I know I'm a bit late in commenting on the latest row in the F1 world following the stewards' decision to penalise Hamilton after the Belgian Grand Prix... but wow, do people need to lay off the consipracy theories. I didn't think Lewis Hamilton deserved a retrospective penalty; but honestly, everything is not about Ferrari. I love how Schumacher's controversial 1994 collission with Damon Hill in the series finale gets thrown about as an example of how much the FIA favours(ed) a) Ferrari and b) Schumacher. First, Schumacher was driving for Benetton then, not Ferrari, and had, in fact, not even signed for Ferrari at that point. Second, it's amazing how short memories are. If anything, the FIA did everything possible that year to ensure that Schumacher did Not win the championship, banning him from two races, black flagging him and disqualifying him from two others. The only reason it got so close between Hill and MS was because of all these penalties. So people need to shut up about that.
And how come when Ferrari gets a component banned, it's becuase it was cheating, but when other teams do (e.g. Renault mass damper) it's the biggest subversion of sporting authority ever? The Flexi floor was legal (within the letter of the law) and it got banned. The flexi wings were legal but they got banned. The FIA has interceded many times against Ferrari, as much as tin-foil theorists would like to believe otherwise.
Not to mention that the same people yelling for Hamilton now would be screaming to throw Schumacher out of the sport if he's dared do such a thing. As recently as 2006, Schumacher got a penalty in the qualifying stage of the Hungarian GP that removed any advantage he might've got with his chief rival Alonso getting the same penalty. It proved to be ultimately irrelevant, since the race took place in torrential weather conditions, but that race could've scuppered his chances.
Now, an observation. Hamilton seems to me, depressing as it is to admit, a racer much in the mould of MS. He's quick in the dry, quick in the wet (I know the McLaren is suited to the rain, but still), has a tremendous belief in himself and races hard, and to the edge. Lots of question marks over him, still, of course, but those will probably be answered in due course.
And Schumi, come back. We need you.
And how come when Ferrari gets a component banned, it's becuase it was cheating, but when other teams do (e.g. Renault mass damper) it's the biggest subversion of sporting authority ever? The Flexi floor was legal (within the letter of the law) and it got banned. The flexi wings were legal but they got banned. The FIA has interceded many times against Ferrari, as much as tin-foil theorists would like to believe otherwise.
Not to mention that the same people yelling for Hamilton now would be screaming to throw Schumacher out of the sport if he's dared do such a thing. As recently as 2006, Schumacher got a penalty in the qualifying stage of the Hungarian GP that removed any advantage he might've got with his chief rival Alonso getting the same penalty. It proved to be ultimately irrelevant, since the race took place in torrential weather conditions, but that race could've scuppered his chances.
Now, an observation. Hamilton seems to me, depressing as it is to admit, a racer much in the mould of MS. He's quick in the dry, quick in the wet (I know the McLaren is suited to the rain, but still), has a tremendous belief in himself and races hard, and to the edge. Lots of question marks over him, still, of course, but those will probably be answered in due course.
And Schumi, come back. We need you.
