By Phil Giles
October 15 2002

There isn't anything wrong with F1 if you don't give a stuff about Ferrari. The 2002 Japanese Grand Prix was one of the best races of the year. It had everything. Wheel to wheel racing, engines going kaboom and cars sliding off the circuit all over the place.

I'm going to harp on about it, as it was Jordan's best performance of the season but I was on the edge of my seat.  We saw three out of the four Honda competitors either drive into the garage or onto the green stuff, usually with smoke pouring out of the back.

Would Taku's engine hold out?  Will Button catch him?  Would anyone else's failure promote him to fourth?  Will he get a podium!?  Totally superb race. If you don't watch Ferrari.  

Perhaps then this is what needs to be done.  Uncle Bernie should issue a directive to his F1 TV Directors.  Watch Ferrari or whoever for the first 2 laps, then forget them until it's pit stop time and then until 2 laps from the end.  Most people who've lost their love for the sport will only tune in to see the start, go off to B&Q for an hour, then get back in time to watch the finish.

Teams like Jordan, Minardi and Arrows struggle weekly as their sponsor's don't get the air time.  There are 11 teams and sometimes, the TV forgets that.  The best way to watch F1 is live, however if you can't get to Suzuka the next best way is to go Digital.

Some Sunday's, especially through this last season, we've hardly seen a Minardi or a Jordan or even a BAR, despite the minnows struggling for the last points, the focus is always on the top three when there is plenty of action going on further down the field.

Don't try and slow Ferrari down, just show more of the action behind them. Perhaps then the fans will come back and support the teams that really deserve it.

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