Something appears to smell fishey, what do you F1 fans say?

[Vlad D Impeller]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6698349.stm

Would, or could Hamilton have caught up and overtaken Alonzo to win the race?
I find that a bit hard to believe, but there seems to be some fans who would disagree with that assessment.

 

[RPJS]

Re: Something appears to smell fishey, what do you F1 fans say?

It's almost impossible to overtake at Monaco, the last thing that McLaren whanted was for thier two cars to be involved in a crash with each other, Hamilton proved his point, with a bit more experience he would have realised he needed to back off, as it was the team had to tell him. Right decision, right result.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Something appears to smell fishey, what do you F1 fans say?

Team orders prevail again.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Something appears to smell fishey, what do you F1 fans say?

McLaren 'team orders' under investigation

28 May 2007


The FIA is going to investigate the suspect team orders that the McLaren team imposed on its drivers in yesterday's Monaco Grand Prix. Ron Dennis has already stated that the decision was made 'in advance' that Alonso would win.

The FIA believes the team might have breached the International Sporting Code that says team orders, which influence the outcome of a race, are forbidden. The specific law concerning team orders was introduced after the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix when Rubens Barrichello was forced by Ferrari to let Michael Schumacher go past to take victory. If McLaren is found guilty of breaking this rule, the team can be punished.

After the first round of pitstops, Alonso and team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who was still in contention to challenge for the lead, were told to hold their positions to secure the comfortable one-two that the McLaren duo were enjoying. Hamilton's one-stop strategy was then reverted to a two-stop strategy, similar to that of Alonso's.

The sport's governing body is now set to investigate the situation amid widespread criticism from the British media that Hamilton was prevented from challenging for a dream maiden victory and that the sport's reputation has been tarnished.

The FIA statement said: "The FIA has launched an investigation into incidents involving the McLaren Mercedes team at the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix in light of a possible breach of the International Sporting Code.

"The relevant evidence is under review and a further announcement will be made in due course."

 

[kenimpzoom]

Re: Something appears to smell fishey, what do you F1 fans say?

I have never liked teams in any form of auto racing. F1 seems to be the worst.

Ken

 

[Vlad D Impeller]

Re: Something appears to smell fishey, what do you F1 fans say?

Perhaps the FIA want to even things up a bit? Could it be that McLaren may be too successful against Ferrari their long time major contributor? ???

 

[JB]

Re: Something appears to smell fishey, what do you F1 fans say?

Both drivers drove a near perfect race. Whether Hamilton could have caught Alonso is speculation and whether he could have overtaken him is very unlikely. At Monaco passing a fast driver having a good day is almost always done in the pit.

Alonso consistently showed that he could post faster laps when he wanted to. He didn't need to. He won the pole legitimately and he drove away from the field on a track where passing without a blue flag is very difficult and dangerous.

Lewis Hamilton is a phenomenon. . . a Tiger Woods on wheels. . .but he was not better than Alonso at Monaco.

A "team order" to avoid risking both cars in attempting the unlikely is an entirely different thing than the infamous "let Michael pass" order. The Mercedes McLarens were clearly dominant and only disabling both cars would have allowed anyone else to win.

Fernando Alonso doesn't get the respect he deserves. Remember, he won two consecutive world championships. He beat Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) and Kimi Raikonnen (Mercedes McLaren) to the championship. . .twice. . .in a car (Renault) that is non-competitive this year. Scheuy is regarded as possibly the best F1 driver ever and is the most successful ever. Kimi is even now regarded as the fastest driver in F1 and maybe the best who hasn't won a championship.

McLaren got everything right at Monaco. They will not get everything right everywhere. Making the most of the opportunity and avoiding the risk of blowing it simply makes sense, but "ordering" Hamilton not to pass Alonso was about as useful as ordering him not to fly.

 

[KaGee]

Re: Something appears to smell fishey, what do you F1 fans say?

Perhaps the FIA want to even things up a bit? Could it be that McLaren may be too successful against Ferrari their long time major contributor? ???

Sorry Vlad, but conspiracy theories are limited to NASCAR discussions only.

 

[QC]

Re: Something appears to smell fishey, what do you F1 fans say?

Speaking of NASCAR . . . these comments are why I prefer NASCAR . . . They can pass on almost all tracks and the faster car will "nudge" a slower one out of the way if passing is difficult. The huge role of the sponsor makes "Team" deals less common (Only one team shares the same sponsor and that is the #9 and #19 with Dodge). How do you explain to Lowe's that a win for Dupont was more important (sponsors for the #48 and #24 teammates respectively)? In fact the #24 and #48 had an awesome duel about three weeks ago and they both almost wrecked. In fact the #24 driver (Jeff Gordon) is half owner of the #48 and they still fought . . . The exception may be the quick agreement for a leader to allow a teamate to temporarily grab the lead for the 5 points.