Good ol’ Formula One – Part 2
The McLaren started developing some problems of its own. During the European Grand Prix, Raikkonen flat spotted his right front tyre while effectively putting Jacques Villeneuve a lap behind. Since the Sauber was not leading the Finn in terms of track position,
it was suggested that the Canadian driver was partly to blame as he did not give the race leader the racing line.
The resultant saw a hobbling Kimi in first position on the last lap, virtually handling a supermarket trolley – the McLaren lost its suspension and headed straight into the tyre wall. I distinctly remember Steve Slater commenting on the irony, ‘In order
to finish first, you first have to finish’. I could imagine the expression on Fernando Alonso beneath the race helmet, grinning from ear to ear on his good luck as the Renault claimed all ten points (The old point system featured 10 points for a race win compared
to the 25 in current times.)
This led to another debate over the specifications for 2005. Cars were only allowed to enter the pits for refuelling. Unlike 2004, changing tyres was banned and thus, cars were supposed to go the entire race distance on a single set of tyres. It was argued
as a ploy to decrease costs; yeah right! As if for a sport that required millions for its continued existence, cutting down expenditure on ‘rubber’ would be a recipe for a healthy cash flow statement – the rulebook suggested that a tyre change was only allowed
where a punctured or damaged tyre could be changed on safety grounds. The predicament saw a loophole in the regulations as there was no precedent for a flat-spotted tyre to be deemed dangerous enough. This incident resulted in an amendment of the rulebook,
allowing teams to change a flat-spotted tyre without incurring a penalty.
I guess this reopens the debate as to why the Bridgestone had failed. The tyre manufacturers had opted for durability. This meant that the Bridgestone was tough enough to withstand a complete race distance, even more perhaps. On the down side, the tyres
took longer to warm up which led to slower qualifying lap times - an obvious advantage for its Michelin counterparts.
The season also saw an incident at Monte Carlo that was rather hard to take for any Ferrari fan. On the last lap of the race, Michael Schumacher made a dangerous move on Barrichello to take the final point scoring spot. The move was rather dangerous and
something that the German could have done without; that too on his teammate. The manoeuvre led to further off track tensions and the drivers that were once nothing less than brothers became as distant as strangers, if not effective enemies. In fact, it was
reported a couple of years back when Barrichello, apparently drunk in a pub in Brazil, called Schumacher ‘g*y’.
The United States Grand Prix was also prominent news of the 2005 season for sadly, all the wrong reasons. The weekend in question saw all the Michelin teams including McLaren withdraw from the race. Michael Schumacher registered his first race win of the
season. A hollow victory that featured further in-house tension as Barrichello was determined to give Schumacher a run for his money.
The race season progressed with McLaren and Renault engaged in a tug of war. The McLaren either claiming pole or unable to finish races. Eventually, the rather conservative approach of the Renault prevailed and Fernando Alonso became the youngest driver
to win the Formula One championships in its nearly six decade tenure – Raikkonen, though, unable to win any silverware, claimed consolation in the form of the F1 Racing, Driver of the Year and Autosport’s, International Racing Driver of the Year award.
Ferrari on the other hand had a season to forget. Barrichello left the team, the duo that was admired for its teamwork failed to deliver.
However, the German-Brazilian marriage was revived when Felipe Massa entered the picture next year…
To be continued…
(The write up features an account of a Ferrari Formula One fanatic, troubled by the changes the motorsport has undergone in current times)
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