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#812 2009 German Grand Prix

2022-01-03 00:00

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#2009, Fulvio Conti, Translated by Laura Carminati,

#812 2009 German Grand Prix

The barometer confirms a storm for F1 ahead of the FIA World Council. The Times had hinted at a glimmer: “Mosley quits if teams give up the encore cha

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The barometer confirms a storm for F1 ahead of the FIA World Council. The Times had hinted at a glimmer:

 

"Mosley quits if teams give up the encore championship".

 

He was immediately denied by the president of the federation himself:

 

"In recent weeks it has become increasingly clear that one of the goals of the rebel teams is that I should resign. Last year you assured me of your trust and, as I wrote to you on 16 May 2008, it wasn't my intention to run again in October. But in the light of these attacks and the mandate you have given me, I must now reflect on whether the initial decision not to stand again is the right one".

 

For Mosley, the matter goes beyond the fate of the Circus:

 

"It is up to the members of the FIA, and them alone, to democratically choose the leadership, nor the motor industry, let alone the people the industry chooses to lead the teams".

 

The addressee can only be Luca Montezemolo, president of FOTA, the association that groups the teams that have rejected the FIA's proposals for change in F1 and are now one step away from splitting. The last hopes for some kind of compromise are perhaps linked to Bernie Ecclestone, who spares no one:

 

"I think Max is right in the long term, but wrong in the short term. But if the lunatics leave we risk destroying Formula 1".

 

Even a champion like Michael Schumacher points the finger at the short-sightedness of the International Federation chaired by Max Mosley, and blesses the alternative championship that the team association wants to organize from 2010. 

 

"It is simply incomprehensible that the teams share their vision on the approach to reforms and the Federation still wants to implement something different. At first it may seem unbelievable, but this time all the big teams are united. This makes a new championship much more realistic, the alternative becomes real".

 

The German doesn't like the current situation in Formula 1. 

 

"In the end it all comes down to one simple fact: motor sport is a great discipline, Formula 1 has always been at the top and must remain there".

 

And so he rejects the proposal for a World Championship open to teams and drivers with little appeal.

 

"Formula 1 has always been the stage for the best drivers and the best teams. This has been admired all over the world, this is what everyone wants to see. If all this is constantly called into question by the permanent uncertainty of the rules, it is better to protect the value of the sport, go away and build elsewhere sensibly".

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Even in light of all this, the British press is very hard on Max Mosley. According to the Evening Standard, the controversial Federation boss could be removed from the post he has held since 1993. 

 

"Last lap for Max".

 

Titles the London newspaper, which recalls the last fifteen disastrous months of the FIA president. From the Nazi-style orgy scandal, complete with photos published by the British tabloid News on the World, to the recent death of his son Alexander, aged 39, from an overdose. In the middle of the private affairs, the quarrels with the rebellious Formula 1 teams and a friendship with Bernie Ecclestone, the patron of the Circus, that would no longer be so solid. So much so that, according to the tabloid, Mosley's stay at the helm of the FIA is in serious doubt. His term of office expires in October and the president is pushing for re-election, but there are many inside Formula 1 who expect him to be removed. Yet the man himself has no intention of leaving his post. On the contrary, the crisis in the circus could push him to seek an extension of his position.

 

"The FIA staff tell me that we have all this chaos, that we are under attack and that I have to stay. If we were in a calm situation and I showed a willingness to leave in October, everyone would be nice to me. They would tell me to stay, but all in all they wouldn't care and another person would come to my place".

 

The FIA has threatened legal action against the team association (FOTA), which has announced its intention to organize an alternative championship. 

 

"Everything they are doing is counterproductive". 

 

The president would be ready to resign if the act was the solution to the crisis.

 

"Absolutely. But everyone knows there would be no peace. FOTA would want the head of my successor and then that of whoever would take over".

 

The teams' goal, he says, is one:

 

"They want to take control of the sport away from the federation. And it would be the same with Bernie…".

 

He says, extending the discourse to Bernie Ecclestone, the current holder of the commercial rights.

 

"You can't leave an organization in the midst of a crisis. This description is a complete fabrication. I am the president, but I cannot act without the authority given to me by all the countries. We have 120 different member nations and each one is represented. It is a huge organization, there is no question that everything depends on me". 

 

Before reiterating the concept, almost for the avoidance of doubt. 

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"The teams want to take control and run everything. They want to control the money instead of Bernie and keep it. If there was another president instead of me, he would defend the interests of the FIA. If my head fell tomorrow another one would take over and behave in the same way".

 

Despite these premises, on Wednesday 24 June 2009, surprisingly, a resounding agreement was reached on the rules between the Federation and the teams: a single World Championship under the aegis of the FIA, with the same rules as this year and no budget cap. In short, a victory across the board for Ferrari, given that Mosley will apparently no longer stand for the next presidency. Not only that: the FIA has also decided to stop touching the rules, which will be kept in place until 2012. And this on the one hand balances out the cancellation of the famous €45.000.000 spending cap because - at least in the opinion of FOTA (the association that represents eight of the current ten teams in Formula 1) - this would save a lot of money by avoiding, year after year, rebuilding the car to comply with more or less crazy rules. Of course, it is a biased view, but after the experience of the useless Kers, of the super-soft tyres to be used compulsorily at least once and a thousand other rules it is really hard to blame the constructors. In any case it's Mosley himself who explains that the aim is to return in two years to the spending levels of the early 1990s. The question now is another: how did Ferrari win? How did it come to this undoing for Mosley considering that the latest moves have been, on the one hand, the threat by the formula 1 team association to create an alternative championship, and on the other - by Mosley's chairman - the announcement to take legal action against the teams involved in the new project? The answer lies in the fact that FOCA has indeed succeeded in getting Mosley into trouble. And that if the president hadn’t given in across the board he would have been challenged and therefore removed from the FIA.

 

At this point the Federation itself would have suffered serious, and perhaps irreparable, damage to its image. With this choice, however, Mosley's vision has been separated from the FIA's long-term strategy. And Bernie Ecclestone's Formula 1 will be able to live on without too much upheaval. What will happen now? The eight teams included in the association (Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Renault, Brawn GP, Toyota and Bmw Sauber), the two teams already entered without reservation (Force India and Williams) and the three new-born teams (Manor, Campos and US F1), which will make their debut in the circus next year, will participate in the 2010 championship. Something good this delirium of clashes between the FIA and FOTA has brought: a richer starting grid. Now that it is all over and Formula 1 is safe, it remains to fill these sumptuous rooms in the heart of Paris. At the press conference table in the FIA headquarters, they sit like three old traveling companions, Bernie Ecclestone, Max Mosley and Luca Montezemolo. To look at them like that, to hear them complimenting each other, it seems incredible that these are the same people who until three days ago were attacking each other at every opportunity. And yet they are. It's really them. The balance of this match tells of one winner and two losers. The winner is Montezemolo. He invented FOTA, sketched out an alternative championship that actually scared him first and used it to rout his opponent. In the end he got everything he asked for plus the announcement of a step back by Mosley himself. The spoils of war are immense. Less convincing is the second aspect, the personal one: FOTA had shown up in Paris demanding Mosley's removal. Instead, Mosley tells the World Council: 

 

"From now on I won't be involved in F1, I'll take a step back and in October I won't run for office".

 

No official act, though. If it were not for the fact that the speaker is a gentleman who not even twenty-four hours earlier had been described by FOTA itself as unfeasible and unreliable, it would still be a lot. As for the losers, the main one is Mosley. He has retracted everything he had said and done so far. And he has also been forced to retire (hopefully he will not reconsider). The second, on the other hand, isn't, as it might seem, Ecclestone (who will continue to earn his millions at least until 2012). But it is the image of an F1 irreparably smeared by one of the most incomprehensible crises in its history. In recent months Max Mosley has spent all his time on two activities: cursing Ferrari and obsessively preaching cost-cutting. 

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Now, however, reporters entering his office discover that Mosley keeps a gigantic replica of Ferrari in front of his desk, and that his office, at place de la Concorde #8, is probably among the most expensive 80 square meters in Paris. Speaking of contradictions, Mr Mosley: on Friday he said he would run again in October. Today he promised he wouldn't run. What happened in forty-eight hours?

 

"I never said I would apply. I said I would do it if the teams continued their controversy. Today the teams have reached an agreement and so I won't apply". 

 

Are you sure? 

 

"Sure".

 

So can we say that Mosley will never make a decision from here on? 

 

"There will be no decisions to be made. And if there were problems it would go to the Senate".

 

He spent the last three months saying that the budget cap and the split regulation were inevitable. Why did he change his mind? 

 

"The goal was cost reduction. And today we have achieved that, although in a different way. The teams have committed themselves to bringing the cost parameters back to the levels of the early 1990s". 

 

When did you develop the idea of leaving the Formula 1 environment?

 

"Last year. I had already told everyone here in the office at the beginning of the year. But I didn't want to say it outside so as not to weaken myself too much politically". 

 

How does he feel? Max Mosley sighs. Second question: and what motivated you?

 

"Those were terrible years. In 2007 the famous spy story, in 2008 my personal affair brought out by the newspapers (the so-called sex-gate, ed.), in 2009 the economic crisis. Now that we have rules, now that I have convinced everyone to reduce costs, now that there is stability and thirteen teams have entered the next World Championship, my job is over. Now it is right that I think about my family".

 

How does he see the future Formula 1? 

 

"Mainly it will have to give profits to the small teams. Because for the big teams the Circus is a marketing opportunity, while the small ones either make money or are out. And there is no F1 without the small teams. On a technical level we need more overtaking and there will only be more of that when we go back to the aerodynamic situation of many years ago, when those behind could take advantage of the slipstream effect". 

 

Will you miss this?

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"No".

 

For his part, Ferrari and FOTA president Luca Montezemolo, speaking at the end of the team association meeting in Bologna on Thursday, 25 June 2009, on the agreement reached in Paris with the FIA, aimed at keeping the rules of the motor racing championship firm, said:

 

"It is a very positive and constructive agreement for all parties involved, which allows us to move forward well and in peace. We had scheduled this meeting for today to work out the criteria and details of a possible FOTA championship, but after yesterday's agreement in Paris there is obviously no longer any need for it".

 

The summit between the F1 teams was in fact an opportunity to discuss strategies and priorities from now until at least 2012. Among these were the reduction of costs, the strengthening of the spectacular aspects of the championship, starting however with certain rules and a situation of stability ensured by the pact, and which convinced all the big teams to stay on track.

 

"We were all very impressed by the enthusiasm with which the F1 people sided with us when a break-up seemed inevitable". 

 

As for the lengthy negotiations with FIA, the FOTA president emphasizes:

 

"We have been consistent from the beginning and yesterday the FIA finally accepted our proposals, which guarantee certain rules, stability and allow costs to be reduced".

 

Montezemolo points out that it was also agreed in Paris that any changes to the regulations, from now on, will be entrusted to the FIA Technical Commission, in which the teams' representatives also sit. At the same time, Montezemolo continues, Briatore will work to get more resources from those who hold the rights to the races, i.e. the company Cvc. The objective for the next two years, on the economic level, in short, is to bring the level of expenditure of each team to what it was in the mid-1990s, bringing costs and revenues into balance. In short, Montezemolo assures that the teams are all committed to remain in Formula 1 at least until the end of 2012. As for the negotiation on the rights, the FOTA president hopes that an agreement that hasn't yet been made with CVC can also be made. 

 

"Bernie Ecclestone, lucky him, has sold his and our business to a company of which he only has 20 per cent".

 

In any case, if FOTA had decided for an alternative championship, he points out, those who would have suffered would have been those who hold the rights because they risked not having the product. Flavio Briatore is of the same opinion: 

 

"Formula One should become a profit center, no longer a cost center. It's hard to think of an actor making a film and he doesn't get paid less than he spends".

 

In particular, in Flavio Briatore's opinion, the spectacular aspect of racing must be increased and on this he assures, all our proposals can become operational. These include shorter races, abolishing refueling, leaving only the tyre change, but also more contact and information for the public and a new format for qualifying. In terms of race rights, Briatore then explains that until 2012 there is a commercial contract with CVC:

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"It is clear that when you renew a contract you change the rules, but it may be that with agreements on different commercial terms you can go on beyond 2012 with this company. Also because it's not like everything stops in 2012. For example, we with the FIA have no problem continuing for the long term".

 

Briatore then talks about the race circuits and emphasizes:

 

"America is fundamental for all the teams, we have to be there, in fact we are thinking of pulling in Canada as well, but of course we have to negotiate".

 

One thing is certain:

 

"We don't need cathedrals in the desert, we must always aim for historical circuits. In Turkey, for example, the drivers knew the spectators by name, when it should be the other way around. To make the Grand Prix more emotional we have to do them in cities. Cathedrals in the desert are useless". 

 

For now, finally, no change to the championship name.

 

"When a child is born, the important thing is that he's healthy, then if he's called Giovanni or Pietro it doesn't matter. However, for now it is called Formula 1".

 

President Montezemolo, aren't you afraid that Mosley won't keep his word, that this is, in short, a trap? 

 

"I'd say his words were pretty clear, wouldn't you?".

 

So all that remains is to celebrate the victory? 

 

"Of course. We got what we wanted in terms of decisions on regulations and decisions on governance and also in terms of people within the federation".


How is Formula 1 changing?

 

"The most important thing is the recognition of FOTA. A year ago it wasn't there: today it is a body that would have been able to organize an alternative championship. With everyone's work, the ability of the teams to take a step back, FOTA was able to propose an incredible cost reduction for engines and gearboxes. Even for the small teams. We got things right, realistic: no to different regulations; no to the budget cap imposed from above". 

 

And did you get everything?

 

"We have restored the Concorde agreement and the F1 commission. And above all we have lowered the budget cap: it's ridiculous to dictate to Manchester and Juve how much they have to spend on the buying campaign. At best you can hope that the clubs will come to an agreement".

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Why is the concorde agreement important? 

 

"Because it restores a procedure: it's not that one wakes up one morning and decides to make three-wheelers. Decisions have to be made all together. But the most important thing is something else". 

 

What?

 

"I was amazed at the enthusiasm for the idea of a new championship. The constant changes disoriented the public. Today we have recreated a positive atmosphere. And we have avoided further controversy and quarrels". 

 

What role did Ecclestone play? 

 

"With Ecclestone, as with all agents, there is a term commitment, until 2012, after which we will evaluate". 

 

Is the proposal of a third car per team credible? 

 

"We musn't remain anchored to old and often empty schemes. So why say no to a third car run by another private team? At Le Mans we showed up with ten cars run by private teams, and one of them won. These are ideas... Even for the drivers I would have a lot of them".

 

For example?

 

"Now it’s early…".

 

Loonies is the adjective with which Max Mosley, on the eve of Wednesday's big meeting in Paris, had defined the rebel teams, i.e. all FOTA members. Incredibly, on Friday 26 June 2009, that word became topical again, as Mosley explains, with facts, what exactly he meant. As soon as the weapon of secession was out of the teams' hands, and he had put himself in the clear, old Max took pen and paper and started playing his little games again. Saying, for example, that Montezemolo owes him an apology for telling lies; that the risk of an alternative championship is still very high; and that he might stay in F1. Everyone knows how the story of the bizarre budget cap imposed, dictatorially, by Mosley had ended. The teams didn't want it and threatened to make their own championship. The play held up well until Wednesday. The meeting had arrived, then, in the best possible way: Mosley had given definitive signs of madness, contradicting himself, blathering on, insulting the team, which had made it very clear: we will only stay if he leaves. In short, all that was missing was the final blow. Which, however, wasn't delivered. Because behind the pretense of threat (from FOTA) and insults (from Mosley) there was actually a mutual, desperate desire to make the deal. Which was easily achieved: the teams got to throw the budget cap overboard, to cancel the coup d'état and were content with Mosley's promise to step back and not run again for the FIA presidency in October. Mosley for his part obtained - in addition to quite a few financial guarantees for his and Bernie Ecclestone's future - to remain in place long enough to direct his succession to the FIA summit. To the journalists present - who couldn't explain the unexpected opening of credit to Mosley if not as a viaticum for a gigantic shenanigans - the agreement was described as a triumph:

 

"Max is out. He will never be involved in F1 again". 

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That was on Wednesday. The letter demanded an apology (quickly obtained) from Montezemolo, on Thursday. The one about the danger of the alternative championship, came on Friday.

 

"FOTA falsely declared that they had ousted me and imposed their will on that of the FIA. The situation has become intolerable". 

 

Signed Max Mosley, President of the FIA. That is preparing the ground for his replacement. It would be Jean Todt, former team principal of Ferrari, who has been working with the Federation president for some time. However, despite his very long past at Ferrari, Jean Todt wouldn't be a welcome choice for the teams. The words of John Howett, president of the Toyota team and vice-president of FOTA, are eloquent: 

 

"We would like to see someone in the presidency who is truly independent, maybe even independent of us at this time and in relation to the past".

 

Change of presidency in the Federation aside, news is also bouncing around about a possible return to the circus of Ron Dennis. Mosley's farewell would be the necessary stimulus for the former McLaren boss to return to the paddock: obviously he would return at the top of the team he led for years. In order not to start a fight over regulations with Mosley, Dennis had actually defected, leaving his place to Martin Whitmarsh. And in the meantime, Max Mosley continues to send threatening messages to the teams:

 

"The teams danced on my grave too early. I am still the president of the FIA and maybe in October I will stand again".

 

A fourth communication in four days from the president of the Federation, which arrived on Sunday 28 June 2009 through an interview granted to the Mail on Sunday, confirms two suspicions: that the graphomaniac, caused Mosley, is by no means out of the game, and that someone in this story has said things that aren't true. Who and why will only be known in time (perhaps when some official document from Wednesday's meeting is published). Until then it will remain that FOTA made statements (it said that Mosley had been deposed with immediate effect, that he would never speak about F1 again, and that in his place decisions would be taken by Boeri) that were then contradicted by the facts. Besides Mosley himself. And from the very first moment. On Wednesday, at a press conference, right next to Montezemolo, the elder Mosley had made official the team list for 2010: a singular move for one who had just announced that he wanted to take a step backwards. Those who hadn't grasped the contradiction were able to read the newspapers in the days that followed, when Max demanded an apology from Montezemolo (guilty of having given publicity to his stepping down), to consider the hypothesis of a reapplication, and to have, in the event, the intention of supporting one of his men, namely Jean Todt, disliked by the teams, for his succession. Thursday, 2 July 2009, the great book of Formula 1 poisons is filled with a new chapter. This time Alan Donnelly, the head of the stewards, a sort of great referee of races, ends up in the blizzard - but the risk is that it will end up involving, once again, Max Mosley, whose right-hand man is Donnelly. An email, explicit to say the least, seems in fact to confirm the suspicions that some teams had advanced in recent days about an intense and undue activity on the part of Donnelly aimed at diverting sponsors to new teams. And on one team in particular: Manor. Which isn't a random team, but that of Nick Wirth, already well-known in Formula 1 for having founded Simteck in 1989 together with, precisely, Max Mosley. The suspicion, in short, is that of an enormous conflict of interest. Made doubly so by the fact that Manor would have turned for external relations to Sovereign Strategy ltd., Donnelly's consultancy firm, which in Istanbul had made the teams nervous by personally accompanying one of Manor's managers around the paddock. The next day, an associate of Donnelly's had come in to try to calm tempers:

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"Alan is well aware of his institutional responsibilities as head steward and is thus not directly involved in Manor".

 

The defense, already not robust in itself, finally crumbles on Thursday in front of the e-mail. The date is that of Friday 29 May 2009. The subject: 

 

"Investment Agreement and Sponsorship agreement".

 

The receiver is a Saudi Arabian investor whom Donnelly addresses as his Royal Highness. The text has all the air of a smoking gun. The head steward writes, showing that he is definitely involved in Manor's affairs:

 

"I attach both the sponsorship agreement and the investment agreement for your consideration. Virgin has signed to become a partner with a share of around 20 per cent. I will be in Saudi Arabia on Sunday afternoon to meet you at our meeting with representatives of Manor and Virgin. In any case, if you would like to meet me privately before the meeting, please let me know, I will certainly be available".

 

Clear lines that are now in danger of igniting the climate again. As shown by the wait-and-see position taken by FOTA from the outset:

 

"We don't like to comment on rumors or talk about things we don't know directly. However, if it were true, it would be an example of bad governance of our sport. It is obvious to everyone that stewards should be impartial. If these rumors were confirmed, the parties involved would have to respond quickly, and we await this response with great interest".

 

Clearly, this isn't the end of the story. On Wednesday 8 July 2009, the FOTA teams left the meeting with the FIA at the Nurburgring, where the ninth World Championship Grand Prix is scheduled for Sunday 12 July 2009. According to a Federation note:

 

"Following the World Council's decision on 24 June to revert to the 29 April version of the new technical regulations, the FIA met with the teams that entered the next World Championship to try to find an agreement. The changes concerned the minimum weight of 620 kg and the reduction of the budget over two years to return to 1990s levels, as promised by the teams themselves on 24 June. The eight FOTA teams were invited to attend the meeting today to discuss further proposals for 2010. Unfortunately, no discussion was possible because FOTA left the meeting".

 

This is FOTA's reply:

 

"FOTA representatives attended a meeting at the Nurburgring today. During the course of the meeting, team officials were informed by Charlie Whiting (FIA) that, contrary to previous agreements, the eight FOTA teams have not been included in the 2010 World Championship and do not have a vote on technical regulations. The teams were included in the entry list approved by the FIA World Council and communicated by the FIA on 24 June. In light of this, FOTA representatives requested a postponement of today's meeting. The request was refused on the grounds that no new agreement of the Concordat Agreement would be possible before the approval of the 2010 regulations and the teams decided to abandon the meeting".

 

Maybe not all over again, but almost. This episode proved that the peace in F1 reached on Wednesday 24 June 2009 in Paris has fragile foundations. The first technical meeting of the new World Championship turned into another furious quarrel. 

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Says Charlie Whiting, the FIA delegate, to the eight FOTA teams:

 

"Let's discuss, but you have no right to vote, because you aren't a member of the World Championship". 

 

This triggers an immediate reaction from the teams who, furious, leave the room. The FIA then announces: 

 

"We agree on everything, too bad FOTA wasn't present". 

 

Reply:

 

"FIA puts in danger the future of F1".

 

Max Mosley is more than ever in FOTA's crosshairs. The teams, in fact, seem to want to sign a new concordat pact only if the FIA president leaves at the end of his mandate, which expires in October. An intention that the teams have also repeated to Cvc, the fund that owns the majority of Formula 1 shares. Says BMW boss Mario Theissen:

 

"Negotiations are ongoing and we could reach a conclusion in a few days, just as the FIA indicated. But it could also take a few weeks, and we might not even reach an agreement. That is why I mean that we have to be prepared for all solutions".

 

The position taken by BMW's number one comes after the break, the umpteenth in this troubled negotiation, which led the FOTA teams to abandon the technical meeting on regulations held on Wednesday at the Nurburgring - where free practice for the German Grand Prix is being held - because they were deprived of their right to vote.

 

"You knew your position as simple observers".

 

Says a statement released by the FIA, which also announces the signing of the Concord Agreement in the coming days. While the battle between the FIA and FOTA continues behind the scenes, on Friday 10 July 2009 Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in the second free practice session of the German Grand Prix. The World Champion laps in 1 '32"149, leaving behind the Red Bull Racing of German Sebastian Vettel, and the current leader of the World Championship, his compatriot at Brawn GP, Jenson Button. The two Ferraris are far behind: Brazilian Felipe Massa closes practice with the twelfth best time, and Finnish Kimi Raikkonen is sixteenth. In the morning session, the fastest had been the other Red Bull Racing driver, the Australian Mark Webber, but with a time 0.9 seconds slower. Lewis Hamilton, however, makes no declarations.

 

"It's free practice, a whole different thing from the race. We did well and I'm satisfied with the guys who did a huge job. Nurburgring? It's like a second home, it's the home of Mercedes which is part of my life and the team and we wouldn't be at this level without them".

 

Alonso will race with Ferrari from 2010. The announcement will be made at Monza, as Ferrari tradition dictates, which in the Italian Grand Prix (not even Schumacher escaped the ritual, it was there that he announced his retirement) reveals next year's line-up. Of course, now that the rumor has become unstoppable, the ritual denials are flowing in. Alonso denies any contact:

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"I’ve been hearing for years that I go to Ferrari, I’m sick of even commenting on them".

 

While the Maranello team recalls its existing contracts, agreements signed with Massa and Raikkonen until December 2010, and therefore doesn't need to go to the trade.

 

"Because we already have the drivers for next year".

 

But too many clues lead one to think that the negations are just for show. This year, Ferrari has decided to emigrate to Spain for its end-of-season party, the days dedicated to customers with the Formula 1 team's final parade. Imola and Mugello are close to home, Monza and Vallelunga aren't far away, and instead Ferrari goes to Valencia, two weeks after the end of the World Championship. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but one can imagine what might happen if Fernando Alonso attended the event. Perhaps there were no other dates available, but who can contain the suspicion that afterwards, with a divorce already announced, any party in a Renault uniform would be embarrassing? Not to mention that next year the Maranello team will have Banco Santander as one of its main sponsors, a bank that certainly doesn't mind having Alonso as a testimonial. The signs are all there, and so can Alonso, who on the eve of the German Grand Prix weekend admits he wants a winning car for 2010:

 

"Because I'm fed up with running in the middle of the group".

 

Now, with the exception of Brawn GP and Red Bull Racing miracles, and considering that he has already been at McLaren, who can give him the guarantee of fighting for the title? Rather, the question is how Ferrari will manage to get rid of Raikkonen, who coldly points out that he has another year remaining on his contract. In December Montezemolo, who has always said never say never about Alonso, had made it clear that the Finnish driver was betting a lot this year, no victories came, the divorce should be inevitable, but it will certainly cost Ferrari a lot. Felipe Massa, on the other hand, is calm. When asked, he replies with a smile:

 

"In 2010 in Renault? It seems improbable to me".

 

On Saturday 11 July 2009 it's Lewis Hamilton again who sets the fastest time in the third and final free practice session of the German Grand Prix. The World Champion laps in 1'31"121 and precedes the Renault of Fernando Alonso and the Ferrari of Felipe Massa, detached by 0.219 and 0.230 seconds respectively. Fourth and fifth times for the Red Bull Racing cars of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, ahead of the other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen and the Toyota of Jarno Trulli. World Championship leader Jenson Button set the 11th best time. Qualifying sees the drivers change strategy by using wet tyres due to the rain and the wet track. The track is dry when the drivers come out for the first session. There aren't surprises: the two Toro Rosso's of Sébastien Buemi and Sébastien Bourdais are eliminated, along with the Force India of Giancarlo Fisichella and the always underperforming Toyota of Timo Glock and BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica. Glock received a relegation of three grid positions for blocking Renault's Fernando Alonso, but as he had qualified 19th anyway he got sent to the back of the grid. In the second session it starts to rain. The results are more interesting, with both Williams leaving the scene. Both Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima declare that they would have done better if there had been no rain. They are joined by Alonso's elimination, Jarno Trulli's Toyota and Nick Heidfeld, who did well to qualify 11th in the other BMW Sauber. The German declared that he could have done even better, but the rain also disrupted his strategy. Nelson Piquet Jr. in the other Renault takes part in the final session for the first time in 2009, but only finishes 10th when the rain eases again in the last ten minutes. 

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The Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen disappoint, only managing 8th and 9th respectively. Räikkönen's race engineer Chris Dyer said that they don't have any soft tyres left for the last qualifying lap, which cost them very dear. Adrian Sutil does excellently in the Force India to qualify not only in the top 10 for the first time, but ahead of the Ferraris in 7th. The McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen came 5th and 6th respectively, and both thanked the upgrades to the car for their improved performances. Then comes the fight for pole, which is solely between the four championship contenders - the Brawns of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello and the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Webber is the first to cross the line in 1'32"230. Then Vettel does well to do 1'32"480, but it's a surprise for him to be beaten by his teammate. This looks to be the order, but Barrichello and Button both cross the line in the dying seconds to split the Red Bulls, so Webber claims the first pole position of his career. Felipe Massa tries to give Ferrari some serenity. The low temperature, 16 °C in the early afternoon, 12 °C in the evening, the grey sky, the rain, the Ferraris hold firm in the first session, third the Brazilian, sixth the Finnish, but drop back in Q2, with Massa twelfth at 0.9 seconds and Raikkonen more than a second behind: yet the tenacious Felipe tries to put a smile on his face.

 

"There is no need to be worried, Red Bull is unreachable, maybe even Brawn, but after that there is Ferrari. You can aim for the podium. Hamilton the fastest? I believe so, the tank was empty. He doesn't even deserve a comment".

 

It may be, but in the meantime even here Ferrari, at least in the first few kilometers, struggles to cover itself in glory. In the middle of summer, they don't expect to find such low temperatures, and this - say the technicians in red - doesn't help them. Above all, it exalts one problem in particular, the soft tyres that struggle to warm up and in the first lap cause them to lack grip. 

 

"Then they improve".

 

Says again Felipe Massa. But in the beginning they make you go slow and this creates quite a few alarms for qualifying. The caustic Raikkonen points this out mercilessly:

 

"It’s difficult to find the right set-up, we are like in Silverstone".

 

Where the race was good, but the battle for pole position to be forgotten. Problems that don't touch Red Bull Racing, with Sebastian Vettel the big favorite, nor Brawn GP, ready to repel the assault with Jenson Button. This while there is an air of silos on the grid, the Frenchman Romain Grosjean who could replace Nelson Piquet Jr. in Renault and the Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari for Sebastien Bourdais in Scuderia Toro Rosso. In a different mood is Australian Mark Webber, on his first career pole, the first by an Oceanic since Alan Jones, 1980, who was World Champion with Williams. They call him the aviator because in 1999, during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, he took off in his Mercedes. An error in aerodynamics (the photos of the car circling in the air made an impression). Webber, 33 years old next 27 August, didn't lose heart and landed in F1. And, after so much, here is the first pole. What is he doing, aviator Webber, flying the Red Bull?

 

"The first pole is an extraordinary emotion. Mine was a perfect lap. And it will remain unforgettable".

 

A reward for the long wait?

 

"This race at the Nurburgring will be my race number 131, it took me a long time, but I deserved such joy. First the interminable apprenticeship, then a few front rows. Pole seemed like a spell. Finally the nightmare is gone".

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The secret of the exploit? 

 

"Being fast from the first kilometer. So far this weekend we have been perfect. The work, however, isn't over yet".

 

Yes, because in his career the victory box is empty.

 

"Now I'm excited, a bit light-headed, but it all has to go quickly. Because I can't waste the opportunity. I must be flawless on the grid and come out in the lead from the first corner. The rest will come by itself".

 

Who could ruin her party?

 

"The Brawns are always dangerous, but if I have to name a straight name, I say Vettel, my team-mate. He's as fast as me, we have the same petrol, he's going to storm and I have to resist".

 

Easy for someone whose father is a rugby player. If it hadn't been for that Campese loan, in the team with his dad, he wouldn't be here now.

 

"If it rains, there might be a mix-up. Trouble, if I don't come out on top this time".

 

Thirty kilos of petrol more than Button, thirteen more than the two Red Bulls, that of the Australian Webber, at the first pole of his life, and that of the German Vettel, idol of the house, pushed by the public, but little successor of Schumacher at the most important moment, given the mistake on the lap that counts and the disappointing fourth place finish (plus a 10.000 euro fine for dangerous maneuver). Heavy Ferraris. The Ferraris before Q3 have filled their tanks and this could give them an advantage, especially against Brawn GP, third with Button, second with Barrichello, probably tuned to a three-stop strategy, one more than the two Reds in pursuit. They filled the tanks, but that doesn't justify heavy gaps. Of course, the extra kilos don't help speed, but Ferrari is still slow, a disappointment accentuated even more by the reason why the engineers opted for this tactic: the new soft compound tyres, because the Maranello car just doesn't go with hard ones, were finished. There remained only used tyres, and on a fast lap with these tyres you inevitably lose 0.7 or 0.8 seconds. You might as well, they thought in the Ferrari pits, jump straight into the race, take on more petrol and hope with a different strategy to make up a few positions. Someone will object: why had only Massa and Raikkonen run out of new tyres? Simple, and here lies the most serious flaw of the current season, a flaw that has prompted Ferrari to think about next year's car a few weeks ago: Vettel passes the first round on the harder tyres, Ferrari needs the softer ones to get rid of the initial test, and not find itself at the bottom of the grid. The second act arrives, it starts to rain, everything becomes chaotic, the available tyres are gone and at the end, having done the counting, the others still have a new set to aim for pole in the last round, Ferrari doesn't. Inevitable disappointment from the drivers. On Sunday, July 12, 2009, at the start of the German Grand Prix, Mark Webber and Rubens Barrichello are side by side coming to the first corner where Webber clashes wheels with the Brazilian, for which he later receives a drive-through penalty. The Brawn driver still manages to jump the Red Bull driver to take the lead. Lewis Hamilton also makes a fast start in the McLaren and challenges for the lead, but he makes slight contact with Webber at the first corner and receives a puncture, ending his chance for points. He lost a lap in the pits, ultimately finishing 18th, still one lap down. Jarno Trulli also collided with Kazuki Nakajima's Williams at the first corner, and the Italian had to put in a new nose cone for his Toyota, leaving him at the back of the field with Hamilton. Webber retakes the lead on lap 15 as Barrichello pitted and soon after pitted but returns in the lead, which is a good job as he pitted again for the drive through penalty soon after that, which drops him to eighth. 

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This leaves Felipe Massa in the lead in the Ferrari followed by Barrichello and Kimi Räikkönen. Bourdais retires due to hydraulic problems on his lap 19, in what would ultimately be his final race at Scuderia Toro Rosso. Adrian Sutil in the Force India climbs into second before his first pitstop, but as he emerges from the pits he collides with Räikkönen's Ferrari. The German has to pit again for a new nose cone, and loses several places. Barrichello retakes the lead after Massa's pitstop, but loses it again to an impressively recovering Webber in the second stop. Teammate Sebastian Vettel also briefly led before everything settled down with Webber in the lead. Räikkönen retires with a radiator problem on lap 35, briefly promoting Giancarlo Fisichella into the points, but the Italian fails to score his first points for Force India, as his pitstop allowed former teammate Fernando Alonso into the points in his Renault. Alonso makes a late charge as Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello struggle for grip, but he can’t find a way past. Despite the drive through penalty for impeding Barrichello on the first lap, Webber comes home to claim his maiden victory and become the first Australian winner in almost thirty years. He is followed home by Vettel, who was over nine seconds behind. Massa comes home a distant but impressive third, his first and only podium of the year as he was injured during qualifying for the next race and didn't race again for the rest of the season. Jenson Button had managed to jump teammate Barrichello during the second stop and comes home fifth with the Brazilian very close behind, and also closely followed by Alonso. The Spaniard had made a charge in the closing stages but was unable to find a way past the Brawns, despite setting the race's fastest lap, who were struggling for grip. Heikki Kovalainen occupied the final points-paying position in an ultimately disappointing race for McLaren. At the end of his career he dreams of setting up a survival school in Tasmania. That inhuman, jungle man scream he let out as he crossed the finish line to celebrate the first victory of his life may serve him well. It certainly captured his enormous joy well, with the mechanics congratulating him on the radio and him responding with belligerent shouts. Likeable, Mark Webber (first Australian 28 years after Jones), an interminable apprenticeship, with often modest cars, before knowing on a historic track like the Nurburgring the highest step on the podium.

 

"It’s an incredible day, I wanted to win. In the end what I feared most was the rain, but fortunately the weather held. I lost Rubens Barrichello at the start, then there was contact with him. I served the penalty and then pushed in the right places and managed to recover".

 

Funny, but above all perfect, in a dominated race, with his Red Bull Racing that seems to have replaced Brawn GP in the elusive category, with a car that the skilful hands of designer Adrian Newey have transformed into a missile and that managed to reopen a World Championship that after seven races (six triumphs for Button) seemed locked. The games have been reopened, because the car has given wings to both drivers, first Webber despite the drive through for a reckless start to say the least, second with many regrets Vettel, little prophet in his homeland due to a wretched qualifying and a miserable fourth place on the grid. The car is fast and reliable, second consecutive one-two, another 11 points recovered in the Constructors' World Championship (adding to the 9 points of three weeks ago, at Silverstone) to a Brawn GP that instead seems to have lost its way, with Button never protagonist and with a furious Barrichello who at the end of the race attacked his own team. While Webber, pit-stop forced parade included, from the end of lap 14, having found the lead, only thought about the finish line and Vettel failed to win the initial war with Massa:

 

"At the start I was surprised by the kers, then I was faster, but there was no room to overtake him".

 

But then, with the help of the boxes, he grabbed an inevitable second position, the two Brawn GP drivers having to do backflips to stem the ballast that was their strategy. Sebastian Vettel however sportingly accepted defeat and rejoiced at Red Bull's one-two at the German Grand Prix:

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"Webber was invincible today. He deserved to win, I am happy with the result. I got a bad start and found myself surrounded by all these cars with kers. I must say it was a very difficult start, I had to fight with the soft tyres...in the first section there was traffic, I could have gone faster but when I tried to overtake Felipe (Massa, ed) he always used the magic button. But we got the strategy right and I managed to take second place".

 

The victory didn't come, but it was still a positive race:

 

"Another one-two and valuable points, I would be lying if I said I didn't want to win, but it was a good fight. I will wait for the next races".

 

Perhaps Ross Brawn, a brilliant tactician, was banking on rain that never came, the fact remains that three stops seemed too big a gamble. Button tried to make his way through, on lap 2 he overtook Massa, but then stopped for fuel and came back. In order for him to finish fifth the team had to mock Barrichello. From here came the anger of the Brazilian, who had made a great start, leading at the first corner, and dreamed of relaunching himself in the rainbow race. The verdict is merciless:

 

"My team showed how to lose a race. Ours isn't a winning mentality, too many mistakes, bad work in the pits. In the first pit stop we lost 0.6 seconds, I re-entered the track behind Massa and goodbye victory. In the second we lost five seconds. Goodbye podium. I would have finished third, I found myself fifth. Third stop, they let me back in before Button and I don't know why: he overtook me and I finished sixth. I did my duty. I wouldn't say the same about them".

 

Good for Felipe Massa, who for the first time this year stands on the podium. And for Nico Rosberg, fourth. Missing, once again, Kimi Raikkonen. A stone smashed through the radiator. No joke. Ferrari isn't used to swapping third place for a win. It may be a good start, not a finish, but Felipe Massa can't play along.

 

"I am happy, excellent result: starting eighth, finishing third, can give us moral to improve the car, close the season with dignity, but above all give us the boost for the 2010 car, the one that has to take us back to the top, fighting for the World Championship. I am happy for the podium, but the smell of success is something else. I know very well how Webber feels, I know the mood. A feeling that I can't wait to re-experience myself".

 

No barter with emotions. Felipe Massa has experienced more than that, including a world title that disappeared at the last corner, not so long ago, in November 2008, although looking at this year's Ferrari it seems like a century. Third place, snatched with tenacity and skill, can serve to bring a smile, that relaxed face that Felipe Massa hadn't shown since 2 November a year ago, his last time on the podium and what's more, with a victory, the ultimate disappointment for the lost World Championship, but the pride of having tried and not having betrayed in front of his own people. Massa missed the final award ceremony:

 

"Having experienced it once again can be a good augury. I didn't think third place was possible. Instead I was proved wrong, because the kers helped me at the start, because the tyres in the race performed at their best, because my pace after the first stop was excellent, at the level of the Red Bulls, so much so that I was able to stay behind Vettel. In fact, I even have one regret: maybe if we had brought forward the second pit stop, I could have finished the race in second place. Over the radio I asked the team, they told me it wasn't possible".

 

The reason calls into question those tyres (the same for everyone) that create unpredictable swings in the performance of individual cars. 

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Says Stefano Domenicali:

 

"Sometimes we get a lot better, sometimes we get worse and often we don't understand why. And it affects all cars: just think that in the final Alonso was flying with the Renault, Trulli with the Toyota was traveling faster than the Red Bulls".

 

And the Ferrari, another strange thing, was going faster on the damn hard tyres than on the softs. So Massa is right, the early pit stop (take off the softs, put on the hard, finish ahead of Vettel and resist his attack) could have given a position. It's a year like this, better to aim for 2010 already. As Stefano Domenicali says:

 

"Soon we will concentrate all our efforts on the new car, knowing that this season we can aim for third place in the constructors' championship at best".

 

When? End of the month, after the Hungarian Grand Prix. It will have to be the car of rebirth and will not have Raikkonen cursing the Nurburgring.

 

"A rock smashed my radiator, this track brings me bad luck".

 

He, in a duel, compromised Sutil's race, but he has no responsibility, even the Force India driver acknowledges this.

 

"In Monte-Carlo it was my fault, I had crashed into him, here not".

 

From the judges absolution for both. But for Raikkonen (bitter constant) also zero points. Meanwhile, Bernie Ecclestone denies that he wants to leave F1 and announces that he expects the signing of the new Concord Agreement shortly. The patron of the Circus thus sends a message to the FOTA teams that they are about to meet, a meeting scheduled for Wednesday 15 July 2009: the team managers will go over the last notes of the agreement, including the budget reduction, and then they will be at Ecclestone's. If everything goes smoothly there will be the last step, i.e. the presentation to the FIA for the final signatures.

 

"At the end also Max Mosley will be happy with the result obtained and he’ll be able to leave his place. As far as I'm concerned I'll still be around".

 

Bernie Ecclestone reaffirms, and the confirmation also comes from Donald Mackenzie, manager of CVC (shareholder of the commercial rights of the Circus):

 

"Bernie remains in his seat, despite the sentences about Nazism. But he's sorry and that's the end of it".


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