After the monotony of Valencia I awaited Spa with a certain amount of trepidation. Surely my most favourite track wouldn’t let me down? Surely there would be thrills, spills and rain in this sweeping track that runs through the Ardennes forest.
Initially it delivered everything I wanted and then some. The start was really exciting to watch, even if Lewis lost first place. For a moment there as they all flung themselves round the first corner I thought the two Ferrari’s were going to run each other off the track all together.
Then, to be fair, it petered off a bit. Nothing to write home about if truth be told.
But wait! What’s this? All of a sudden all Hell broke loose on the excitement front just laps before the chequered flag. Lewis took Kimi, Kimi took Lewis, rain fell, tyres slid and Kimi ended up in a wall. It was tremendous. All the cars staggered round on their inadequate tyres like hot knives through butter and I was on the edge of my seat. Fantastic! That’s what racing is all about!
After leaping about my living round for ages, watching Lewis accept his trophy and listening to a few interviews and the such like, I switched off my television, happy in the knowledge that the right result was gained in my favourite Grand Prix of the season.
That was until, some time later my sister phoned me, a girl who knows nothing about F1, to ask me to explain exactly why Lewis had had his victory taken away from him.
I could not believe it. I was absolutely shattered. How can the powers that be even manage to hold their heads up, such is the shame they should be feeling. I am ever the optimist in life. I am always quick to defend F1 when someone mentions the dreaded favouritism word with regards to Ferrari. It has always been an easier option than admitting that favouritism does go on, because to admit it would be to question why I love this sport at all. What is the point?
When Ferrari claimed that Alonso, a Renault driver in those days, fighting for the driver’s championship, impeded Massa during qualifying, I looked with my own eyes and could not see where the impeding deliberately took place, but shrugged my shoulders and said that obviously the stewards know what they are doing otherwise they wouldn’t be doing it. To believe that Ferrari were doing everything in their power to win and everyone in an official capacity were helping them do it had to inconceivable otherwise what is the point? When interviewed afterwards a completely crestfallen Alonso claimed that Formula1 was no longer a sport to him. I’m beginning to see his point.
At Valencia Massa threw himself out of his pit stop and nearly took Sutil out along the way. We all saw him do it. We all held our breath waiting for the impact. Then, when both cars were spared we waited to see what penalty would be handed out to Massa and the Ferrari team. Nothing; that was what was handed out. Why? It was bad enough then that they all got away with it but when you can now compare it to Lewis’ alleged crime on Sunday, how could the Brazilian and all at the Prancing Pony possibly have got away with it with nothing more than a slight dressing down a sum of money for a fine that wouldn’t even cover Massa’s lunch money!
And let’s not forget that Lewis actually didn’t do anything wrong! Plenty of people in the know agree, Jackie Stewart and Nikki Lauder amoung them.
McLaren are so sure that nothing was amiss that they are appealing. Knowing how utterly picked on they are (I know that sounds like being back in the school playground but there is no better way of putting it!) they are still going to appeal so they must know without a shadow of a doubt that Lewis did nothing wrong. In order to not take himself and Kimi out of the race he cut the chicane. A partially sighted person would have seen him hold back to let Kimi get past him afterwards. Telemetry proves that he held back in order to let Kimi take the place back.
The whole thing is a disgusting disgrace. It makes me sick. The outcome of this had better be a good one otherwise where does that leave us? Can we really thoroughly enjoy each race knowing that if things don’t go Ferrari’s way it will getting sorted out so that the result turns in their favour?
No wonder I woke up with a screaming migraine on Monday morning!
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