Planet F1 Reader Views

[|Nuno|]

Beware Early Predictions

Tuesday April 05 2005



"Planet-F1 readers are warning Ferrari's detractors to be careful about writing the Scuderia off and prematurely handing the Drivers' title over to Alonso...




Ferrari Bashing? The Highest Tree Is Catching The Wind...

I am quite amused with all the Ferrari bashing going on at the moment.

This is not unlike the Lance Armstrong bashing in the cycling circles. What do they say about the highest trees catching the most wind...? Or could it be a case of slaying the messenger instead of the enemy.

Sure, it would seem as if Ferrari have a hand-on-bladder relationship with Max and the FIA, but common sense dictates differently.

One, Max is the typical English gentleman, so to suggest that Max would be favouring a pompous French team boss (Jean Todt) and a German driver (Schumacher) over fellow Brits like Frank Williams and Ron Dennis is preposterous.

Two, every new rule over the past four years has been aimed at curtailing Ferrari and Michael Schumacher. The new one set per race tyre rule is the most damaging to Ferrari, who were masters at planning their whole race around stints before and after tyre changes. Michael has never been a driver in the Prost mould, i.e. a driver who can drive a consistent yet conservative race for sixty odd laps.

Also, with Michael not being a one-lap specialist, he is severely penalised by the new qualifying format. And what's more; the new tyre rule does not save the teams any money, it only saves Michelin and Bridgestone money because the tyre companies have always sponsored the tyres to the teams. In fact, Bridgestone even pays Ferrari to supply them with tyres!

Perhaps we should question the tactics of "The Coalition of 9 Losers", who, unable to match the Schumacher/Ferrari combination, have resorted to an if-I-cant-beat-you-I-will-no-longer-play-with-you attitude. Their vocal leader, Paul Stoddard, is arguably the greatest loser to set foot in F1, and anyone following Stoddard should do a serious reality check.

But it is sad to see teams like Toyota and McLaren (with the largest budgets in F1) following Stod the sod. Stoddard is in F1 to enrich himself, not build a team. Contrary to popular belief, Stoddard did not make a fortune in the aviation business, but he is making a fortune with Minardi, a the tune of $10 million per year, taken from Minardi's $30 million budget! These are the kind of people you want out of F1, not Ferrari.

So what we have today is "The Coalition of 9 Losers" conspiring against the most successful team in the history of the sport. Of course, Ferrari are no angels, but then who in F1 is?

The sad thing about this whole saga is that everyone has become so infatuated with slowing down Schumacher and Ferrari that they can no longer see the wood from the trees. The goal (slowing down Schumi) now justifies the means (ridiculous rules in the name of cost cutting).

By the time Schumacher retires, F1 will have been reduced to an economy run, with winning a Grand Prix left more to chance than driver skill _ all in the name of cost cutting, while in actual fact it is all about slowing down one driver!

However, all this rubbish about cost cutting and bashing Ferrari only serves to detract from what Bernie is quietly orchestrating behind the scenes. Does anybody really believe that Bernie would just capitulate to the banks without an ace up his sleeve? Bernie is in this for the control and not the money, and you simply don't cross swords with Bernie, unless you have more money and more business acumen than him. And frankly there are not people people who qualify.

Bernie has never liked the manufacturers in F1 because Bernie likes stability, and he prefers to work with individuals as opposed to boards of directors. So be prepared for Bernie to expedite the exit of the manufacturers from F1 because he knows that none of the manufacturers really have the desire to run their own series. As it is, the manufacturers are battling to keep their core business afloat amidst a fluctuating world economy, let alone run their own series to which they will have to commit for what, the next 100 years?

So, come 2008, let's see how well "The Coalition of 9 Losers" will do. Perhaps they can get airtime from a losing satellite network, and attract a huge audience of losers who, together, can aspire to the holy grail of mediocrity."

Good luck.
Mike Schoemaker
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Biased?

Maybe, but the guy has some very good points.

[mindgam3]

Whatever - think the 2 failures - well schumacher and barichellos which is just as good as a failure; the first retirements due to mechanical failure in 3 years says something about how the other teams have caught up with and possibly overtaken ferrari.

All the new rules effect all the teams - ferrari still have the biggest, or second biggest budget after toyota so this doesen't really make a difference.

The tyre regs mean that Bridgestone has less testing miles than Michelin due to the number of teams running each - but this has always been the case. Were the scuderia complaining that they had the better tyre when they were winning even though there was less teams on bridgestone? I dont think so....

It's always been the case in F1 that one or two teams dominate years of F1... but these periods always end and a new team comes about.

Ferrari has always been competitive and will always be. But whether down to the rules or not, this years first races have been better than the last few entire seasons put together.... lets hope it continues.

[|Nuno|]

Were the scuderia complaining that they had the better tyre when they were winning even though there was less teams on bridgestone? I dont think so....

Yeah, I think there should be just a single tyre manufacturer on F1.

It has become "Formula Tyres"...

What F1 needs is a LEADER. A man who actualy cares for the sport, but unfortunately that's not likely to happen...