Days of our Drives: Part 3

So it’s about 12 days until the premier Grand Prix of 2010. This means a number of things. Firstly, teams are complaining. Secondly, teams are bragging. Thirdly, teams are embarrassed at the fact that their whole structure is crumbling beneath them. This last factor can mainly be accredited to the stars and stripes group, Team US F1. The team is under scrutiny by the FIA, who believe they are far behind in preparations for the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix on the 14 of March. Now there is talk that they might merge with Campos Meta, one of the other baby F1 teams, who also don’t actually have a car ready. Sigh, the youth of today.

Ferrari is annoyed. Wait no, they’re not really, more like they’re absolutely incandescent with rage. In fact, they’ve waged a “Holy War” on the FIA. These were the words used on Ferrari’s official website. Holy War? What does that entail? Ritual sacrificing of Ferrari fans at Monaco? The point they are making is worthwhile though. If the FIA had paid attention to the established teams, such as BMW and Toyota, they might have a solid and dependable grid to rely on for 2010. Now, who knows, do you happen to have a reasonably reliable, fast car with good insurance? Get yourself down to Bahrain quickly and paint some advertisers on your bonnet, the FIA is calling for replacement teams, any one will do really.

The blame for this muddle is being placed on the shoulders of former FIA president Max Mosley, “This is the legacy of the holy war waged by the former FIA president,” explained the writer of the Ferrari column ‘The Horse Whisperer,’ “The cause in question was to allow smaller teams to get into Formula 1. This is the outcome: two teams will limp into the start of the championship, a third is being pushed into the ring by an invisible hand…”

So yes, that ticks off the embarrassed team, now for the rest. As for the bragging, Alonso has that nailed with his statement after the test run at Jerez. The two time world champion said, “There are no reasons to be pessimistic, as of today, this is the best car I’ve ever had.” Watching him race against Herr Schumacher, whom he managed to dethrone four years ago, will be quite an event. McLarens Jensen Button happens to agree with the Spaniard, “I think the Ferrari is a very strong car,” Button said, “If you look at their runs today, they’re very consistent. I think they have better consistency than anyone at the moment.”

So, as for complaining. Heikki Kovalainen says his Lotus lacks down force. I’m sure you’ll agree with me that if that’s the only whining the teams have (except for Ferrari’s FIA death wish) then it should be a good season. If we had a season where teams weren’t apologising to fans and giving excuses as to why their engine imploded 100 m from the finish line, then it will hopefully be a relatively pain free season. Keep it up guys, we’ll be watching.

Desiree Schirlinger

Photo Credit: www.mclaren.com / Ker Robertson/Getty Images