to dream of driving for Ferrari. In the twilight of his career, he has achieved an ambition and a test contract for 2010.
Spare a thought for Luca Badoer. He was a faithful servant to the Scuderia for years and his times in testing were close to the regular drivers. Michael Schumacher may not have decided Felipe Massa's replacement, but he will have had an input. Luca could have hung up his helmet and forever could have said, 'I preferred to test for Ferrari than have a race drive with one of the minnows, and I got paid more. I was that close to the regular guys on every track, but just my luck...' Unfortunately, Valencia and Spa shattered that happy conceit and Luca went from might-have-been to never-was.
My analysis of Crashgate has so far been on the button, I simply followed the money. Piquet Minimus has been assisted in his career by immense family money and I am told that he was essentially a pay-driver at Renault. If true, this helps explain the fury of Piquet Maximus who presumably arranged the deal.
Briatore is talking nonsense when he claims to be taking father and son to court on criminal charges. France, like Briatore's native Italy, employs examining magistrates and even the police have to go before a magistrate with evidence, as every fan of Inspector Maigret knows. No magistrate would initiate proceedings until after the WMSC hearing on 21st September.
Until the FIA's evidence is made public, and Renault has had a chance to defend itself, all a magistrate would have to go on is Briatore's unsubstantiated claims and that is no basis for a prosecution. Flav could consider a civil suit, like a libel action, but it is hard to see against whom he might bring it. An affidavit would be very hard to challenge.
There must be some degree of confidentiality surrounding an affidavit since it is notarised evidence. Somebody has leaked the affidavit and you may be sure it was not the Piquets who have clearly instructed lawyers. Max Mosley is understandably furious since it does nothing for the credibility of the FIA so soon before he steps down as President.
We have, on record, conflicting memories of a meeting which took place before the Singapore GP. Pat Symonds says that Piquet suggested the tactic and Flavio Briatore's denies the subject was raised. It is not something you would forget and Briatore, remember, was Piquet's manager as well as employer. How this clear conflict of interest is allowed to happen is something that the FIA should consider. Briatore negotiated Piquet's contract as team boss, knowing that he would get a fifth as his manager.
For what it is worth, some in the paddock are of the opinion that that the whole scam, if that it be, originated behind large eyebrows. The reasoning goes that Alonso would not normally have agreed to pitting after only 12 laps. Some have even suggested that Ferrari will not announce their driver line-up until after the meeting of the WMSC.
Now comes news that Piquet Minimus will have immunity. Like I said would happen. You read it here first. To me, this suggests that in addition to an affidavit, he has hard evidence. Apparently, the telemetry of his car shows that Baby Nelson booted the throttle mid-corner.
The FIA would not guarantee him immunity on the strength of an affidavit. Everyone who swears in a court of law that they are not guilty, despite the dismembered bodies in their back yard, and fridge, makes the same declaration. You do not get immunity on your word alone, no matter how many holy books you swear on.
Patrick Head is on record as saying that a journalist had told him that, soon after the Singapore GP, Piquet had told him that he had crashed deliberately.
While on Crashgate, Martin Brundle has written that Piquet is now unemployable in F1. I'd say that depended on how much money he has and how much a team might like that money. His immunity allows him to retain his Superlicence. It was anyway only a couple of months ago that there were rumours about a team buy-out by Nelson Maximus.
Flavio Briatore is not universally liked and, if he played his cards right, Piquet the Younger could emerge as a courageous whistleblower rather than a sacked race-fixer.
The FIA banned testing to save money. What it overlooked is that drivers need acclimatisation. Jaime Alguersuari and Romain Grosjean have been thrown in at the deep end and it is not fair on them or the rest of the field.
Jaime and Romain have not been allowed acclimatisation. I have been to a number of sessions when a rookie was given his first drive in a Formula One car. Without exception they soon adapted to the extra horsepower and speed.
None of them were expected to drive a race distance first time out. They did a few laps and reported back to base, they had respite. Alguersuari and Grosjean have been denied acclimatisation and it is not right, or safe. When Piquet Maximus had his first GP he reached the point when he was praying for something to break, he was that knackered. He was in a McLaren M23 which generated a fraction of the G-forces of current cars.
Under any circumstances, a tired driver is a danger to himself and others. Michael Schumacher knew that he needed acclimatisation and there is a man who didn't break sweat. He was fortunate, he was loaned a car by a branch of the Ferrari organisation which looks after people who buy former works cars. I have no doubt that Michael thought he was up to racing again, but a spell of acclimatisation said he was not.
The issue for a newcomer is not speed, but stamina. The FIA has denied that to a newcomer. It is not beyond the wit of man to ensure that acclimatisation is not testing via the back door. A rookie should be able to test all he wants provided the car is in exactly the same specification as it was in the first race of the season. The FIA can ensure that, it has access to all technical information and it has the McLaren fine to play with.
A drive down a runway is no preparation for a Formula One race. Even Giancarlo Fisichella, a veteran of more than 200 GP starts, needs acclimatisation. Until Monza, he had never had to operate KERS and the steering wheel on a Ferrari is not like that on a Force India car. There are maybe 18 buttons on the tiller of a modern F1 car, and every steering wheel is different.
You can probably remember the magic moment when you could control the clutch on a hill start and no longer had to think where the handbrake was. You would not be happy sitting in an airliner if you knew that the captain, no matter how experienced, had never flown that type of 'plane before. There are instinctive things, like knowing the layout of the dashboard, or cockpit. A driver deserves to be able to acclimatise whether he is seven times a World Champion or a rookie.
Above all else, it is a safety issue. It is also a reason why Vijay Mallya has done Karun Chandhok a favour by not slotting him into Fisi's vacant seat despite the opinion of an employee of a financial investment group.
Mike Lawrence
mike@pitpass.com
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