Briatore claims race-fixing by FIA and Ferrari

[flemke]

stubby pete said:

What really gets to me is the attitude that Schumacher is a cheat he cut the chicane etc etc. Alonso is not a cheat, he just did the same. Either they are both cheats or they are both not.

Pete,

This is from a column by Mark Hughes a fortnight ago:

If you were obviously a bit simple-minded like me, you might conclude that the latest ruling meant if a guy succeeded in getting up your inside into a corner - established as one of the most basic aims of a racing driver chasing another ever since the sport was invented - it was now okay for you to simply miss out part of the track in order to stop that beastly rival from benefiting from his attempt at passing.
That surely can't be right, can it? Apparently it is. "I'm sure it's an interpretation we will all be taking advantage of in future," was all a calm de la Rosa would say about the ruling.

Until the Hungarian race, all the drivers were under the impression (which had been enforced for years) that you would not be allowed to benefit by cutting a chicane - either to gain a place or to keep from losing a place.
When this time-honoured interpretation was reversed by the ruling in Schumacher's favour at Hungary, it was thenceforth legal to chicane-cut ('to avoid colliding with another car'), which is why it was less controversial when Alonso did it subsequently.

Edited by flemke on Tuesday 12th September 21:55

[rubystone]

The reason why Heidfeld (and others) attempted to make the chicane was because the penalty for cuting the chicane is so ingrained (as it should be) that it comes naturally to them.

That rule change is up there with the mass damper and fan car ban for fatuousness. (only kidding about the mass damper....)

[chassis 33]

IIRC the fan car was never banned, just told not to run again

Regards
Iain

[thunderbelmont]

I've always maintained that Scumsucker is Max Mosley's love child.
The bolt is always talking up Ferrari & Scumsucker.

What we need now are three races with Senna-esque race starts like his "interview" with Prost all those years ago. The Alfonso wins by 2 points at least!

There is no Ferrari favouritism with the FIA. That's why the V8 engine's dimensions are the same as the engine that Ferarri developed when they first muted the V8 rules. Doh!

[rubystone]

chassis 33 said:

IIRC the fan car was never banned, just told not to run again

Regards
Iain

LOL, actually, FISA had a quiet word in Bernie's shell-like and he agreed to withdraw it, rather than have it banned. IIRC, the rules were then tightened up to avoid a repeat. Did anyone see the photo in last week's Autosport of McLaren's response - a dustbin bolted to the back of their car....