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Articles by Darren Galpin
| The Old Boy Still Has It - Sun 07th May 2006 |
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The Formula 1 field can be split into three, lets call them the A Grade racers, the B Grade, and the C’s. Ferrari, Renault and McLaren are in class A, although Ferrari and Renault are really A+, with McLaren an A-. Next up are Toyota, BMW, Williams and Honda in the B Grade, the C graders being the rest. Within a given grade the drivers make the difference, and today they were the difference between winning and losing.
Given Michael Schumacher’s “advancing years” (hell, he isn’t even forty yet!), he has been increasingly pensioned off, especially given the performance of his Ferrari in the first couple of races. Ferrari have sorted out the car, and given a whiff of victory Michael pulled out a race from the top drawer. Alonso pitted for the second time, and Michael immediately reels off fastest lap after fastest lap before pitting himself and coming out of the pits ahead. It demonstrated Michael’s mastery of contemporary F1, and put down a marker to Alonso that he was still a force to be reckoned with. At the same time, the race also highlighted the problems with contemporary F1 – there was never an overtake for the lead, and there was never likely to be one either. It was a high speed chess match played out over a long-term strategy, and although you can admire it, it will never beat the aggressive approach of charging down the middle to capture the board as a spectator event. The cerebral Max Mosley might like it, as he has stated in the past, but most of the spectators would like to see the winner pull off a pass or two which demonstrates that they are the best beyond doubt. Please ban refuelling……
Also of interest was a much more mature approach from Felipe Massa, who never looked in danger of leaving the tarmac during the whole grand prix. At times he was faster than those ahead of him, and he kept Alonso honest over the dying laps. It was a timely reminder of what he can do, following his indiscretions at Melbourne. If he can keep this up for the rest of the year, then he will do his reputation no end of good, and will keep his place in F1. If it proves to be a flash in the pan, then it will simply prove to be an outlier in the statistical average of his “fast but wild” career, of note for showing what could have been. Even so, the likelihood is that if he wants to drive for Ferrari next year, then it will only be as a test driver. Rumour has it that Räikkönen has signed up, and if Schumacher doesn’t retire, then there isn’t a race seat available. Plus Ferrari may sign Moto GP rider Valentino Rossi. Four into two doesn’t go, so Massa must continue to impress.
It would also seem that the ITV F1 television team have become the self-appointed Jenson Button interest group. Every single thing which happens is evaluated in the context of how it will affect “Jense”, even if it isn’t remotely likely to change anything. If someone crashes out, then it is deemed better for “Jense”, and it is becoming a feature of the coverage which is coming to dominate all else. Yes, I would like to see him do well, but I would also like to see what the others are doing too, and how it affects them. I apologise on behalf of the English to all of those other nations who take the ITV TV coverage – it must be very annoying, especially in Australia and Canada when you have your own drivers to support.
And finally, I would like to thank the German TV director for his TV coverage. Following the pitiful coverage from Imola, it was noticeable how much better the coverage was. We got pit-to-car radio, and got to see the fight for 5th-9th when the front two were pootling around on their own. It made for a far better race, and following all the criticism I have heaped on the coverage before, it deserves some praise.
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