21/05/2012
FEATURE BY GUEST AUTHORS
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So the sour grapes are turning into a fine whine.
The Pirelli tyres, doing exactly what they were asked to do, are now creating a "lottery" in F1 where one doesn't know who's going to be a hero or zero from one race to the next.
And what's wrong with that?
Formula 1 engineers, the best and the brightest, who pore over terabytes of data after every session, are perplexed as to the exact parameters of how these tires operate.
Good.
Who are the complainers? We'll start with Michael Schumacher. "It's like driving on eggs…" he has famously said. He wasn't complaining when Bridgestone designed a dominant tyre for him and Ferrari. "It's a lottery…" says Dietrich Mateschitz whose team dominated last year due to his innovative and talented designer.
Others are complaining of course, but two of the more dominant figures of the last fifteen years are the ones moaning the loudest. Everyone in Formula 1 thinks close competition is great, as long as they are the ones out front. The current mantra is "Well, the fans like it but….."
Whoever is responsible for the current scheme of things in F1 needs to be lauded. From the start of Q1 to the chequered flag you're never quite sure who is going to score points, let alone climb atop the podium. How can that not be a bad thing?
It's what has been sought for years, with various iterations of gimmicks and technical changes none of which has been terribly successful. I for one do not see this current generation of tyre as a gimmick. It's a challenge.
Cast your mind back to last year. What was so exciting about last year? It certainly wasn't the chase for the championship. It was a dominant campaign by Sebastian Vettel led by Adrian Newey. You were a fool in your pik 'ems if you didn't pick Vettel for first, you were throwing away a guarantee.
Last year's excitement came from the close battles further down in the pack as the midfield closed up considerably. This year those midfield teams have raised their performance. Add a bit of uncharacteristic disarray at McLaren and Newey being mortal and you have half the field with a shot at victory from race to race.
If you look at Mercedes' performance in China compared to their other four races, their dominance in one race versus their overall results, you can reason there are two more teams, Lotus and Sauber that have a very serious shot at victory this year.
The most important thing at this point is to resist all attempts at tinkering with the formula. The engine formula change due in a couple years needs to be abandoned and the rules stabilized for a few years.
Despite all the complaining from usual front runners, the excitement and unpredictability of the races isn't contrived. It's not NASCAR. It's not gold medals. It's not a random wetting of the track. For almost as long as I've been watching Grand Prix racing, a driver's talent has always been secondary to the car. And during the tyre wars the car was sometimes second to the tyre brand of the week.
There are always those few who can transcend a marginal car, Fernando Alonso the latest and possibly greatest example, but there is a list as long as the grid of drivers who never got a shot at a race win. Christian Klein, Takuma Sato, Jaime Alguersuari and Anthony Davidson are four of the more recent that spring to mind. Now, even with six WDCs in the field, we have two new winners. These tyres may have made driving ability more of a factor into a race win equation.
As with any other "lottery," there's always the jackpot, in this case sponsorship money. As more teams win, sponsors will be spreading out their money more. This will have more of an effect on teams' fiscal health than any type of resource restriction agreement or budget capping. And while the more rabid of the team fans may not like many race winners, even rosso-clad poseurs need rivals to root against.
Let's hope that this 'lottery' is the new norm. Let's enjoy this season, and hope that there are many more like this to come.
A few words about the Williams pit fire. Formula 1 almost had its own soccer stadium moment. I'm not quite sure how many people realize just how close the situation was to becoming a tragedy of epic proportions.
Williams mechanics aided by mechanics from other teams, most notably Force India and Caterham prevented the pit and paddock building from becoming completely engulfed in fire. They truly deserve full recognition of their heroic and valorous efforts. Their immediate aggressive attack without any personal safety gear smacks of the hard work ethic that is lacking in today's world.
Let's just hope that Health and Safety numpties don't get involved. They're liable to cite or fine the team and others for their actions, all the while ignoring the fact that disaster was averted by men and women who were up to the task at hand, without due regard for their own personal safety. They are a credit to Formula 1, motor racing and sport in general.
As always, hate mail can be sent to thomsonphilips@hotmail.com.
Thomson Philips
thomson.philips@pitpass.com