Admittedly Ferrari's results recently have been less than amazing, and with Alonso and Massa as drivers they should be gathering the points like a Pac Man on speed.
So, just to recap - Ferrari are the team that have been in Formula 1 the longest; they won their first Grand Prix in England in 1951. The great drivers they have employed include Juan Manuel Fangio, Mike Hawthorn, John Surtees, Niki Lauda, Jody Sheckter, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso.
Formula One 2007 Rd.17 Brazilian GP: Start of the race at the S do Senna. #5 Felipe Massa (Ferrari), #6 Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari), #2 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and #1 Fernando Alonso (McLaren) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Now Kimi Raikkonen, the diminutive Finn, worked at Ferrari before, where he won a World Championship in 2007. No mean feat in itself, but he was coming off a terrible year at McLaren where he failed to win a single race, and yet, won the 2007 Australian Grand Prix. And please let me clarify, that was his first race in the Ferrari car.
In 2009 he lost his Ferrari seat to Alonso, who he will be partnering in 2014.From Formula 1 Kimi went to the World Rally Championship, where he failed to make much of an impression. His return to Formula 1 in 2012 brought him 5 podium place finishes, including a win in Abu Dhabi, leaving him 3rd in the championship.
Kimi is currently 4th in the F1 Driver Championships with 134 points.
So, what the gosh darned rooting tooting is that title all about then?
I am a fan of Formula 1. Any sport that can end in serious pain if you make a mistake gets my attention. Formula 1 has the added draw of having a large amount of information flowing throughout the year and not just on race day.
Crashes are not uncommon but generally do not alter the final result as they either happen at the first corner to some back markers or later on in the race to a couple of cars who are fighting for position and then take each other out.
There are some famous crashes such as Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton deSilva Senna's fatal crashes (in the same weekend), as well as Michael Schumacher taking himself or nearest competitor out, and a couple of beauties when cars went, literally, flying over others.
That's not the point though. The level of danger involved is the point.
Any crash involves pieces of car flying at high speed in all directions. This allows the energy in the crash to dissipate without harming the driver. But it also means that basically, bits go flying everywhere. Tyres have landed in the crowd killing spectators and we are coming to terms, in F1, with the fact that Felipe Massa is going to be out for the rest of the season because he was hit in the head by a piece of debris that fell off another car in front of his during a practice session.
He was hit in the helmet with a 800g piece of coiled metal at over 180mph that left him unconscious. He is recovering now and has a beautiful scar (above) to tell the tale.
And that is where today's revelations leave me with my mouth agape and my mind not comprehending what happened.
Nelson Piquet Jr.'s intentional crash, in the the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
Today it was revealed that one team, Renault, had asked one of its drivers, Nelson Piquet Jr., to crash on purpose. The FIA stated that Renault had planned and carried out actions:
to cause an intentional accident with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of their other driver, Fernando Alonso, who went on to win.
The team stated
“The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the F.I.A. concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix,”
Which is pretty damn shameful, dangerous and ultimately, suicidal for the careers of those involved.
So what also gets my goat here, and you may notice that I'm still very annoyed and shocked by it all, is that they actually thought that they could get away with it.
In an industry where millions of dollars hang in the balance for every point a driver can make people are going to be ruthless. And they are going to have very long memories.
The chap on the left, Flavio 'Flav' Briatore, has been in Formula 1 for a very long time. He helped to bring Michael Schumacher into the limelight. He was teh Team leader for Renault.
The chap on the left is Pat Symonds. He too has been in F1 forever and he was Flav's no. 2 man.
Today they both left their current (and probably last) Formula 1 team after the team admitted that these two individuals had in fact conspired with their no. 2 driver, Nelson Piquet Jr., to alter the outcome of the race.
