Dear Heretic: I certainly agree that it is foolish to "criticize" Ferrari for winning! It would be foolish to criticize ANYONE for winning. Winning is the point of racing. NOT "entertaining," or "putting on a good show," or "selling the maker or sponsor's product," or "making good T.V."
As long as there are people (like myself) interested in seeing who can build and drive a winning machine in an open competition with all who are interested, there will be something called racing. And as long as F1 continues to sanction open competition, I will be an F1 fan.
When F1 decides that "open" competition means anything other than publishing and applying the rules fairly, that's when I loose interest. "Open" competition does not mean that the winners must share their drivers or machines with the losers. That isn't "fair"; it's silly. How motivated will you be to do your job if you understand that, in the interest of "fairness" you must share the rewards with those who DON'T do the job as well as you? Sorry. But all this talk about how Ferrari are "buying" the championship is sickening.
Is Eddie Jordan giving away sponsor space in the interest of fairness? Is Minardi not spending as much as they can and trying to get as much for what they spend as they can?
Never mind how much Toyota and Honda and BMW and Mercedes Benz and Renault are spending!! If they really think that they can spend their way to winning why don't they simply "out spend" Ferrari / Fiat? You know the answer to that and so do all the whiners.
Last year, when Michael slowed at Indy and Rubens slipped (microscopically) past him the press went bananas. This wasn't "racing" they said, it was a "big fix"! So. Did they mean by this that Ferrari paid everyone else to slow down too? Of course not.
What you're dealing with is a bunch of losers who can't stand to be shown as such week in and week out.
Do you honestly suppose T. Sato would like to beat Jensen by paying more for the place? Would Alonso like to buy out Jarno? Would Kimi like to buy off Michael? What nonsense! They are racers. They want to win. Every race. And that's why I like to watch them.
So. For Magny Cours I am still picking Michael to win, but I expect Rubens to have a hard time keeping up.
Who do I think will push Michael? Jenson B! Who will, in turn, be pushed by J.P. Montoya.
I hope Kimi's engine will hold together long enough for him to make the top 8, but I won't be surprised if it doesn't.
Jarno and Fernando will be in the points unless Ralph manages to do one of his magic tricks and take out an entire team!
Because I see a red car first at the finish line, I don't assume that the race will be a "procession" --except to those people who so hate Ferrari that they have banished the color red from their entire lives! - Jim W (Reference Heretic 6-9 - What is there to say ?)

The Heretic replies:

Hi Jim,

Contradicting myself may be a possibility but there is little in your mail that I do not agree with.

Ferrari are not alone in this. Remember when McLaren were so dominant that the only question was: Will Prost win or will it be Senna?

What makes it different this time around is that Ferrari must be aware that they are participating in creating an all time legend. Long after we have all forgotten that Michael drove for Ferrari we will still remember him as the driver with more records than anyone else. McLaren allowed their drivers to race each other. Ferrari are doing all they can to improve Schumacher’s already brilliant record.

Even if Ferrari allowed Barrichello to risk both their cars and race Michael, how well will he do? Is there anyone out there that doubts Michael’s superiority? I can’t see how. Rubens is fast but not fast enough to take Michael on.

There were some races where Barrichello looked faster (mostly because of fuel load or a set of tyres) but in most of them he was flat out trying to stay in touch with Michael. I often comment on the “lack” of team orders but in the last two/three seasons the outcome would not have changed if there were not and both drivers were encouraged to go all out to the end – just more Ferrari retirements. What we would also have seen is a demoralising number of races where the Ferraris lapped every other car on the track.

I am not suggesting that Barrichello should not be allowed to have a shot at it, he should and he does. I certainly do not believe that Ferrari are deliberately giving him a worse car but do not forget that he has a say in race setup as does every other driver and if his Ferrari is not as fast where is he going to lay the blame? I do think that Ferrari would prefer to see Michael in front for the above reasons and that they discourage overtaking between the two drivers on the circuit.

I have often wondered why the other teams like Williams and McLaren allowed their drivers to take each other out quite regularly. I think it is wise to not allow in-team dogfights after the race has settled down. To what extent that inhibits the following driver I do not know but as most overtaking happens in the pits and the planning and driving around pit stops determine how it happens Barrichello should be able to orchestrate a win if he was fast enough.

I am sure that there are team orders at Ferrari, but I am not convinced that this is the main reason why Michael wins almost all of the races. Ability determines that.

A very long winded way of saying that I would be very surprised to not see the two Ferraris in front and even more surprised if Michael is not leading.

Races are frequently a procession and this year the order of that procession is somewhat more predictable than most but we are forgetting that the processional nature of racing does not only apply to F1. The huge leaps forward in aerodynamics and tyre technology caused this and it is affecting all forms of motor sport. There may be more than one fast line through a corner but inevitably there is only one clean line. Increases in aerodynamic grip by definition increase the effect of turbulence. We certainly cannot blame the procession on Ferrari.

When the teams are close it is interesting to see how drivers and tacticians overcome this to win races. When all the other teams failed dismally to keep up with Ferrari some of this interest evaporates but some of it moves further down the pack. Renault/BAR and McLaren/Toyota are examples.

Ferrari will not be dominant forever – but Schumacher’s reputation will last forever. Like him or not we are lucky to see a legend being created.

The Heretic

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