'Massa Could Follow ITV Out The Door'

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Tuesday 25th March 2008

Claws are out as PF1 readers want to know why Massa wasn't craned out the gravel, why only McLaren were punished and why ITV returned to their Lewis-loving ways in Sepang.

Got something to say? letters@planet-f1.com

Ferrari Wins And Loses
Kimi's drive to a dominant and "easy" win in Malaysia proved to both skeptics and critics that Ferrari's winter testing did in fact go as well as was speculated.

Australia was a disaster for the Scuderia, but after seeing how easily Kimi won in Malaysia one can't help but wonder if Ferrari took Australia as a learning experience? Did they let Massa and Kimi drive like maniacs to find the limits for their cars in race conditions? We'll never know.

McLaren and BMW have now seen Ferrari finish and win a race, and they must be very uneasy.

There are a couple of things that Ferrari can do that the other teams struggle with:

1.) Tyre management - Ferrari have a long relationship with Bridgestone and it shows. Very very even tyre wear and grip for ages.

2.) Light Engine - Ferrari must have one of the most economical engines in F1. Kimi ran for more than half the race in Australia before taking fuel and in Malaysia the stops were very quick.

3.) Reliability - Whatever caused Kimi and Massa to DNF in Oz have been fixed. Although the customer engines still suffer this problem one can expect it to be fixed with new revisions. For Ferrari the engines should live up to the reputation of old.

There is some hope for Ferrari's rivals though.

Massa is quickly driving himself out of the team. In Oz he simply drove poorly. In Malaysia he made one mistake, and it cost him dearly. With rumours of Vettel going to Ferrari soon (and Alonso rumours starting up again) pressure must be building.

With Bahrain on the horizon, it'll be a monster task for McLaren to beat Ferrari. Bahrain is almost Ferrari's second home race.
Chris van Wyk, South Africa

Why Wasn't Massa Craned?
Can anyone tell me why Massa was not lifted out of the gravel and placed back on the track with a crane? He did not stall the engine as it was clear as day that his rear wheels were still spinning. They did it for Hamilton last year and the argument was that his engine was still running that he did not stall it. So what is the difference?

The British media plastered their cover story with Hamilton dehydrated, Hamilton's water bottle malfunctioned and he had to suffer the entire race etc... while Kubica mentioned his water was as hot as tea and not a mention of how it was the effects of heat on "all drivers."

Does anyone else see the BIAS here. No wonder Alonso felt un-equal treatment - CAUSE THERE BLATANTLY IS. Not only from the McLaren team but the race organizers too. How wonderful it would be for a British Driver's Champion.

Even the TV pictures represented the bias. I did not see the battle between Massa and Kimi, Trulli or Kovalainen cause we were regulated to watch Hamilton pinned behind Mark Webber. Even the Speed TV announcers were saying how they have been chastised for talking about Hamilton too much but said that they had no control of the cameras and the cameras are focused on Hamilton.

If someone can dispute this let me hear their argument? Cause anyone who is not a fan of McLaren or Hamilton can only take some much of the BS being rammed down their throats!
Mike, Canada

Massa's Not Good Enough For Ferrari
Well done today Massa for proving me to be right yet again, he's simply not good enough for a team like Ferrari. Yes he can be bloody quick on his day but he's far too erratic even with traction control, so without it things aren't going to improve.

It was obvious from about lap four that Kimi was going to jump him in the first pit stop and satisfying when he did. Him going off was a bonus. Sure he'll win races this season but a title challenger? Not in a million years.
Matthew Huart, Hull

Massa's Signing His Own Walking Papers
The heat is on. Felipe Massa sure is going to be under fire this time around. You don't make two mistakes in two races when you are driving for the reigning world champions.

Seems to me, that the Drivers' battle will be fought between Kimi and Lewis, but the Constructors' between McLaren and BMW, because if Massa doesn't perform, then Ferrari are going to be left high and dry.

Massa better perform well or his seat might just well go to someone like Vettel.
Abhishek

FIA Favours Ferrari
As usual the losers in the grand prix were the fans, with the McLaren penalty the race was over before it began and Ferrari steamed off into the distance because the rest could not compete, Martin Whitmarsh should know better by now.

The FIA again being heavy handed and spoiling the event for everyone including sponsors, when are they going to realise this is "racing" instead of just an expensive parade, get rid of that tosser Mosley and replace him with someone who knows about racing (Mr Todt) not some dammed lawyer.
Bryan, Dunblane, Scotland

Ferrari Should've Been Penalised As Well
Although I agree with the Stewarts decision to demote the McLarens, they were not the only ones that needed to be demoted.

Both Ferraris and a couple of others were at fault and they received no penalties for their offense. I would have dispensed the penalties evenly, but as usual, Ferrari can do no wrong and Macca gets all the blame.

Look, I'm happy to see that Hamilton twit demoted, but fair is fair, and if you are going to punish people for doing something wrong, then penalize everyone.
Ed Garrido, USA

Lewis Doesn't Deserve Praise For Sepang
Does gaining race positions in the first corner really overtaking? Yes, Hamilton did gain 4 places, but honestly, 500 meters before, all of those cars were within 10 meters of each other on the race track.

The skill in LH's move was more the selection of his line that allowed him to take advantage of other driver's woes (Heidfeld and Trulli trading paint), than the actual overtaking.

Putting my pro BMW bias aside, I believe that a double overtake, with one of the "overtaken" a two time World Champion, is a more deserving candidate for "Overtaking move of the Race".
Andr� Filliol, Cornwall, Ontario, Canada

...Yeah, sure it was just a bloody blooper, what I saw, was Hamilton trying to take Alonso in the first turn and if it wasn't for the guys in front that blocked Alonso's momentum, Hamilton would not have gained 4 places, but rather been behind Alonso. I saw him not having the ability to pass Webber who was driving an inferior car, and even when they did a pit stop, Webber came out in front and stayed there, your Boy Lewis is being taken to the woodshed. We are not going to see a repeat of last year.

If anything, the drives by Kubica, Vettel, Webber and Alonso were far superior to the glorified, delusional Twit, heck, even Kovalainen got the better of him.

Just my humble opinion.
Ed Garrido, USA

'How To Make Enemies' By Lewis Hamilton
What a incredible driver. Ironic mode On. Ham says he could have done first pit stop with a beer on his hand. This the way he thanks to his team. And he says too he would have finished on third place. And he says that he was much better than Webber too...

Does this guy what means "humility"? Ham again acts as a child and big mouth.
Elcrowley

We Don't Care What Lewis Is Doing
What absolutely appalling coverage of the race in Sepang! Lewis Hamilton, while doing nothing even worthwhile, never mind noteworthy, was on the screen more than 60% of the time.

To make it worse, James Allen and Martin Brundle do not seem to be aware that there are even other drivers on the track. This race was the most nauseating spectacle I have seen in years.

I thought we had gotten away from this type of coverage when MS retired; I was wrong.
Tom, Canada

...Why in the world did I have to watch Hamilton 80% of the time? He is NOT the world champion!
Natasha Botha

...I think ITV's report was so much Hamilton biased that the race should be renamed the Hamilton Malaysian GP. Indeed all I could here (on average every 15-20 seconds of airtime) was how Hamilton was doing this, driving like that, closing this gap, opening that gap, breaking here and there etc etc etc.. When it was done all he could do was finish 5th - not a world class performance at all!

Raikkonen was mentioned every once in a long while, yet it is he who showed the field and in particular Hamilton, how real Champions drive. I look forward to the BBC taking over from ITV hopefully with a bit more balanced reporting. And please hire new reporters: the ITV people do not know the difference between a F1 car and a telephone pole.
Andre Lorent, Canada

TG For The New BBC Deal
One of the benefits of the BBC getting the Grand Prix back will be that I will not have to listen to Mark Blundell trying (and failing) to string a sentence together. Surely it is a requirement for someone who speaks for a living to have a basic command of the language?

They should keep Brundle though and the idea of Hammond and Clarkson doing it would be a joke - literally.

Actually coming to think of it - I would rather listen to The Stig than Blundell.
Chris, Norwich

Speaking Of That BBC Deal
I was a bit shocked to know that F1 broadcasting is going back to BBC next season. I haven't watched F1 live on ITV for 3 years so I didn't know how they performed recently. Based on my memories I thought they were excellent (I watched them since 1999) in many aspects: commentary, pre-race introduction, pit lane interviews, MB's grid walk, post-race analysis (especially from Tony Jardine), etc. and their performance were acknowledged by the awards they received in those days.

Given what I've read from PlanetF1's forum since last season I would think that probably JA and MB's Lewis-maniac commentary might have gone over the top and Bernie decided to axe them before their contract expires.

However, I would think that it will only get worse if Hammond, Clarkson, etc. are live commentators of F1, given their track record on Top Gear (I would think they will be more Lewis-maniac). Moreover, I don't think they will have enough F1 knowledge when compared with MB or JA (e.g. Driving Ferraris, doing power slides, etc. doesn't mean they know things about F1 racing), though JA might be inappropriate for live commentary.

So if BBC really wants to do a good job, I reckon they should take some of the ITV crew as well for their F1 comeback next year, probably keeps MB as one of the live commentators.
Nelson, China

...Am I the only one who thinks F1 moving to BBC is a bad idea? Yes adverts are a pain but its very rare you missed any action. The BBC coverage in the past was crap. Its like you say, its very doubtful the BBC will give 1 hour pre race coverage. ITV's coverage was and is far superior to the BBCs coverage.

As for the Top Gear lot being on the show. What a complete load of rubbish. Please say this is not true. Hammond and the other two Top Gear morons, especially Clarkson have never shown any interest in F1 and have always said it was boring. They also know nothing about F1. Martin Brundle is a crowd favorite and although I'm not a fan of James Allen he is at least very knowledgeable and extremely passionate about the sport.

Letting the Top Gear lot "loose" on a GP weekend is a ridiculous idea. The last thing we need are three morons making a mockery and fooling around in an attempt to be "cool" on TV with another one of their stupid tests or races. F1 needs Top Gear like the figure skating needs a football commentator.

Dark times are ahead for F1 coverage.
Michael

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