F1 snubs Villeneuve

Undoubtedly because of the embarrassment caused by the USF1 fiasco, in which a company was awarded a spot on the F1 grid for 2010 and then failed to deliver, the FIA today said it would stick with 24 cars in 2011 and not add a team that would have taken the car count to 26.

Oh, and as predicted, the FIA’s World Motorsport Council didn’t do anything to Ferrari today when it held a hearing in Paris to further investigate the fixing of the order of finish at the German Grand Prix.

The Council decided that the $100,000 fine levied by the stewards at the time was appropriate - and sufficient.

The fact that the whole world heard the radio transmission that told Felipe Massa to pull over and let Fernando Alonso past, contrary to a rule that forbids team orders influencing the finish of a race, apparently was of no consequence.

The decision not to add a team next year was a blow to our own Jacques Villeneuve, who – in his seemingly never-ending quest to get back into an F1 cockpit – had teamed up with Italy’s Durango Racing, which has been an entrant previously in several of the lesser formulae, to go F1 racing.

Although plans for the team were “still in their infancy”  (no kidding – the owner of Durango was quoted as saying they didn’t know – in June – where they would build the car), Villeneuve insisted the money was there and it would all come “from corporate sponsorship and not from personal investors.”

As the FIA had heard that previously from USF1, it decided to take a pass.

Earlier, Villeneuve had tried for a spot in F1 with Stefan GP, the Serbian team that also was rejected by the FIA. Late in the day Tuesday, he issued a statement indicating he now would try to take over an existing F1 team. Virgin, perhaps?

But considering the difficulties seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has encountered this year trying to make a comeback as a driver, and counting up the large number of well-meaning and ambitious people who've jumped into F1 ownership with enthusiasm, only to lose their shirts, Jacques would be better off to  concentrate on trying to get back into NASCAR full-time, maybe even as an owner-driver.

Every time he's raced in NASCAR this year, whether it was in Nationwide or the Sprint Cup, he’s been competitive, which is something he would not be in F1. And I just have a feeling he'd do better in the long run with the stock car crowd than he ever would trying to be a member of the pirhana club.

Meantime, in Paris, both Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt attended the World Council meeting (after both said that they wouldn’t) in which Ferrari escaped  further sanction.

Ecclestone said a press release would be issued explaining the decision but indications are that the team orders rule will be scrapped.

Which makes sense: if the world body that governs motorsport won’t enforce its own rule, why have one?

 

Comments

[Bill Taylor]

The team orders rule probably should be scrapped, mainly because it's unenforcable. A $100,000 fine is of no consequence to an outfit such as Ferrari and next time they, or any other team, order one of their drivers to give way to the other, they'll simply be more subtle about it. All it needs is a seemingly inoccuous key word built into an exchange between pits and driver. The driver hears the word and knows, for good or ill, he has to give ground to his teammate. No one likes to see this happen but, unpalatable as it is, it could be argued tha a team should have the right to direct its drivers in what it perceives to be its over-all best interests.

[Gene]

In light of this decision, F1 should scrap the sham that is the driver's championship, and just award team points. I've lost complete interest in the driver's contest.

[allenparkpete]

It's a big boy's sport, not a local Formula Ford race. Ferrari HAS every right to pick and choose who should finish first and who shouldn't. It is a team sport, same as hockey or football or baseball. Alonso knows that and certainly Massa knows that. I agree with Bill's viewpoint.

[DJL]

I'd love to see a Canadian driver in F1, but I think Villeneuve's been out of an F1 cockpit for far too long. And as far as NASCAR goes, correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't Villeneuve's best results in NASCAR all come on the road courses. I don't seem to recall him being all that competitive on the ovals (although I have to admit I've pretty much stopped watching NASCAR oval races - too boring).

I think that after seeing the gap between the Tier 1 and Tier 2 teams this year, F1 won't consider allowing a new team that isn't already well established and well financed. Another big problem that F1 has is the lack of competitive engine suppliers; right now it seems like neither Ferrari or Mercedes are interested in selling to anybody other than their current customers (and Mercedes will be happy to drop McLaren). And I don't know about Renault. So that pretty much means that any new team is left to buy from Cosworth. And their performance this year has been anything but stellar. I think that before F1 looks to add any additional teams they need to encourage somebody else to start building engines (again).

WRT to the teams orders issue, I don't really care if a team tells one of their drivers to allow a teammate to pass. My worry is that they'll start telling their #2 drivers to start blocking. Imagine a scenario where driver #1 passes #2, and moves into P1. Then driver #2 starts to intentionally hold up the drivers behind him to allow a large gap to build between P1 and P2 (and P3). They could build a big enough gap to make it impossible for anybody else to catch #1, or even just create a big enough gap that #1 can pit without worrying about getting passed for the lead. If you're willing to risk getting passed, it's a lot easier to back up cars behind you in the corners. So if a team was willing to order their #2 driver to take that risk, they could give their #1 driver a significant advantage.

[Truck Accessories]

I am a big fan of F1.I think it is a most challenging and exciting sport on earth. I just love your writing thanks and hope to read more from you.

[Bill Taylor]

A post from "Truck Accessories?" I think you just got spammed!

DJL raises an interesting point about blocking by the #2 driver on a team. This is something that would need to be hammered out and rules, especially on what constitutes blocking, made absolutely clear.

He's right, too, about Villeneuve in NASCAR. I don't suppose there's any chance that Villeneuve would ever return to Indy racing?