Ingram's Flat Spot On
Red, White And Black
by Jonathan Ingram
The start of the new Formula One season, to be witnessed at Chez Ingram
among friends, fellow aficionados and a journalist or two, promises to
be a mixed bag. The coming season appears to have more major teams and
excellent drivers well matched than any in recent memory. There are five
interesting rookies on the grid and three new teams. Schumacher and
Lotus are back, plus there's a new Senna in town.
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Track atmosphere. Photo by xpb.cc.
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But the decorations at our house will be red, white and black in
honor of the demise of the proposed return to F1 by the team based in
Charlotte. Some are tempted to lambast US F1 for failing (a group led by
Formula One Management's Bernie Ecclestone). Others feel compelled to
praise the team for at least trying even if it raised and then dashed
hopes among F1 fans in the U.S. In any event, there's no crying in F1.
The telling details of just what went wrong in Charlotte are still to
come. Money and execution are considered the chief suspects, although
there's also the problem of the original concept to sort through. The
possible fines to team principals Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor aside,
one has to wonder if more substantive penalties may ensue when it comes
to the relationship between the U.S. and F1.
Perhaps the desire to get more attention paid to F1 south of the
Canadian border led to the inclusion of US F1 among the 13 entries in
the first place. Will the reverse effect now take place -- less interest
in returning a round of the world championship to the U.S., zero
interest in a U.S. team being launched, and less than zero interest by
American manufacturers?
At least Hewlitt Packard announced its intention to be an associate
sponsor of Renault and its new ownership. On the other hand, it was yet
another point of pain in a week when Ecclestone once again slammed US F1
for preventing Stefan GP from getting to the grid. The Silicon Valley
giant HP was just the sort of company the American team had hoped to
land as a sponsor, especially with new media innovator Chad Hurley as
the primary investor.
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Montreal. Photo by xpb.cc.
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Alas, enough hand wringing. Montreal is a fair and inviting town for a
visit in June. Besides, when you leave the country to go racing, it's
easier to be the skanky tourist. (This assumes you're not a similarly
disposed journalist.)
By mid-summer-on-the-St. Lawrence, which teams have adapted best to the
ban on refueling will be more apparent. Going into the sweltering balm
of Bahrain, one has to bet the strongest teams will have adjusted to
the problems of going from a fuel load of fuel when the red lights go
out to an empty tank in parc ferme with no re-loading in between. In
no particular order, McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari are the
strong candidates to dominate with a possible sideways glance at the
podium perhaps cast from Force India-Mercedes, Williams-Cosworth and
Sauber-Ferrari.
Methusela was a mere child -- and a playmate of Ecclestone -- the last
time this many entrants had that much of a leg up on a podium finish.
The Dead Sea was merely ill when competition was last so close. It's
been ever since last season's pre-season prognostications that so many
had a shot at the title.
Careful readers will note that all predictions here are good only until
the first free practice begins to reveal all. For it remains to be seen
if McLaren's double secret inlet nozzle on the engine cover will create
considerably faster speeds on the straightaways before everybody else
scrambles to incorporate one. It bears noting that Toyota and Williams
also had the trick double diffusers at the outset of last season when
Brawn GP blew the wings off everybody in the opening rounds, but the
former two teams were unable to capitalize on the season's biggest
technical breakthrough and Toyota is now in fact a former team.
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Mercedes GP engine cover detail. Photo by xpb.cc.
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On this latter point -- will the 2010 season be the first in recent
memory where the same teams starting the season are all participating in
the 2011 season (plus one replacement for US F1)?
This question is begged for the benefit of Ferrari, which has cursed
the new teams on the grid for being new teams. One assumes the Italian
firm will be more than glad to supply the grid with all the cars
necessary should the Greek government default and the European Union
get sent crashing to its knees with less-than-coordinated esprit,
followed by a wholesale departure from F1 by manufacturers. In a second
not-too-far-fetched example, if the German labor unions begin to raise
hell over issues with a lack of support for labor unions in Greece
and Mercedes must re-consider its budgets, then how would the ensuing
vacancies be filled?
Interestingly, now that F1 is amped up with so many new developments, it
would have been the perfect year to take market share from NASCAR in the
U.S. The national series that has produced as much money for the France
family as F1 has for Ecclestone has been on a slippery slope of late,
the most recent episode being the sanctioning body painting itself into
a corner over the issue of aggressive driving and safety.
No such show biz allowed in F1 -- except on the sidelines when it comes
to rules enforcement, international legal tribunes, scandals, cheap
shots at new teams, etc.
Have at it, boys. It should be a very interesting season.
Jonathan Ingram can be reached at jonathan@jingrambooks.com.
