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#810 2009 Turkish Grand Prix

2022-01-05 00:00

Osservatore Sportivo

#2009, Fulvio Conti, Translated by Alessia Borelli,

#810 2009 Turkish Grand Prix

The impression is that it will never end, that the now operatic clash between the teams and the FIA ​​is destined to accompany Formula 1 forever. Like

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The impression is that it will never end, that the now operatic clash between the teams and the FIA ​​is destined to accompany Formula 1 forever. Like a curse. An ultimatum will always be followed by another ultimatum, a threat will be followed by another threat, every wall will always have a hidden door somewhere, and every decision will always be subject to a reservation. Just like Friday 29 May 2009. It was supposed to be the decisive day (an expression that the protagonists of this story have used at least four other times in the last month) and instead nothing was decided. A month ago, the mood of Max Mosley's ego had established, unheard of, that the deadline for registering for the 2010 Formula 1 would expire on Friday (transformed into a sort of Formula 3 by a series of rather singular initiatives, such as the budget cap of 44.000.000 euros and the championship divided into two levels, such as good and bad). And so the teams (orphans of Williams, traitor to everyone) were called to decide: stay in or stay out. And yet they didn't decide; or rather, they decided not to change their position one millimeter and to leave the loaded gun in Mosley's hands; if he fires he kills Formula 1, otherwise they move on.

 

"We are registering for the 2010 championship, but with reservations".

 

In another words: we are on the condition that Mosley accepts our conditions by June 12, 2009 (the date on which the list of the next competitors in the world championship will be published). Which are two. The signing of the concordant agreement (the contract signed by the Federation, Ecclestone and the teams) valid until 2012. And the extension to 2010 of the current regulation modified in accordance with the proposals that FOTA presented to the FIA. This second point is particularly important, because it is the one on which the tug-of-war with Mosley is being played out. If the conditions are accepted, the nine teams will participate in the World Championship until 2012 and will commit to remaining in Formula 1 in the long term and introduce further significant measures to substantially reduce the costs of competing in the championship over the next three years, creating a mechanism able to maintain technological and sporting competition and, at the same time, facilitate the entry into Formula 1 of new teams (so far Lola, Prodrive, Team Us F1, Campos Meta 1, ed.). Which is the objective that the FIA ​​wanted to achieve by introducing the budget cap. Will this be enough to convince Mosley's ego? We will see. Meanwhile, on Saturday 30 May 2009 the number of new teams that have submitted applications for registration in the next Formula 1 World Championship rises to five. To be added to the list of small teams that want to take part in the new championship with a budget cap wanted by Max Mosley is the new Team Supefund led by former Austrian rider Alex Wurz. The latter will be the team principal of the new team of owner Christian Baha, owner of the investment company Superfund. 

 

The team's single-seaters would use Cosworth engines if they participated in the World Championship. The 34-year-old former F1 driver, meanwhile, is expected to continue racing with Peugeot in sportscars and will take part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans next month. Taking advantage of the new regulations that the FIA ​​intends to adopt, in addition to Superfund, four small teams such as Prodrive, Lola, Campos Meta1 and Team US F1 have already applied for registration, as well as Williams which for this very reason has been temporarily suspended by FOTA. The nine teams of the association led by Ferrari president Luca Montezemolo oppose the new budget regulations and await a response on their counter-proposal. While waiting for the FIA's response, scheduled for June 12, the team led by Wurz has already made contact with technicians and suppliers. To understand which Formula 1 Max Mosley has in mind, the news of Tuesday 2 June 2009 is perfect: at present the Italian team entered without reservations in the 2010 World Championship is not Ferrari but Ntechnology, a busy team until a few months ago, in the world championship for touring cars. Mauro Spisz, who was head of the Italian team for years, he would have presented his application for registration to the FIA ​​in recent days, which now has to decide whether to accept the candidacy or not. The team certainly doesn't have the means to compete with the current F1 protagonists. However, by leveraging the budget cap rule (maximum expenditure allowed 45.000.000 euros) and making use of the collaboration with Cosworth for the supply of the engines and with XTrac for the gearbox, it could actually present itself at the start next year. 

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The presence of Ntechnology on the grid (like that of almost all the other competing candidates) would therefore signify Mosley's victory in the exhausting tug-of-war with the big teams and their consequent exclusion from the World Championship. The position of FOTA (the association of all teams) was reiterated again by Mercedes boss Norbert Haug:

 

"We hope to find an agreement in the end, but Formula One is not Caritas".

 

Explaining the position of the association, which has signed up for the next World Championship but with reservations (it wants Mosley to give up the idea of ​​a budget cap and to guarantee democracy in the governance of Formula 1 and stability of the rules). Max Mosley doesn't want to make any concessions to the manufacturers. The FIA ​​president holds firm, and actually attacks:

 

"If you want to make the rules, then organize your own world championship. But Formula 1 is ours and we make the rules, including the budget cap".

 

While waiting to know whether the big teams will be part of the future of this sport, Bernie Ecclestone registers the Rome Grand Prix trademark in court. The first edition should take place in 2011. Although Rome says that 2012 is more likely. Who knows if, then, there will still be someone who wants to see a Grand Prix. Speaking, however, of the next Turkish Grand Prix, Felipe Massa is hunting for his first victory of the season. Fresh from the fourth place achieved in Monte-Carlo, the best result in the 2009 World Championship, the Brazilian driver is confident in the Grand Prix scheduled for Sunday 7 June 2009 in Istanbul, to return to being competitive.

 

"We will make a further, small step forward in terms of aerodynamic development, which should improve the car even further and which will also be an encouragement for the guys working in the factory. We want to continue to improve as quickly as possible, to try to win a few races. It would be wonderful if we could find ourselves in a position to fight for victory in Turkey".

 

No route brings more luck to Massa than the one on the Bosphorus.

 

"I have a good record in Istanbul, having won for the last three years, always starting from pole position. It's difficult to explain why I could be so strong here, other than the fact that we had three excellent weekends in Turkey where everything worked perfectly, with the car performing very well since the first test session. It would be nice to be able to continue in the same direction. I like the track and I feel comfortable here, but it is difficult to define precisely why this track suits better than the others. other to my characteristics".

 

Friday 5 June 2009 Nico Rosberg sets the best time at the end of the first free practice session. The German driver precedes Lewis Hamilton and Jarno Trulli. In the afternoon, however, Heikki Kovalainen set the fastest time of the day, albeit slightly, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Robert Kubica's BMW. Ferrari, fifth in the morning with Massa, relegated beyond tenth position: the Brazilian eleventh, Raikkonen even fifteenth. The Brawn GPs don't seem competitive either: Barrichello and Button set the ninth and eleventh best times respectively in the morning, and the eighth and twelfth best times in the afternoon. The F60, after six Grands Prix, suddenly returns to racing like an F1 single-seater; the Maranello team, after a start marked by mental confusion, returned to itself and began to make wise choices again. The Istanbul park circuit is the reddest in the Circus: since it was opened four years ago, the two Ferrari drivers have won 100% of the races (one Raikkonen on a McLaren, three Massa). In short, if there is a moment in which we must believe it, or at least say we believe it, beyond all reason, it is precisely this. And instead Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, perhaps unhappy because of this rainy and gray Turkish afternoon, are playing, right now, at being hyper-rational, dampening the enthusiasm (now few) of the fans.

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"Brawn GP will be World Champion".

 

Says Felipe Massa. Who then explains:

 

"It's impossible to think that they will lose this World Cup, for me it's already over. Maybe Red Bull still has some chances, but we are too far behind. This obviously doesn't mean that we won't fight in every race to win it. I will try to win as many as possible. Mathematically everything is still possible, but I think it's tough".

 

Pessimistic reasoning serves as a preamble to some rosier considerations about the present. The car runs much better and here in Turkey it will be further updated ("We have fitted new fins on the brake intakes, a lighter diffuser, new wheel covers, a new rear wing") compared to the already fast one seen upstream -Carlo.

 

"I think it would be really great to win here for the fourth time in a row. Poker would be a dream. I don't know what the secret is that allows me to do so well here. I'm very comfortable on tracks with left turns. Here then there is turn 8, which I really like. I feel like I have a chance to win, even if it will be difficult".

 

No momentum from Kimi Raikkonen either, despite the Finn returning from his first podium of the season.

 

"It's important for us to score points, but I can't guarantee that it will happen here".

 

On the sidelines of the races, the statements of John Howett, president of Toyota, should be noted, declaring that the rebel teams are increasingly thinking of an alternative championship.

 

"We are not looking for confrontation, but we need a broad project. Considering an alternative championship is an option".

 

The teams' association (FOTA) has been engaged in a tug-of-war with the FIA ​​for months over the rules to be adopted in the 2010 World Championship. Nine teams have submitted a conditional entry for the next championship. The teams ask that the current regulation be adopted in 2010, modified according to their proposals, and consider it essential to sign the new Concordat Pact by 12 June 2009. In the opinion of Max Mosley, president of the FIA, it is impossible to find a agreement by that date. On Saturday 6 June 2009, Ferrari highlights itself in the last free practice session of the Turkish Grand Prix. On the Istanbul Park track Felipe Massa is the fastest, lapping in 1'27"983. Behind him are the Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and the German Timo Glock. Fourth time for the Williams of the Japanese Kazuki Nakajima, followed by the BMW of the Polish Robert Kubica. Sixth and seventh place for the Brawn GPs of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello and Englishman Jenson Button. Finnish Kimi Raikkonen set the ninth best time, placing himself in the time classification behind German Nico Rosberg's Williams. Twelfth fastest time for McLaren -Mercedes of the Englishman Lewis Hamilton and nineteenth for the Renault of the Spaniard Fernando Alonso, penultimate ahead of the Force India of Giancarlo Fisichella. Sebastian Vettel dominated the qualifying session on Saturday 6 June 2009, setting the fastest time in all three parts of qualifying to claim his second pole position of the season, and third of his career. The first knockout session, to eliminate the five slowest cars, claimed the scalp of reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton - only the second time the Englishman had failed to progress from the first session. Also eliminated were Nelson Piquet Jr., Sébastien Buemi, Giancarlo Fisichella and Sébastien Bourdais. 

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They all produced times in the 1'28"0. In the second knockout session, the top ten, who progressed to the final shoot-out for pole, were separated by just 0.4 seconds, with Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg just sneaking through. Nick Heidfeld, Kazuki Nakajima, Timo Glock, Heikki Kovalainen and Adrian Sutil were knocked out, Heidfeld qualifying 11th for the second race in succession. The third session to determine pole position was a tense battle with numerous drivers thinking they had claimed pole only for their time to be improved. Vettel was on provisional pole with a time of 1'28"801, with just a few minutes of the session remaining. Vettel's team mate Mark Webber then posted at 1'28"6, only for Button to go two-tenths of a second quicker after the checked flag fell. Vettel, however, still had one lap left in him and went quicker again, reclaiming pole with a 1'28"316. Button's teammate Rubens Barrichello also improved on his final lap, moving up to third position, ahead of Webber, with a 1'28"5. Sometimes the soundtrack says a lot. At the Red Bull motorhome they listen to samba at full volume. Modern samba, lounge. And they smile. Behind the counter, courteous girls serve rivers of bubblegum-flavored fizzy drink. Not far away, Sebastian Vettel jumps, refuses the t-shirt that a fan hands him (the writing, 1st ambul, is not exactly the best for an eve), and laughs: he has just won his second pole of the season. In the previous five editions of the Turkish Grand Prix, whoever was on pole always won in the end. If there is the slightest hope of getting a little excited, in this season murdered by the shrewd genius of Ross Brawn and the cyclothymia of Max and Bernie, it is all in the hands of this German boy.

 

"In the last few races we tried in every way to get in front of those with the white cars. Now we've finally done it".

 

He drinks from the straw and breathes satisfied.

 

"Now we have to stay there. Pole position in the general classification is worth zero points".

 

Electronic music is more fashionable at the Brawn GP motorhome. In the beginning, in Melbourne, when white cars were still mysterious objects and Jenson Button was a handsome guy with a promising future behind him, the staff blasted their eardrums with techno. Then came Virgin who also changed the records. Star-like habits, like pretending to care about sport with a capital S. While Jenson Button says:

 

"Congratulations to Sebastian. really wonderful when there is competition".

 

Nobody asks him if it would be equally wonderful if there weren't a 28 point difference in the standings between him and Vettel, but there it is. After all, a bit of euphoria is more than justified: with the car more full of petrol than that of Vettel (655kg against 649), Massa (654) and Trulli (652) and slightly less than that of Raikkonen (658), he set the second best time, reconfirming himself as favorite to win the Grand Prix and, obviously, to win the World Championship. At Ferrari, however, there is no music. As you approach the motorhome you only hear an excited voice. It's the blaring commentary of the GP2 race broadcast on flat screens. Without any symbolic intention. Mood is low. Felipe Massa, who has been dripping with pessimism for days, shakes his head after seventh place:

 

"From Barcelona to today we have not made any progress. And even if we had made some, others have made some too, so we're at the same point. WIN? Starting sixth and seventh is difficult. At this rate, do we risk finishing the World Cup without even a victory? I don't know, for sure we will always give our best".

 

And while Domenicali admits that qualifying was lower than expected:

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"We didn't do perfect laps, we didn't make the most of our car but we have to be very cautious and understand if our rivals who went faster today have different strategies. We have all it takes to have a good race. The tires are an important factor for managing tomorrow's race, a factor that can make the difference".

 

Kimi Raikkonen practices his lively synthesis exercises. He arrives in front of the journalists and announces:

 

"The goal is to get further ahead than where we started".

 

Then he takes his leave.

 

"One minute and 27 seconds of declaration, with a time like that he was on pole".

 

However, McLaren certainly continues to not be competitive. For the second time Hamilton fails to pass Q1, marking the sixteenth time, first among those excluded. Dejected, at the end of the tests Lewis Hamilton says:

 

"We didn't have any pace, the car wasn't working. I didn't have any grip with the tyres. We'll do everything we can, but it will be tough. We can't do more than that...".

 

The news is that the World Champion is slower than teammate Heikki Kovalainen, who gets through the round but in the end finishes not far from the team leader, fourteenth.

 

"Lifstick… Stipatt… Stipp. Lipps. Eh eh eh eh. Can you imagine the starting grid? And the pilots? Biz. Vats. Dirty... Eh eh. Dirty".

 

Istanbul Park is emptying and Flavio Briatore's lyrics are echoing throughout the paddock. The Renault boss jokes about the Formula 1 of the future, populated by teams with unpronounceable names and unknown drivers. The result is a sort of nursery rhyme which contrasts the plan B of the great teams. And here Briatore stops joking. It is the first time since the teams made their move (that of registering for the next championship, but with reservations) that someone returns to make such an explicit reference to the day after, to what could happen if, as it seems, Max Mosley he will continue on his way.

 

"What would we do? We certainly won't be watching a Formula 1 on television full of Stip lik and Stipa Lak. We will take and implement our plan B, which will necessarily be different from plan A. Moreover, the eight teams of FOTA (the association of the stables, led by Montezemolo, ed.) had already expressed their willingness at the time to put on track a extra car, perhaps to be entrusted to some young driver. It will certainly be a more compelling show than what Mosley will offer".

 

On which Briatore's thoughts are anything but accommodating:

 

"He didn't behave well. It's not nice that the president of the FIA ​​goes around saying that Renault and Toyota are about to withdraw from the world championship. It's not true and it causes damage, just as we are negotiating for important sponsorships. Max says those things and then trusts teams that even those of us in the profession don't know".

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Teams which, in Flavio Briatore's opinion, are more than suspect.

 

"I see a lot of Chinese boxes around, a lot of phenomena. If the big teams find a time-limited agreement, they will have only one chance to return to Formula 1: to take over these companies that are unknown, yes, but registered...".

 

The more measured but no less significant words of Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari team principal, also confirm that plan B is not such a distant hypothesis.

 

"We are ready for anything, we will decide at the right time. The fact that all the teams are united is certainly a strong point. We want to find a solution but we don't want to move from the fundamental principles of Formula 1. After all, we have responsibilities towards those who work with us and the fans".

 

Another significant strong point, plan B, would undoubtedly be found in the pilots. At least in the first tier ones. On Saturday evening, after weeks of scattered statements, for the first time, they decided to discuss the topic at an official meeting of the trade association (GPDA). In the end, no shared position emerged but the feeling is that almost all the best would be willing to follow the big teams. For contractual reasons. But not only. Jarno Trulli says:

 

"It's a political problem, we were called to be informed. The regulation is not right, it must be discussed by us too. We think that the rules are not up to par, we share the position of FOTA. Until now we had stayed out of politics, but now we have asked FOTA to explain the situation to us, what is happening. We are in total solidarity with FOTA. If there is no news next week, but I don't think so, it will inevitably lead to a split. We drivers all agree that we will be part of the competition that the FOTA teams will choose to compete in 2010. Max Mosley (FIA president, ed.) must understand that you cannot have a championship without the teams that count, that have made history of F1. And that if he doesn't give answers to the requests there will inevitably be a split that no one wants, neither the teams nor the riders".

 

The Italian Toyota driver adds:

 

"As GPDA, among other things, we believe that Mosley's rules, the budget cuts, the low cost, do not take into account the safety of the pilots. We all agree on this".

 

The meeting was attended by the eight teams that submitted a conditional registration for the 2010 World Championship. The teams ask that the current regulation, modified according to the FOTA proposals, be adopted next season and want it to be signed by 12 June 2009. the new Concorde agreement, the document that establishes the rules and commercial parameters of the World Championship. Only two teams, Williams and Force India, signed up without conditions. The two teams did not participate in today's meeting, in which not even their drivers took part: Nico Rosberg, Kazuki Nakajima, Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil. Adam Parr, executive director of Williams, says:

 

"An alternative championship? I don't think this will happen. I heard about the meeting in which the riders also participated, but we weren't invited. As far as we're concerned, we will continue to give our support to Max Mosley".

 

Among the many prestigious names that could disappear from the 2010 World Championship, the return of the Lotus brand seems possible, which could somehow compensate for the losses of Ferrari, McLaren and so on. 

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The Litespeed team, one of the new teams that have applied for the 2010 World Championship, intends to use the Lotus name. Nino Judge and Steve Kenchington, founders of Litespeed, have obtained permission to use the historic team's brand, and have also obtained the approval from David Hunt, who holds the rights to the brand. On Sunday, July 7, 2009, at the start of the Turkish Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel initially made a strong start from pole, beating Button into the first corner. Vettel then ran wide at the tenth turn, gifting Button the lead. Button's Brawn team-mate had a less fortunate start, a clutch problem dropping him from third on the grid to thirteenth by the end of the first lap. Webber was running third, having initially been passed by Jarno Trulli before the Australian regained his position. Felipe Massa had moved up to fifth position, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso. Reigning world champion Hamilton had lost a place on the first lap, meaning he was running in 17th position out of 20 runners. At the front Button began to open up a lead over Vettel but the action was in the midfield, Nico Rosberg getting past both Ferraris to move up to fifth by lap six. On lap eight, Barrichello spun trying to pass Heikki Kovalainen after a wheel-to-wheel battle from Turns 9 to 16. The Brazilian dropped to seventeenth but quickly regained two places before losing part of his front wing in a clash with Adrian Sutil on lap . Barrichello pitted on lap thirteen, conversely teammate Button had serenely opened up a 5.6 second lead at the front of the race. The leaders began pitting for their first stops on lap 15, with Vettel the first to stop, followed by Button two laps later and Webber and Rosberg on lap 18. Significantly, Vettel was fueled lighter on a three-stop strategy, in contrast to the other leaders two-stop strategy. Vettel was therefore able to close the gap on Button after the first stops with his lighter car, but was unable to make the pass he needed before his second stop on lap 29. Vettel exited the pits behind Webber, with all the leaders due to make one more pit stop. On lap 37, Hamilton was lapped by championship leader Button, who made his second stop along with Webber on lap 43. Vettel briefly ran second but had to make his third pit stop on lap 48, demoting him back to third position. 

 

Trulli emerged from the pit stops in fourth, narrowly ahead of Rosberg, while Robert Kubica and Timo Glock had moved into the final points paying positions as Raikkonen struggled and Kazuki Nakajima was delayed by a left front wheel covering failing to attack in his final stop. Meanwhile, Barrichello's miserable race finally ended as he retired with a gearbox problem while running near the back of the field. This was the first time that a Brawn GP car was not running at the finish of a race. Although Vettel closed the gap to Webber to just 0.7 seconds as the checked flag fell, there were no significant positional changes in the final laps as Button cruised to his sixth win from the first seven races, a feat only matched by Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark and Michael Schumacher - who all won the World Championship after achieving this feat. Button also became the first Englishman to score record four consecutive victories since Nigel Mansell in 1992, who too went on to win the title that season. The race attendance was reported as a meager 36,000, with the venue capable of holding 150.000. Johnny enjoys it. A few months ago he abandoned red wine and switched to champagne (strictly Mumm) which his son Jenson now brings him every Sunday afternoon. After all, he was the one who put him in a kart at eight years old, right? And so now he has every right to sit there, with his nice red nose behind the bar counter, contemplating the comings and goings of the paddock while his boyfriend finishes tearing the Formula 1 World Championship to pieces on the track. The mission - to do the World Championship in pieces, in fact - can now be said to be almost complete. Six wins out of seven. A third place. 61 points in the standings, 26 points ahead of Rubens Barrichello. And, above all, an almost brutal sporting, technical and mental supremacy. The race, theoretically 58 laps long, actually ended on lap 29, when even Sebastian Vettel understood that it was better to let it go. The German, who started on pole, had exceeded his audacity by inventing a strategy with three pit stops (the others made two) which however he himself made ineffective by giving up the lead of the race with a mistake on the first lap. In the second half of the race, when according to the plans of the day before he should have exploited the car and pulled away from Button, Vettel remained firmly close to the white Ferrari, as many began to call it, which from then on began to fly.

 

"I had a perfect car, the best of the season".

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Button downplays his merits at the end of the race.

 

"I don't understand why we insisted with the three-stop strategy".

 

Vettel instead argues, finishing third (overtaken by teammate Webber). The German's exit dampened the match. Plunging the public, fortunately not much, into a state of profound boredom that not even the show offered by the worst Rubens Barrichello of the season - wrong start, breathalyzer management of the race - was able to interrupt. The Ferraris adapted to the situation. Already on the second lap, Massa was sixth and Raikkonen ninth. Showing an old lady's approach to the race waiting in line at the post office, they waited their turn for the checkered flag, without risking an overtaking, a maneuver, or any desperate gesture, and finished sixth and ninth. And that is behind half of Formula 1: Williams and Toyota, as well as Brawn GP and Red Bull Racing. Worse, only McLaren. With Hamilton reduced to the most inert meekness by a car - in his words - not even good for scrapping:

 

"We should have done it before, now it's no longer necessary".

 

Words that fall like drops of honey into Johnny's glass. Who now wants to taste the sweetest Champagne in the world, the one that tastes a little like revenge. In two weeks there is the British Grand Prix: the one that consecrated Lewis Hamilton last year. In the days of the white Ferrari, the red one disappears. Massa and Raikkonen, who performed reasonably well throughout the weekend, slow down in the race.

 

"We expected more".

 

Felipe Massa admits. And, above all, on the morale level:

 

"At the start we were sixth and ninth. In the end we were sixth and ninth. This sums up our performance perfectly".

 

The team principal, Stefano Domenicali, will admit. The first to speak, so to speak, because he whispers at most, is Kimi Raikkonen.

 

"It wasn't the race I wanted. On the first lap I had contact with Alonso, I damaged the wing and lost grip. I changed the nose and the situation has improved. But we could no longer recover, because we are not fast enough. We have improved a lot in recent weeks, but we are still not up to the best, especially on circuits like this".

 

His analysis of failure, presented with the indifference typical only of atmospheric agents, is an exercise of such vagueness as to be almost endearing:

 

"Maybe it was the heat, maybe between Friday when we were going well and today the asphalt changed".

 

Compared to Raikkonen, Massa gives the idea of ​​being, if not more lucid, at least a little sorry about the situation:

 

"It was a difficult day for us. And my three points are certainly not enough".

 

As for the analysis, however, no progress with respect to Kimi.

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"The race pace wasn't what we expected. And even Toyota did better than us. The car was balanced well just lacked speed. We need to understand why".

 

Yes, understand why. This is precisely the worst aspect. This feeling of the unknown and out of control that dominates in the garage. Stefano Domenicali says:

 

"We need to understand the meaning of this unexpected loss of performance. Today on the track we reversed the trend compared to what we saw on Friday and Saturday, when we didn't go badly. Today, however, we were never up to the race pace. Not only compared to the first three but compared to anyone in front of us".

 

Unlike what happened in the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix, this time there is a sort of resignation in the tone of the Ferarri team principal.

 

"Now we continue as we have always done: two working groups, one to develop this year's car, the other on that of the future, even if at the moment we know nothing about the future of Formula 1. In the coming weeks we will understand more and then we will decide how to distribute the resources on the two projects, based on how the championship goes but above all on the type of project we will have to develop".

 

In the meantime we will go racing at Silverstone. And optimism is in short supply.

 

"It's not an easy track for us. In fact: I'd say it's perfect for the Brawn GP and Red Bull Racing. In Germany and Hungary, however, we could have our say".

 

The World Championship, meanwhile, is already over. And since the World Championship is already over, we're talking about other things. Such as Luca Montezemolo's candidacy for the presidency of the FIA. The idea is making its way right now among the top managers of some teams who believe it is essential to guarantee a stable future for motor racing and who identify Max Mosley as enemy number one.

 

"We need a serious and institutional Federation. And from this point of view, Montezemolo is the best solution".

 

To wrest the leadership of the FIA ​​from Mosley, a very strong proposal is needed. And Montezemolo is. But what the person directly involved thinks about it is not known, even if the question of the presidency of the FIA ​​has always been very important at Ferrari. The issue won't be on the agenda until next fall, though. Between now and then the current stalemate will have to be resolved. The eight FOTA teams (betrayed by Williams and Force India) have submitted an application for registration in the 2010 World Championship, however binding it to Mosley's signing of the Concorde agreement. Stefano Domenicali explains:

 

"The objective is to guarantee governance stability and to be able to control costs ourselves".

 

Max Mosley hasn't responded yet. The deadlines expire on June 12th.

 

"But the dates make sense from a sporting and formal point of view. They don't have it when there is a will to find solutions".

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While waiting to understand what Mosley's will is, an important point must be assigned in favor of the teams. The pilots have officially sided with FOTA (which among other things has made it official that there will be no KERS in 2010). Jarno Trulli says:

 

"We are in total solidarity with the teams. And we all agree that we will be part of the competition that the FOTA teams will choose to compete in 2010. Our association, among other things, believes that Mosley's rules, the budget cuts, the low cost, do not take into account the safety".

 

The long-awaited response from Mosley, the president of the FIA, to the eight rebel teams, to the teams that are still part of FOTA, arrives on Monday 8 June 2009, through a letter that smacks of an ultimatum.

 

"Sign up without conditions and immediately, otherwise you are out of Formula 1. Stay in, only in this way can you hope to change it, reshape it according to your proposals. Naturally with us. And with the unanimous agreement of all the teams".

 

The letter has an apparently conciliatory tone, but in reality risks having devastating effects. Because in FOTA it caused anger, bewilderment and concern. Anger at the ways. Mosley could have replied a week ago but instead he waited until the last moment. What's more: he asks the teams to dissolve their reservations in registering for the 2010 World Championship immediately, invoking, if possible, as specified in the (clearly ironic) letter, a definitive response on Tuesday 9 June 2009, by the closing of the offices:

 

"So that the FIA ​​can finally give substance to its project, start working constructively on the future of F1 with those who intend to remain within the system".

 

Anger at the fact that the letter was disclosed, given that it appears entirely on the Autosport website, FOTA, which officially does not issue comments (it will respond with a note agreed between the eight teams), would have preferred greater confidentiality, in order to be able to launch with calm a counter-offensive. But beyond the doubts about the FIA's style and the way of managing the matter, what prevails above all is bewilderment and concern. Mosley writes:

 

"There is only one way to have a World Championship with only one rulebook. Accept the budget ceiling and not go over your expenses. At that point everyone will be equal".

 

But the budget cap will never be accepted by the rebel teams. He claims:

 

"You sign up for the World Championship, accept the new rules, then we start thinking about your cost reduction proposals. Naturally, know that unanimity is needed to change the rules".

 

A trap. Because the FIA ​​has several loyalists on its side (Williams in the lead), there will never be unanimity and the status quo (blatant contradiction) decided by Mosley for 2010 without unanimity risks being the law forever. As for the Concordat Pact, to be signed, an essential condition according to the teams, by 12 June 2009:

 

"It's not possible, it's an agreement with hundreds of pages. We will sign it calmly. Naturally it will only concern those who remain in the World Championship".

 

Whoever leaves is out of everything. Furthermore, Mosley says:

 

"We already have twelve teams, Williams, Force India plus ten new ones".

 

For those that matter, if they don't move, there isn't even room anymore.


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