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#809 2009 Monaco Grand Prix

2022-01-06 00:00

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#2009, Fulvio Conti, Translated By Giacomo Vacchi,

#809 2009 Monaco Grand Prix

Goodbye Formula 1. The threat has become reality. It is now formalized in writing, with a note disclosed after a Cda lasted an hour and a half. Ferrar

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Goodbye Formula 1. The threat has become reality. It is now formalized in writing, with a note disclosed after a Cda lasted an hour and a half. Ferrari isn't joking anymore.

 

"If this will be the regulatory framework for future Formula 1, the reasons that motivated Ferrari's presence in the World Championship during 60 editions would definitively disappear, the only manufacturer to have participated continuously since its inception in 1950". 

 

Unmistakable words. Which sound like a precise ultimatum to Max Mosley, the president of the FIA, a few hours after the meeting between him and Montezemolo, the head of Ferrari, but also the representative of FOTA, the team’s association.  No budget ceiling, set unilaterally from the FIA ​​to 44.000.000 euros, a figure which is enough for Ferrari only to pay the company's employees Sports Management. But above all, no two-speed World Championship, the crazy idea created by Mosley, with loose rules for those who respect the economic ceiling and technical standards restrictive for those who exceed.

 

"Under these conditions we are leaving".

 

An even more resolute threat than when, again on Mosley's idea, there was talk of a single engine. A war which affects above all the methods used by the president of the FIA, who does not recognize FOTA, who refuses concertation, who demonstrates contempt for the governance rules they have contributed to the development of Formula 1 over the last 25 years, failing to fulfill its commitments contractually assumed with Ferrari regarding regulatory stability. The Maranello team asks Mosley for an immediate step back. To then fight for his farewell in November, when his mandate will end. May 29, 2009 expires the deadline to register for the World Championship 2010. Ferrari has decided: it will not submit any applications. The tear is violent. And Mosley, the great enemy, he won't be able to say he didn't expect it. Maybe he hoped, as had happened in past that Ferrari changed its mind at the last moment. As in the times of GPWC and threatened alternative championship, when the astute Bernie Ecclestone found an economic agreement with the Maranello team until 2012, an advantageous agreement for Ferrari which broke the front of the rebel builders was irreparable. But for weeks the signals have been filtering from the neighborhood general of the Maranello team did not support this hypothesis at all. Ferrari was determined to move forward, President Montezemolo had done so with his blitz in Bahrain understand abundantly, other large manufacturers (BMW and Toyota) had already exposed themselves publicly, average teams like Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso had queued, for the Maranello team's pronouncement we just had to wait for the right moment, the Board of Directors which takes place on Tuesday 12 May 2009. Mosley had miscalculated, trying to impose unilaterally unacceptable rules. 

 

Not only did Ferrari reject them completely, reaching the point of announce his farewell from Formula 1 after 60 years of constant attendance. But now he will work for ensure that at the end of 2009, when his mandate expires, Mosley definitively steps down throne, something Ferrari had not done in June 2008, when the president was in the balance for the scandal in which he was involved. Incurable fracture. Can only be reassembled immediately with a decisive step backwards (no budget cap, no World Championship with rules different for those who participate) by the FIA. However, Ferrari doesn't trust it and in meantime it begins to follow alternative tracks, knowing that all the other great manufacturers will follow in cascade, even those (Renault and Mercedes) have not yet announced their farewell to this F1. The press release from the Maranello team speaks of legal action against the Federation for the protection of its own interests and for not having respected the contractual agreements on regulatory stability. But the the exploratory mandate entrusted by Montezemolo to lawyers and experts is broader, and embraces the possibility of organizing an alternative championship with the other rebels, something that is not it could be called F1, the name is owned by Ecclestone, but with the presence of Ferrari it would be the real F1. It is a difficult hypothesis to realize in a short time, but the race has already begun. 

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If it proves impracticable, look at other solutions, which start from a slogan:

 

"Ferrari has its own DNA in racing".


In racing, not in F1. From here Montezemolo starter to the 24 hours of Le Mans, the endurance races to Ferrari do not mind. And then the US market, where Maranello sells 27%, and where Fiat has just closed the deal with Chrysler. Irl Championship (the Indianapolis 500 for example) or Indy? Doesn’t matter. Where there’s Ferrari, there would be all the TVs in the world. And not Mosley, yes presumably. Bernie Ecclestone has a sweaty forehead and hopes no one will notice.

 

"At the end a deal will be found".

 

On the most difficult day, the English manager tries to reassure everyone, himself first. The game, the usual game of the good cop (him) and the bad cop (Max Mosley), this time, it seems not have worked. So, under the pressure of the final threat, the good cop becomes, suddenly, very good. Change version and sends dirty looks to the villain: split the World Championship? But don’t listen to him! That was a crazy idea Max.

 

"An idea that is slowly disappearing from FIA projects". 

 

It will remain the budget cap, yes, but on that eventually an agreement will be found. With everyone. Also, with the Ferrari. The reasoning is always the same and today more than ever it is worth repeating it: 

 

"Formula 1 cannot be without Ferrari and Ferrari cannot be without Formula 1".

 

A mantra, who knows how true then, that condemned to a coexistence two worlds ontologically and anthropologically incompatible: the Anglo-Saxon organizers and of the assemblers, meticulous and eccentric, and that Italian Ferrari all myth and genius. 

 

"Ferrari and Formula 1 need each other. And in Maranello they are not stupid, will go, you’ll see, everything will be fine". 

 

Taken aback by the partner, the bad cop avoids, for a day, to play his part, entrusting official reaction of the FIA. 

 

"In principle, Ferrari’s statement does nothing but put in writing what we have already communicated verbally".

 

Taken aback by the partner, the bad cop avoids, for a day, to play his part, entrusting official reaction of the FIA. 

 

"In principle, Ferrari’s statement does nothing but put in writing what we already have had communicated verbally".

 

Insignificant and fearful words, those of Ecclestone and Mosley. Very different from those used at the beginning of the season when, after neutralizing McLaren and Renault who threatened to not to run to Melbourne, old Bernie wanted to win: 

 

"If you come to me and hold a gun to my head you must be sure you can press that and above all you have to be sure that the gun is loaded. If not, you risk getting evil".

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Now the gun is loaded. Even if there is someone pretending not to notice. Like Niki Lauda that instead of explaining what fascinates him about a two-speed World Championship, intervenes to accuse Ferrari of having stuck to a completely stupid argument: 

 

"Budget cap is one of the best things I’ve seen in my life".

 

Maybe, but it doesn’t convince anyone. Nor Briatore who also makes a marketing speech strategic: 

 

"Formula 1 is an high quality product. We must prevent anyone, with 25.000.000 of euro, can make a Formula 1 team. It would be as if on an exclusive shopping street suddenly opened low costs shops, would ruin everything".

 

Today, just to reinforce the position, Briatore will explain how Renault is completely aligned with the Ferrari. And the circle around Max and Bernie will tighten a little more. Gun’s loaded, trigger finger looks nervous. Also, because Aci, one of the fourteen founding members of the FIA, writes a letter to Max Mosley to resolve this delicate situation positively. But there is more: the president of the Automobile Club of Italy, Enrico Gelpi, writes underlining his role as a member of the World Sports Council and consequently putting pressure on the presidency (Mosley) at a very delicate time. The accusation of ACI is hard:

 

"A Formula 1 championship without Ferrari would be unimaginable and very different thing, devoid of passionate and sporting appeal compared to the current championship. There is a need to protect a manufacturer that is not only our associate, but is also a symbol of Italian excellence in the world for technology, development and innovation of the car, which is identified with the very concept of sports competition, which is inherent to Formula 1 having participated in the championship continuously for all these sixty years. For this reason, I hope that a constructive discussion table will be opened as soon as possible, to which I assure my availability, to resolve positively this delicate situation in the interest of sport, of the millions of fans, of the FIA, of Ferrari, of the other manufacturers and also of those like ACI represents in Italy the motorist sports and not, for which, as for me, Ferrari is a symbol and a myth".

 

In short, the pro-Ferrari front within the FIA is officially open. And the weight of ACI in this story can be decisive: it should not be forgotten that Mosley at the time of the scandal was saved by the vote of ACI (and other members of the world council) and that the same Italian automobile club has a huge weight in the choice of the successor of Mosley. A successor that Mosley himself would somehow want us to designate.

 

"We’re leaving too". 

 

The next day, the rebel front widens. After Ferrari, he also leaves Renault. With the same motivation: 

 

"Mosley’s policy is unacceptable. With these new rules, we are forced to say goodbye to Formula 1. If the decisions taken on April 29 will not be reviewed, we will have no choice but to leave at the end of 2009".

 

To pronounce this threat, which leaves no room for manoeuvre to the FIA, is Flavio Briatore, the sports manager of the French team. Final decision, which strengthens the idea of the alternative championship thought by Ferrari, a complex idea, but not impossible, that could take shape in a few months, with the teams (all the most important manufacturers) who sit around a table to write the rules and with different circuits (there could be at least thirteen) ready to jump to the other side, to betray Ecclestone, to host, strong of their contract expiring with the old, new Formula 1, the one that counts, different name (the original is of property of Ecclestone).

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But true substance, since to move interests and adapt money and fans are the historic stables, famous, Ferrari in the lead. Renault is leaving, the next day it affirms the same things pronounced on Tuesday by the Maranello team, and it approaches a front that already includes Toyota, Bmw, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso and that does not yet align Mercedes. Norbert Haug does not speak of secession, but hoping for a solution and expressing solidarity with the gesture of Ferrari, just because the German company is convinced that we arrive at a decisive mediation, before the definitive break occurs. The most important teams are no longer joking, they are serious, and Mosley must finally be realized, if he has agreed to meet the FOTA, the Association that brings together the teams chaired by Luca Montezemolo, an organization that until now the great head of the Federation did not recognize, claiming to ignore its existence. Friday, May 15, 2009, in London, Max Mosley will have the opportunity to discover the new reality, since the managers of the various stables (Montezemolo may also be present) will meet to draw up a cost containment plan for 2010, and the president of the FIA (invited) let you know that there will be. Not only that, with him will participate in the London summit also Ecclestone, and this suggests that the meeting may have decisive connotations, a significant step back on new rules and ceiling budget by Mosley (although Ferrari will continue however to fight for his removal at the end of his mandate), an indispensable prelude to the end of the revolt. After all, time is running out: May 29 expires the terms for registration for the new World Championship. 

 

Given the many twists and turns of recent times, however, should not be discarded even the hypothesis of a definitive fracture. At that point Ferrari will have to insist on the new project, the establishment of a parallel championship. Friday, May 15, 2009, the meeting ends around 7:00 p.m. with Max Mosley’s grotesque scene continuing to display hubris, and with teams striving to draw from a tank of patience that has been exhausted for too many weeks now. The overall view is so bleak that Ferrari’s surprise moves to take Max Mosley to court ends up sounding reassuring. In front of the judge in Paris (first hearing on Tuesday) the men of Maranello protest the violation by Mosley of the rule provided for in a contract between Ferrari and FIA, a document that commits the Federation to consult the Maranello team in fixed times and ways in case of introduction of rules modifying the regulatory stability of the Circus. This has not happened when, not even a month ago, the blitz of Mosley has rocked the Formula 1 force introducing the cap budget to 44.000.000 euros for 2010 and the infamous two-tier championship. If the judge agrees with Ferrari the package of rules will be immediately blocked. The appeal in court is in fact the only novelty of a day for the rest useless. Good only to understand how hysterical the situation is. With teams that beyond appearances are split in two (Brawn GP, Williams and Force India below wink at Mosley, despite having some little perplexity) and cannot even propose a common document to understand what their demands (one in all: more democracy in governance). With Ferrari alternating strong and gentle ways and turning its ultimatum into a less worrying pre-ultimatum. And with Mosley talking more and more:

 

"No step back. We do not see why someone does not want to operate under the cost ceiling, which would mean a gradual relaxation of technical regulations. The choice was between intellectual and financial freedom. Ferrari’s threat to leave Formula 1? I’d be surprised if he left. And yet the idea that Ferrari is indispensable is absurd. He’s a bit like poor Ayrton Senna, he was the most important driver but when he died in the 1994, Formula 1 went ahead. Lotus was important too, Brabham was too".

 

The impression is that all the contenders, between threats and words in freedom, have ended up finding a step beyond the point envisaged by their strategy. And no one wants (or can) go back. In Monte-Carlo, the teams will meet again and try to formulate a new strategy. In the meantime, we can only hope for the judgment of the judges in Paris. Monday, May 20, 2009, the verdict is negative. The Ferrari for the moment does not make it. It fails to block the entry into force of the new regulation for the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship. The Tribunal of the Great Demands of Paris rejects the request of the team of Maranello, leaving in fact unchanged the possibility for the FIA to introduce from next season a cap on the budget (45.000.000 euros), hypothesis hard opposed by Ferrari. 

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But above all, a two-speed World Championship could be created, which the Maranello team considers unacceptable, allowing virtuous teams, capable of not exceeding the limit of expenditure, greater flexibility in compliance with the regulation: aid on engine and aerodynamics that, according to Mosley, the president of the FIA, should compensate in terms of performance for the lower economic resources. Conditions that Ferrari refuses, to the point of repeating the possible farewell to Formula 1. The Maranello team hoped that the courtroom could stop Max Mosley’s attempt, but this did not happen. The Parisian court grants Ferrari a right of veto (which Ferrari considers very important in its favour), but does not find the need for an urgent ruling, because, reads in the written statement of Judge Jacques Gondran de Robert, there is no risk of imminent damage that should be avoided or of alleged wrongdoing so the new regulations should be blocked. In other words, the court does not consider itself competent and refers the matter to ordinary justice. He argues that Ferrari already in its meetings of 17 March or 29 April could have expressed its veto on the new regulations, and in fact does not solve the matter. A polite solution that leaves room for any interpretation. While Mosley sings victory, Ferrari refuses to speak of defeat, becomes strong of the recognized right of veto, and goes ahead in its battle. Confirming the intention to leave F1, if you do not come to an agreement with the FIA, turning its attention to races more suited to the caliber of its brand and adapted to its level of innovation and technological research, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans or racing in the USA. The tension is at guard levels, time is pressing (on May 29, 2009 registration for 2010 is closed), yet there is still room for negotiation. Ferrari, which jokes on its website about the lack of appeal of the teams ready to enter the new World Championship, is convinced that its history will make a difference, even if Mosley continues to prove uncompromising. Ecclestone’s mediation could be decisive. That on the economic level without Ferrari (and the other rebels, Renault, Bmw, Toyotae Red Bull Racing) is holding an empty box and could push the FIA to a decisive reverse. Knowing that there will be no progress from Maranello. One of those who took it worse, the Paris ruling, is Fernando Alonso. The prospect of a Formula 1 populated by small teams and no money, and with the historic brands in the attic, it worries him quite a bit.

 

"Yes, I admit, I think the situation is alarming: and if it really ends this way I will not be there". 

 

What does he do? Does he threaten Fernando? 

 

"It’s not a threat, it’s a statement. I’m here now and I’m just thinking about the Grand Prix, as I always do in Monaco. But last week when I was at home I kept asking". 

 

What? 

 

"If this will be my last time on the Monte-Carlo circuit". 

 

And what did he say? 

 

"That I don’t want to race in a Formula 1 small team. Because in that case it would no longer be true Formula One, and then there are many other beautiful categories to go racing". 

 

Explain it to Mosley. 

 

"Is it possible that no one will stop to think about how much we are damaging this sport? About how the image of racing has been torn apart in the last two months?"

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Explain that to Mosley, too.

 

"It’s absurd: to have those three or four more teams next year we risk losing the seven main world manufacturers. And that’s not all: with manufacturers we also lose ten of the best drivers in the world. Doing so, Formula 1 will become devoid of interest". 

 

Really the only solution is to go to some other category? 

 

"I don’t know. But I am 27 years old, I was twice World Champion and I think it’s normal that I want to keep winning. And, why not? In another category".

 

Waiting to understand how this absurd situation will develop, Thursday, May 21, 2009 the engines will return to cover the noise of the eternal controversy. At 10:00 a.m. the first free practice of the weekend will take place. With more than ten Grands Prix to go, the Ferrari World Championship seems to be definitely compromised. Massa and Raikkonen, in fact, in the five races held so far, have gathered a total of six points, three each. For the drivers of the Maranello team the top of the standings is 38 points far (Button leads with 41 points), for not to mention the constructors' classification, where only Williams, Scuderia Toro Rosso and Force India have done worse than the Maranello team. But Felipe Massa wants to point out that Ferrari has not given up, nor will it in the future. The car in Barcelona proved to be in sharp improvement and the Brazilian driver is more optimistic than usual.

 

"I read in the days following the Spanish Grand Prix that I would raise the white flag for this season. That is not the case and I would like to make that clear. Obviously, the situation in the championship is very, very difficult and it is realistic to say that a comeback, today, seems unlikely, considering the gap in the score. This does not mean that we have let go. We will continue to work on the car and we will do our best to win races and finish as higher as possible in the championship. As we showed last year, we are not people who let go if there are negative results".

 

Massa, then, talks about the changes made to the Maranello car and bring to the track in the last Spanish Grand Prix.

 

"The behavior of the F60 in Barcelona was completely different from that of the first races: it was much more fun to drive, more stable and with much more grip and a lot of downforce. It’s definitely a big step forward, and it shows that we’ve been able to improve a lot after a difficult start. We have worked hard and the fact that we have achieved this is encouraging for the foreseeable future when we have new developments. The car is not perfect, and we still have a problem with the toughest tires, especially on the first lap: we’ve made some progress but not enough. The good news of the weekend is that the F60 seems to be finally competitive. The bad news is, we keep having reliability issues. Kimi had to retire and I also had problems with both refuelling, with gasoline not entering the tank completely. We still have to figure out what happened. This is the first week in which, compared to previous years, I do not have to drive the car before a race, given the new rules on testing. However, there is always the simulator that, even if it cannot replace the car in any way, is always an opportunity to prepare for the next Grand Prix".

 

Massa concludes:

 

"That said, I think the F60 will do just fine in the Principality. It is said that the Kers is not useful in this race but I think we will use it, also because the design of our car was born around this system. Paradoxically, on a circuit so short and with even closer gaps, being able to have a surplus of power could be decisive. We hope to make a further step forward, as happened in Spain".

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Kimi Raikkonen is also optimistic. Much will depend on Saturday: 

 

"You have to do an absolutely good qualifying because it is quite difficult to overtake, you can easily remain bottled up and stay there, until something goes wrong or until the pit stop". 

 

Ferrari decided to mount the kers on both cars. In the meantime, the position of Ferrari has not changed since the Paris Tribunal refused to accept the appeal by the Maranello team for the blocking of the entry into force of the new regulations. 

 

"We decided not to race in Formula 3".

 

Says the president of Ferrari, Luca Montezemolo, on the sidelines of the assembly of Confindustria, reiterating the no announced by the board of Maranello on participation in the World Championship 2010 with the new rules.

 

"If Formula 1 becomes Formula 3, as it seems to me, we do not run".

 

The possible farewell of Ferrari does not make Bernie Ecclestone, the patron of the circus, sleep peacefully. 

 

"I don’t want them to leave".

 

Ecclestone is not very optimistic about a possible solution by May 29, when the registrations for the next World Championship will close.

 

"We must wait and see". 

 

The British manager adds that more than seventy teams have entered and left Formula 1 since the beginning but the only consistent people have been those of Ferrari because there have been since day one. 

 

"So, we don’t want to lose the Ferrari".

 

Wirth Research, Lola, USF1, Epsilon Euskadi, RML, Formtech, Campos, isport. They call them the eight dwarfs, they are the micro teams that should animate the Formula 1 of the future, the one without Ferrari and Renault, without Bmw and Toyota, the one strongly wanted by Max Mosley and opposed by the rest of the world. A sort of sports nightmare for those who are used to linking the name of Formula 1 to images of champions and prestigious brands. A nightmare that is assuming more and more clear contours and that will eventually become reality if from now to the next 29 May - last useful day to register for the World Championship 2010 nobody will stop the hand of Mosley. Nine days in all, to save what remains of the circus credibility. A very difficult but not impossible mission. Not least because neither side can realistically expect to do without the other. Certainly not Mosley, that in case of abandonment of the big teams would find himself in the complex situation of going to Bernie Ecclestone and explain that, by slamming him here and there, the toy broke in his hand. Ecclestone, for one, has made rather demanding agreements with Sky, BBC and Rai that pay millions of euros to broadcast the races, and knows very well that television could be very hurt if they found a Lola on the track at place of a Ferrari. But not even Ferrari, whatever it says in its reported, can realistically think of doing without Formula 1.

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The hypothesis of racing in other existing categories, they also reject it at Maranello. Creating one of their own is very impervious as well as very expensive and very risky: at the moment four other teams are ready to follow Ferrari out of Mosley’s claws, but how many, with the crisis that is sweeping the automobile world, would be willing to found another World Championship? For this reason, the lawyers of the Maranello team decided to proceed, by ordinary means, in the Paris case. The ruling will come in the autumn: too late to register for the championship, yes, but still useful to ask for damages and especially to constitute, now, a looming threat to the head of the FIA. And so, we go back to the negotiations. Both Mosley and Ferrari (and with Ferrari the other teams) know that they are forced to live together, therefore. The big difference is that while the teams are available, following a business logic, to accept this fact, Mosley - a character with unfathomable psychological traits - is definitely more unpredictable. The first step, the fundamental one, is scheduled for tomorrow, right here in Monte-Carlo: the teams will will meet again for a delicate meeting of the FOTA (their association) during which they will try to formulate a proposal that holds everything together, and that can offer a commodus discessus both at Mosley and at Ferrari. The compactness of the FOTA is one of the key points of this phase. And it is also for this reason that the third time cocktail party organized in the evening on the boat of Briatore takes on some political importance. The proposal formalized by the teams will then be examined by Mosley. Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg set the fastest time on the first day of practice. The Williams driver precedes a revived Lewis Hamilton who manages to finish before the Brawn GP of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button. Ferrari, with a fifth (Massa) and an eighth place (Raikkonen) cannot shake off that aura of mediocrity that characterized this start to the season. However, a bit of optimism is beginning to catch on. Because the impression is that the car is finally up to the others. Says Felipe Massa:

 

"It is difficult to say where we are, because Monte Carlo is a complex circuit, often busy and with the impossibility of overtaking. But the car looks much better than at the beginning of the season and we are in the group of the first".

 

And adds Stefano Domenicali:

 

"We started off on the right foot, and this is very important".

 

This is going on forever. And this is already a step forward. What is more, but this can be judged, if there will be, only the final agreement, in a constructive way, the adjective most popular by both parties, the compact association of the teams and the intransigent president Mosley, after six hours of meetings. Friday, May 22, 2009 is a hectic day, in which we witness the attempt by the teams, Ferrari in the lead, to save Formula 1, looking at all costs for an agreement with Mosley, after announcing, not only of Ferrari, but Renault, Toyota and Red Bull (with Bmw ready to join), a resounding farewell from 2010 in response to the hated budget cap, the ceiling on expenses too low to be accepted, and the World Championship double regulation, with flexibility in the rules for teams that do not exceed costs. The meeting takes place aboard Flavio Briatore’s Force Blue, the mega yacht registered in the Cayman Islands. The appointment is at 2:00 p.m. The first to board, dressed in a striking pink, is Bernie Ecclestone. Luca Montezemolo (arrived and left by helicopter) and the other team principals follow. Outside the boat the heated reporters mix with the rest of the people of the engines, a mixture of crazy (there is even a gentleman with whistle, helmet and megaphone), sponsor girls, curious and celebrities. At 3:00 p.m., he drops from a black Maserati Simona Ventura: 

 

"I had nothing to do with it. I’m only here as a friend of Flavio". 

 

Most had guessed it, others hoped it. Moments pass and from the second floor of the yacht the lady Briatore leans out with a dachshund in her arms. Elisabetta Gregoraci jokes with photographers:

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"If you wait ten minutes I go down without curlers".

 

The statement disappoints those who expected a leak about the contents of the meeting that, according to other sources, proceeds smoothly until 4:30 p.m. When the first half of the work of the stables are finished. The draft to propose to Mosley is ready. Montezemolo comes out and on the pier the delirium bursts. Someone gets him on a scooter and brings him, without a helmet, to the second appointment of the day, the one with Max Mosley. The meeting at the headquarters of the Automobile Club de Monaco lasts four hours. The data is the only intelligible signal of the day: the parties have discussed it means that they are not going to break everything. How and when they will reach an agreement, however, is not known. Just to confirm the feeling that no one cares what the fans are understanding about this matter, at the exit nobody tries to go beyond the sentences of circumstance. 

 

"It was a constructive meeting. F1 must remain F1. It is about being constructive and understanding that this is not the way the rules are made". 

 

While Ross Brawn adds:

 

"I am an optimist".

 

But Max Mosley brakes everything:

 

"The meeting was constructive. But for the agreement we must wait".

 

Yeah, wait. But what? And how much? In the position war, with Mosley, who never misses an opportunity to sting Ferrari and with the Maranello team obstinate in reiterating his abandonment, both sides are optimistic. But the fact that there was no definitive break, one week before the deadline to register for the next World Championship, is already positive. State FOTA will meet again, then Montezemolo, its president, will meet Mosley again and maybe the gray smoke on Friday night could turn white. One thing is certain: on Friday, Bernie Ecclestone plays a key role, with his mediation work, which in words sways between despair for a farewell to Ferrari, and threat of legal action for non-compliance with contracts, but in fact it seems to have taken over the situation. In Shanghai, FOTA replied by asking: 

 

"What is this?"

 

On Friday he participates in the team meeting, legitimizing its existence. The English manager listens to the proposals of the teams, then instructs Mosley, who in the top with the teams seems less rigid. The FOTA, in addition to the recognition of Ecclestone, marks a point in its favor, remained compact. Now the intention is to pass a gradual decrease in expenses, also to save jobs, to be spread over several years and with well-defined roofs on each individual area. In the end the sum should arrive at Mosley’s hypothesis: but in 2012. 

 

"Our position is clear and has already been expressed by Montezemolo. Formula 1 must continue to be Formula 1, in that we want to race". 

 

They are delivered by John Elkann, the vice president of Fiat, present in Monte-Carlo. On the political level, after Friday’s summits between FOTA and Mosley, there was no progress on Saturday. In the absence of official statements, there are rumors of the opposite sign: those who see the agreement close (which would save the presence of Ferrari in the World Championship 2010) and those who speak of positions still far away, especially on the budget cap.

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"Everything will end well. Next year Ferrari will be there. We will find a good deal".

 

Max Mosley says. As for Ecclestone:

 

"The Future will be an excellent Formula 1 I hope also with Young Drivers. Ferrari will be there, has a Contract and will respect it".

 

On Saturday 23 May 2009, the first qualifying session was marked by the 2008 winner Lewis Hamilton who crashed in Mirabeau and damaged his suspension, putting him out of qualifying and gradually dropping him into the order until finishing 16th, ahead of the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica and the Toyota of Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock. The second session saw the departure of the two Force Indias, both Toro Rossos and Nelson Piquet Jr. ’s Renault while the Finns Kimi Räikkönen and Heikki Kovalainen have exceeded the times. Giancarlo Fisichella had twice forbidden cutting the corners of the pool complex and the Nouvelle Chicane. The third and final session was dominated by Rubens Barrichello and Sebastian Vettel until, at the end of the lap, Jenson Button saw the championship leader take his fourth pole of six starts this season with Kimi Räikkönen, the highest car placed in second place. One meter. On 3,340 meters, the distance to go for a ride to Monte-Carlo. Twenty-five thousandths, less than a blink of an eye. Space, time, words, thinking of their tiny event, that make Raikkonen swear, separated by nothing from the glory and the inevitable Jenson Button, forced to smile for the first row, but not to scream with mad joy for a new-found pole position, Magny Cours, heart of France, a Grand Prix that no longer exists. Ferrari is back, has completed the technical run-up against Brawn GP, which now leads with Jenson Button, king of Saturday for the fourth time out of six, but is just a little ahead and does not even have the guarantee of a much more of full tank, since the English has only present to the scale 3.5 pounds more than the Finnish, a fuel revolution, maximum two. Jenson Button rejoices:

 

"I found the ideal car at the decisive moment, in the third round, the one that puts the best in line. I had oversteering problems, we changed something in the pits and my car started to fly, on a track where pole equals more than half a victory, and shows that behind the wheel you have handle, because wrong is forbidden".

 

Jenson Button is celebrating, but Kimi Raikkonen, second at a meter, drove the same way. Only his joy is choked. 

 

"If I think about where we were at the beginning of the season, I say it’s a great result, but losing the pole for 25 thousandths burns like hell, in a place where you don’t overtake". 

 

And where the kerbs count less. Although, Mass observation, fifth, third row, damaged by traffic:

 

"It always serves". 

 

It may help, but in the short straight ahead of the first bend it doesn’t make a difference. Raikkonen however will try to make the most of it, so as to overtake Button.

 

"Because I have nothing to lose, the success of the ranking counts more, I am not fighting for the World Cup and I am ready to take any risk". 

 

He’s going to attack, because for the first time since the beginning of the year, he can say:

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"I have the car to win".

 

And such an opportunity cannot be wasted, we must try to exploit it at all costs. At least, and it is not a slight consolation, he must keep behind the other Brawn GP, that of Rubens Barrichello, who is happy for the third place, and then discover in the evening that he has the same level of fuel boarded on the car of Jenson Button (from which he took 0.175 seconds) and the weight of his car is just 4 pounds higher than Kimi Raikkonen and 4.5 pounds higher than Felipe Massa. Third place does not cover him with glory, as the fourth of Sebastian Vettel, who with Red Bull Racing is now behind Ferrari, as he is lighter than Kimi Raikkonen, 12.5 kilos lighter, and from the Finn he got 0.35 seconds behind, while he is only 1.5 seconds faster than Felipe Massa. Of course, the Brazilian could have done better, but he explains: 

 

"I was betting on the third lap, but I got stuck in traffic and didn’t get better". 

 

A traffic that has also suffered the Toyota, last with Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock. Moreover, in Monte Carlo we have always witnessed chaos. Who can sometimes be very bitter. As in the case of Lewis Hamilton who slammed, he changed the gearbox and starts in the back row. On Sunday 24 May 2009, at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix Rubens Barrichello passes the Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen and the two Brawn GP are immediately at the head of the group, ahead of the Finn, Vettel, Massa and Rosberg. Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton, started in P19, overtakes the Toyota. Sebastian Vettel, fourth, starts to register a deterioration of the Supersoft tires after a few laps; during the 7 lap Felipe Massa tries to pass it after the tunnel, but is forced to give up cutting the chicane and returning the position; Nico Rosberg takes advantage of it to slip in turn to the Tabaccaio. Sebastian Vettel slowed down much of the group, until Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa passed him on lap 11. The Red Bull driver is forced to pit to change tires. On lap 10, Senastien Buemi missed the braking point at the St. Devote corner, crashing into Piquet’s Renault and forcing them both to retire. A few laps later Sebastian Vettel’s race ended in the same spot, breaking the left rear suspension. Even Brawn GP seem to suffer with Supersoft tyres, but Jenson Button, who managed them better than his teammate, gained an advantage of more than 10 seconds; during the 15 lap Kimi Räikkönen anticipated his first stop because slowed down by Barrichello in front of him. The Brazilian stopped one lap later and managed to keep the second position. On lap 18, Nico Rosberg, who became the leader after Jenson Button stopped. Two laps later, Felipe Massa also went into the pits. The Brazilian managed to recover a position passing the German driver of Williams, a feat that will also succeed Mark Webber in the course of round 24. 

 

During lap 28 Robert Kubica returned to the pits and retired due to brake problems, thus continuing his black period with zero total points in the first six races. Positions now seem to be blocked, with the narrow circuit of Monaco that does not allow any overtaking. During lap 51 Heikki Kovalainen makes a mistake and crashes into the barriers, luckily without suffering physical consequences. The rapidity of the commissioners in removing the car allows to avoid the entrance of the Safety car. Finally, during the last lap also Kazuki Nakajima ends his race against the guardrail, but he will still be classified in P15 for having covered more than 90% of the total race distance. Jenson Button won his fifth win of the season and managed to increase the gap in the Drivers' World Championship, also thanks to the retirement of Sebastian Vettel. For the first time in the history of Formula 1 the same engine wins three races in a row. The Brawn GP, with an additional double, dominate the Constructors' World Championship having more than double the points compared to the direct pursuers, Red Bull Racing. Ferrari is advancing considerably in the Constructors' World Championship thanks to the overall 11 points of the weekend. Bad Toyota that after a promising start to the season here in Monaco do not conquer even a point, with the cars in visible difficulty on the street circuit and very bad Lewis Hamilton, the reigning World Champion, who ends up dubbed by Jenson Button. Seventy-eight laps with your heart in your throat, more than 300 kilometers with the throttle to the maximum, trying not to miss even a bend and avoiding even the manholes, are not enough if you want to be king in Monte Carlo. 

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If you want to triumph, to say it to Jenson Button, in the most special place in the world, where the circuit is special, the race is special, the party night after the success, you also have to take a few kilometers of racing, parking the car away and rushing to Prince Albert, who is waiting for you for the award ceremony on the improvised podium, which does not have the three steps and puts everyone on a par. If you want to treat yourself to a Sunday as a hero, unforgettable for your career, you must be perfect as a driver and exalt a car that this year does not know opponents. Then you can also move and say, that winning is important everywhere, but here it has a particular, different flavor, something that you will remember as long as you live and can tell your grandchildren. Yes, Monte-Carlo: narrow streets, impossible overtakings, accidents always lurking. He admits, Button, that he has seen in the last two rounds the film of his career:

 

"When I struggled, I was criticized, I struggled at the bottom of the grill, while today I could enjoy the audience and calmly anticipate the joy of triumph. The race was tough, the race to celebrate was even harder". 

 

Jenson Button celebrates his fifth win of the season: 

 

"At first I had some problems with the tyres, but then everything went in the best way: fantastic weekend, fabulous team. We started out convinced that soft tyres were the best solution, but I had some difficulties. Hard tyres turned out better. In the final I had to be careful to avoid mistakes, relax too much can become dangerous. Driving here is really special". 

 

He adds commenting on his first career success in the most fascinating race of the World Championship.

 

"It is a fundamental victory. But we will also be strong in the next races".

 

I mean, we’re in the middle of Button Mania, to the point where Ross Brawn exaggerates, saying:

 

"Button reminds me of Schumacher for the way he manages situations". 

 

Impossible comparisons aside, Brawn then explains:

 

"It was hard at first. We started with the soft tyres that deteriorated quickly. Then, the situation improved".

 

In his head, Jenson Button will also have imagined the future, he surprises World Champion, impossible not to think about it after winning five races out of six. Even in Monte-Carlo he started in front and they saw him at the finish line. Behind the other Brawn, that of Rubens Barrichello, he suffered more the battle. The Brazilian was quick to take possession at the start of the second place, he mocked Kimi Raikkonen and then resisted, also taking advantage of a small imperfection of the Maranello team in the pits, three seconds thrown in the second stop of the Finn, because the rear wheel didn’t screw. Indecision closed the games, Raikkonen gave Ferrari the first podium of the season, the unleashed Massa (his fastest lap) could only climb over Vettel, out by accident, and chase back Webber and Rosberg, who at the beginning had cunningly passed the Brazilian Ferrari but then sank with the strategy. Otherwise, the numbness was only disturbed by the accidents, Kovalainen (McLaren), Piquet (Renault) and Buemi (Toro Rosso). Massa swears: 

 

"If I had started on pole, I would have won".

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True, looking at the times. He can make up for it on Sunday, June 7, 2009 in Istanbul, his track. The first goal, to become competitive, has been achieved. Now you have to hit the next one: 

 

"Back to being the Ferrari".

 

And that is: 

 

"Standing in front of everyone". 

 

Stefano Domenicali has the face of someone who has just woken up from a bad dream. His Ferrari, finally, shows signs of life. From here on out, he may not be able to compete for a World Championship that now seems gone. But at least he can try to win races and stop chasing Force India. The work done in Italy, in the last month, has given its results:

 

"Despite the thousand difficulties of the moment, with people working hearing about cuts and crisis".

 

And, on the track, drivers and mechanics did not make mistakes for the first time in the season. The result is a very positive day. Now we have to work on conditionals. That are still too many. Listen to Massa, for example: 

 

"Look at the times I did in the middle of the race. I was the fastest. If I had started on pole I would have won".

 

Or else Raikkonen: 

 

"If I had started with soft tyres I wouldn’t have lost that position on Barrichello and if the pit stop had been faster I might have recovered". 

 

Phrases that leave questions hanging in the air: why didn’t Massa start on pole? why didn’t Raikkonen have soft tyres? What happened to the pits? Explains Massa:

 

"In qualifying I found a bit of traffic at the decisive moment, when I was about to do the third lap, what for our car was the fastest. This penalized me. These things happen. But I am optimistic for the future, if I take Kimi’s parameters as a reference, in practice I could also take pole, and if I look at the race times, I was the fastest. The car still needs to be developed, more downforce is needed, but we are on the right track". 

 

More complicated the explanation of Kimi Raikkonen, whose race overall was more disappointing than that of his teammate: 

 

"I can’t be happy with my third place. At the start the hard tyres penalized me a bit, but I would do that again, because in the overall strategy I went better than Vettel who had soft tyres. Then in the pits I had some problems too". 

 

The right rear tyre is blocked. Admits Stefano Domenicali:

 

"We lost a few seconds in that phase, but I couldn’t say if Kimi would have made it back in front of Barrichello".

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The third and fourth place are however an excellent result, especially considering the beginning of the catastrophic season. Now Ferrari gives the idea of playing the second position with Red Bull 

Racing. 

 

"If we continue to work like this, to develop the car at the pace of the last month, if we can stay focused like here in Monte Carlo, then we will resume our opponents long before as you can think". 

 

Maybe already in Turkey.

 

"In Istanbul we will present a new evolutionary step of the F60. The others will not stand still, but for what happened today there is to be optimistic".

 

After the Monaco Grand Prix, the tug-of-war between the FIA and the FOTA continues. And at the very least we can speak of inconsistency. Because the day before, along with all the other teams, you sign a letter asking the FIA and its president Max Mosley to block the rules of 2010, and the next, before the Federation even gets a response, you sign up for the next World Championship, breaking the unity of the teams and putting in difficulty the front of how many (such as Ferrari, Red Bull Racing, Renault and Toyota) have announced their farewell to Formula 1 in case Mosley does not get any step back. Inconsistency, schizophrenia, the fact is that on Monday 25 May 2009 the Williams formalizes its adhesion to the future championship, four days before the deadline, scheduled for 29 May 2009. Stated Adam Parr, the CEO of the British team:

 

"The unity of FOTA is of utmost importance for Williams, we intend to maintain our commitments within the association".

 

However, the gravity of the gesture remains, which in the battle marks a point in favor of Mosley, so much so that in subsequent statements the British team no longer speaks of blocking the new rules, which means at least slippage, but compromise. The move displaces the other teams, who did not expect such an initiative, a few days after another meeting, necessarily decisive, between Mosley and the FOTA. From Ferrari there is no comment, but it is clear that in Maranello there is a bit of confusion combined with indignation. Feelings that do not concern the technical part. The Monaco Grand Prix was a new page, Ferrari is competitive again, with Kimi Raikkonen has found the podium, now aims to win in Istanbul, the next Grand Prix, a circuit on which Felipe Massa has already triumphed three times.


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