Valencia Wrap.

Rather than the usual summary, I though readers might find the BBC's post race show interesting for a change.

I will refrain from commenting on Luca Badoer's performance, it would be like shooting on the Red Cross, suffice it it to say that I never thought I would see a race driver willingly give up a position while still in pit lane...

The race, amid the picturesque Valencia shipping container facility, was much less exciting than reports would have you believe especially as we were robbed of a potential exciting finish when Mclaren threw away Hamilton's first place with a botched pit stop. Mclaren are, bizarrely, spinning it as if the mistake did not make any difference. I don't think anyone is buying their story and many must be scratching their heads as to why they would prefer claiming they were slow rather than mistaken... a clause in Hamilton's contract?

Call me cynical but I had to laugh when I heard Berrichello's race engineer, Jock Clear, say that "winning in a top car like Ferrari is one thing but in Brawn..." and calling him "..a class act". All I can think about is Rubens' hissy fit after the German GP...

As usual I welcome your comments.

Home

FTD vs DFL

For those who insist that a driver makes little difference in a Formula 1 car. You can grant Luca Badoer all the excuses you want but I can't remember the last time a Ferrari driver qualified Dead effin Last with a healthy car. But nobody can really blame Badoer, the fault is with those who put him in such a position. If it's true that Ferrari has given up on the season, why not use the opportunity to test some new viable talent? Why, because Ferrari is, as often heard, "where drivers go to finish their careers" rather than start them? Old thinking.

These two laps are not Hamilton's or Badoer's qualifying laps but they give the idea well enough. Hamilton was great as was Kovalainen in P2 with a slightly heavier car. Badoer didn't even look like he fit in the car properly, look how much his head gets pushed down under braking. Maybe since he's fuelled for one stop, tomorrow some safety car will play his way, as they say, from last place he can only improve.

And here is the rest of it.

Who Will Replace Massa?

It seems clear now that Felipe Massa, in the best of circumstances, is likely miss a minimum of three races, if not the rest of the season. Who does Ferrari have to fill in for Felipe?

Ferrari's back up drivers are Luca Badoer and Marc Gene, two great test drivers who have not, in their previous Formula 1 careers, shown to be especially successful racers. Badoer has 56 F1 starts, no points, his last race was in 1999. Marc Gene had 36 F1 races and scored 5 points, his last race was in 2004. Of the two, Gene is the obvious choice.

There is another name that is bound to come up, it's inevitable. He retired at the end of 2006 and has enjoyed some success in Formula 1...


It's going to come up, Schumacher coming back to help his team in a pinch. It may also be the thing to revitalize this rather negative F1 season, a story line that must make Bernie Ecclestone, circuit owners and network executives vibrate at night.

Massa's condition will also determine the diver's market, throwing everything up in the air. I'm sure driver's managers are recomputing all their strategies at this point and waiting anxiously on Massa's prognosis.

It's a cold world in F1.