Jay Vee: I stand by what I said about Fernando being a WDC because of his wins (not his niceness). And I also stand by saying that ANY car is lucky to have Fernando driving it. This is true, of course, about a number of other drivers. To avoid a brawl, I'll just mention one: good ol' D.C.
Now as to what qualifies as 'unsporting,' I would say whatever or whoever breaks the rules is, by definition, unsporting --and it us up to the people awarding the points to punish the offenders. Since we have slow motion video records, I would assume that had Felipe Massa, in fact, been 'unsporting,' in turn one at Barcelona, FIA would have taken action.
But if 'unsporting,' means 'anything that prevents your favorite from winning,' well... that way madness lies.
And, I think you also said, 'Comparing what happened in Spain to what Felipe did in Malaysia isn't fair. Massa outbraked himself and went off. Alonso was right or very near the edge and was pushed out by Massa.'
Pushed out by Massa? 'a courageous move' not a 'mistake.' I think I could be convinced it was a 'courageous' [or clever or diabolical or whatever] move IF IT HAD WORKED. Since it didn't: sorry, but I think if Felipe --or Kimi or Lewis-- had done it, even he would call it a mistake.
Now gkaytaz wrote that: 'the real question is: Where is the line that separates "reasonably clean sport" from "deceitful trickery". I agree; winning is important. It's the ultimate goal. However considering that F1 is a sport and not war, it should be regarded equally important how one gets ahead of others. If being a sport rather than a winner makes you a romantic, the opposite would make you a fanatic.'
I agree that racing is sport not war: last time I checked FIA stewards do, in fact, punish offenders. They also, in their racing wisdom ('completely untainted by anything like political and financial pressure') have decided that a win is worth only two more points than second place!
It is this kind of thinking, in turn, which leads to teams being more about 'racecraft' than 'racing.' So, the delicate line between 'reasonably clean sport and deceitful treachery' is not one that applies ONLY to teams and drivers: it obviously also applies to FIA, to Bernie and Max.
I don't think I said, or meant to say, that 'being a sport rather than a winner makes you a romantic.' I meant by 'romantic' to suggest that there is not much room in racing for anyone but a realist. A realist understands that the kind of money and politics involved on F1 level means that one must minimize mistakes and try to make the rules work for (rather than against) you. This means that pretending that your drivers are allowed to 'race' one another with no consideration of the risk of eliminating each other and of losing valuable constructors points and sponsors' wrath is just that: pretending.
Does this mean I think Ron Dennis is a liar? No. He --and Flavio and Jean Todt and Frank Williams and pretty much every other serious person or realist in F1-- tells the media what they want to hear. Look at this month's F1 magazine for a most amusing article on Ron's verbal chess games.
How one gets ahead of (passes, overtakes on the track or in the pits) another is obviously a matter of driving skill. On this level, though, driving skills tend to be very close. There is another factor.
Jay Vee called Fernado's attempt 'courageous,' implying that our drivers differ in their degree of courage and in their ability to psych out their opponents. I think, in fact, all of the drivers are incredibly brave. But in boxing (and all sport, including my duffer pals tell me, even GOLF!) there are feints and counter punches; there are, that is, all manner of 'head games.'
If one isn't ready to employ whatever means available to get ahead of one's competition at this level, I don't think one should be in it. And I don't like, very much, drivers who complain about, rather than overcome, their competitors.
I suspect that Fernando is as good as Kimi and Lewis and Felipe are at doing just that: what is available. What it takes. What he has to do to win. That's why he IS WDC. And he beat, two years in a row, Michael --who was in his (very good!) Ferrari. By taking chances and winning.
So. Sorry to be so verbose. Just didn't want to be wrongly labelled a cynic. I love racing. Race cars. And racing drivers. I am fond, too, as my sign off suggests, of drivers who deliver wins --and don't resort to excuses for losses.
Jim Watt
My Racing Gods: Fangio, Vukovich; Senna & Mears --all racers all the time; graceful winners & generous in defeat, but never giving up!!
