Higher respect for motor racing

By Andrew Hooper
October 5 2002

 

 

  
Higher respect for motor racing
 
With the results of the 2002 United States Grand Prix, where the Ferrari drivers of Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher would finish one-two, been the centre of much discussion now WilliamsF1 Technical Director Patrick Head has added his views to the discussions by saying that the Ferrari team is not living up to its obligation to motorsport.

Patrick HeadEven though both the WilliamsF1 team and that of McLaren have come in for criticism that they have not done enough to challenge Ferrari, allowing for a season of racing in which Ferrari would walk away with both the drivers and constructors championships, Head believes a dominant team should still allow its drivers to fight it out for the championship.

In 2002 Ferrari has been criticised for manipulating results, such as that which occurred in Austria and the United States.

Head was quoted as saying: "There's no point in making a secret of it that both Frank [Williams] and I have a rather different view than [Ferrari F1 boss] Jean Todt. In the years when one team does a job technically that is superior to any other team, whether it be them or their tyres or their engine or a combination of all of them, then I think they've got an obligation to motor racing.

"Jean Todt seems to think that the only obligation he has is to Ferrari. I suppose you've then got to say is the health of motor racing more important than Ferrari or not? Presumably the matter has been discussed closely with Luca [di Montezemolo, Ferrari president].

"Ultimately Frank decides what happens in our team, and I think Frank has a higher respect for motor racing than Jean Todt appears to have."

No doubt such comments are likely to generate a response from Ferrari, who have always defended their race results. They may look at the history of the WilliamsF1 team and highlight periods where the WilliamsF1 team adopted a similar approach to that taken by Ferrari this year. Their response should be interesting.
 
 
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