Ferrari

Alonso has yet again sparked controversy in the sport of Formula One, and yet again it is because of his selfishness.

If you like Fernando Alonso there is no point reading on...

This article is not meant to be the best one written, or to be that fun to read. Its just an article for me to rant and maybe an article for some to concur with.

If you are into F1, you probably watched the German Prand Prix on Sunday or have read about it.

There is just one real story... Alonso is a cheat.

He believes he is the best driver in the championship, and that the Ferrari team revolves around him.

He cried like a baby because he wanted to win. To shut him up, Massa (a true team player) let the big eyebrowed Spaniard drive past.

This is just the tip of a very large iceberg.

For most Englishmen, nothing can undo what he did to Lewis Hamilton during qualifying of the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix.

With seconds to go to qualify, both McLaren teammates pitted to get ready for another lap to try and get to pole position for the race the next day.

Alonso went in first, but then seemed to stop for much longer than usual.

Too long.

He was stationary for just enough time that Hamilton could not complete his final lap. You cannot tell me the team told him too do that. The pictures on TV showed the top men at McLaren going mental at their stations.

There was another moment in his career that Hamilton will be angry about. It wasn't Alonso himself, but his fans.

Some Spaniards supporting Alonso 'blacked themselves up', and wore t-shirts saying "hamilton's family".

The smug look on his face just makes my fist clench up.

Shave your eyebrows, learn to speak English, stop acting like a baby, and learn to drive.

There are just so many reasons why I have Alonso's face on my dartboard.

Sebastian Vettel is a slow learner. For the second race in a row, he failed to capitalize on his pole position. He is too focused on stopping the driver in position two from getting to the corner instead of on driving his own race.

Okay, he may not have been able to win the race given his fuel problems, but this is the fifth time he has failed to capitalize on his pole position this year.

Worse still, he has failed to maintain his advantage even into the first corner, being beaten to the corner by Red Bull teammate Mark Webber on two occasions—China and Great Britain—and by Fernando Alonso in Germany. Alonso also beat him to the first corner in China, but he started well before anyone else.

Vettel approaches the start of a race expecting to be beaten off the line. He sets his car up at an angle, and his first move is always an attempt to squeeze the second place starter into the wall. Rather than taking advantage of being on the high grip side of the track, he moves off the racing line to try to cover a corner that he hasn’t even reached.

The advantage that the clean side of the track affords a driver was emphasized by the brilliant drive off the line by Felipe Massa in Germany. Massa drove the track normally and passed both Alonso and Vettel before comfortably cruising around the first corner in the lead.

He even had time to do a bit of off-roading before driving himself into a team orders controversy that threatens to turn into another nasty FIA bun fight.

This brings us neatly to the other dumb move of the weekend and helps us neatly forget Vettel's incompetence.

Despite comfortably holding his lead, Massa was ordered to allow Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso to pass him and go on to win the race.

Massa, understandably, was somewhat unimpressed with the team’s orders and allowed the pass to occur in the most blatant way possible to guarantee Stefano Domenicali a date with the race stewards. He also earned his team a $100,000 fine for their troubles.

Ferrari, of course, insists that they have done nothing wrong. They always do. And there is some sympathy for the argument that a team should be able to promote the driver who is in the best position in the world championship.

Unfortunately, the FIA have some pretty clear and strict rules on applying team orders, and no matter how Stefano Domenicali tries to paint things differently, every F1 fan knows that Massa was given an order. That it was delivered in code doesn’t change that one, inexcusable fact.

Felipe Massa’s attitude after the race telegraphed his utter disgust at the decision, one that was made all the more heartless given the relevance of the day to Massa—it was exactly one year to the day since his near-fatal accident.

But there's no room for sentimentality in Formula One.

I suspect Ferrari would receive a lot more sympathy if Alonso had a snowflake's chance of securing the championship. But Alonso’s constant bleating about how ridiculous it was that Massa wouldn’t let him pass and his pathological desire to be the team’s No. 1 driver ended up putting Ferrari in the ridiculous position of having to invoke team orders.

Apart from annoying the hell out of non-Ferrari F1 fans the world over, Ferrari may yet be in even deeper trouble, as they have been referred to the World Motor Sport Council. There is no other sport on the planet that would tolerate fixing that is this obvious (there probably is, but there shouldn’t be). Hopefully the WMSC will take a dim view of this incident.

This story is far from over.

Ferrari face getting suspended from Formula One after fixing yesturday's German Grand Prix result.

Motorsports' most famous team turned the sport of F1 into a circus, illegally telling Massa to let teammate Alonso pass.  

Former F1 team chief Eddie Jordan said, "It was unlawful and it was theft. They stole from us the chance of having a wheel-to-wheel contest between the drivers.

"Ferrari should be ashamed. This was a team order. For me it is cheating and these two cars should be excluded. There is no upside to this."

The Italian team were fined just £65,000 (roughly what Alonso earns in a day on his £25 million-a-year salary) by race stewards, for using team orders, banned since 2002.

That's not the end of it though.

Ferrari have been hit with an even more serious charge of bringing the sport into disrepute. They have been ordered to appear in front of the World Motor Sport Council.

The WMSC has the power to kick a team out of the sport, the Championship, or change a result of a race.

F1 banned team orders eight years ago after an incident with Ferrari again where they told Rubens Barrichello to move over for Michael Schumacher in Austria.

Article 39.1 of F1 Sporting Regulations says, "Team orders which interfere with the race result are prohibited."

Many people in the sport are outraged with what happened including Former racer Anthony Davidson who said, "That was as blatant as it comes. We heard the message, the secret code. It's as clear as day."

What happened?

Massa moved from third to first on the grid at the first corner, as Vettel have an awful start.

The Red Bull driver tried to block the cars behind him, but lost out to both Ferraris.

With around 20 laps to go, Alonso was quicker than his Brazilian teammate, but couldn't get past him. He then came on the radio blasting, "This is ridiculous."

Massa then got a coded message on lap 47.

Ferrari race engineer Rob Smedley told Massa, "OK, so, Fernando is faster than you."

A lap later on lap 48, Smedley repeats the same message and then added, "Can you confirm you understood?"

Then, on lap 49, Massa showed he understood as he slowed down and pulled to the left, allowing Alonso to cruise into the lead.

Alonso finished first and Massa second. It was clear something was up on the podium. Alonso could have been happier being on top of the podium, but Massa looked gutted that he could have been there instead. 

Alonso's previous charges

Alonso is not new to scandal in Formula One. Throughout the last few years he has been in the moments that rocked the sport.

In Singapore in 2008, Alonso was well back in the field. He needed a safety car to bunch the cars back up together. Renault ordered teammate Nelson Piquet to crash. Alonso came from 15th to finish first.

The Renault team were handed a disqualification from F1, which was suspended for two years pending any further rule infringements. The two main men in this scandal where also punished. Briatore was banned from all FIA-sanctioned events for life, while Symonds was banned for five years.

In another moment that shocked the sport, Alonso threatened to dish the dirt on McLaren over the Ferrari-gate spy row in 2007 unless he was made their No 1 over rookie Lewis Hamilton.

These two didn't have the best friendship.

In the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying rounds, Alonso controversially and deliberately delayed his pit stop exit, which prohibited Lewis Hamilton to complete his last qualification lap.

This was the moment of Alonso's implosion at McLaren, and when millions of F1 fans turned their back on the Spaniard.

As the dust settles and the crowds clear from the Hockenheim circuit the reverberations from the latest scandal to hit rumble on.

Today we witnessed a sport which, as usual, managed to throw up a surprise or two, this is what F1 is built and prides itself on. However, F1 is also sadly built on team orders which reared its ugly head today in, as always, controversial fashion.

The first major surprise of the weekend was to see both Ferraris back on form and at the sharp end of the grid ahead of both the ever threatening Red Bull's and the heavily updated McLarens. Ferraris surprising pace was not the only shock, McLarens distinct lack of speed was also a shock to many, especially with the new rear end and 'blown diffuser' package they bought to Germany this weekend.

Friday saw dark clouds hang over the circuit, and despite the sun eventually breaking through, it very much set the tone for what was to come. Friday was the first time we saw a surprise with Adrian Sutil taking first place in a session heavily affected by rain. Despite a few scary moments for Massa he achieved P2 in Practice 1, confirming that Ferrari had a very good pace this weekend. Practice 2 was a little dryer and this time both of the prancing horses set a gauntlet down to Red Bull by sandwiching Sebastian Vettel as Alonso took first place and Massa third.

Saturday opened with Free Practice 3 and we saw the first real dry session and again both Ferraris and Red Bulls locked out positions 1 to 4 with 0.7 separating Vettel in first from Massa in 4th.

Again in qualifying the battle resumed with Alonso taking the fastest times of both Q1 and Q2, but in Q3 the one lap pace of the Red Bull prevailed again and took pole with only 0.002 separating Vettel from second places Alonso, who both comfortably out qualified their respective team mates by over half a second.

Come race day again we clear sky’s above leaving all the eyes to be on track in which Mark Webber described on the grid, 'Could be one of the most interesting races of the year' after Bridgestone bought two very contrasting tyre compounds.

The race got underway and Pole man Vettel made a poor get away and he was soon swamped by Alonso, and most importantly Massa.

Massa jumped from third on the grid to first at turn 1 and Alonso had effectively held position by diving up the inside of Vettel at the same turn. Massa and Alonso streaked away and in the midfield Schumacher had made an impressive start from 11th to 8th by turn 2.

Massa and Alonso continued to pull away at the front dragging Vettel, in third, with them. Vettel and Red Bull a cunning and brave plan to pit early and surprise everyone, but most importantly release him into clear air. Both Ferraris reacted within a lap and Alonso pitted before race leader Massa to cover off Vettel. A lap later in came the leader and he rejoined back into first place ahead of Alonso once more on the harder compound rubber.

Massa regained the lead when Button pitted, however on the laps immediately after his stop Massa struggled and repeated locked brakes and was out of shape into corners. It has been a well known fact all season that Massa has struggle on the harder tyre.

The traffic was against Massa and he often caught it in awkward situations which at one stage let Fernando has an opportunity to pass at Massa into the hairpin and the following corner, however Alonso blew his chance by taking the inside for turn 7 meaning he had to back off and that left him too far down for 8 and not able to get that near to Massa again.

However after a couple of laps Masse seemed to get his car to work and actually pulled a gap to Alonso with race engineer Rob Smedley telling his driver he could win this race with his current pace.

However, this was not to be.

Alonso was gradually catching Massa, albeit by a small margin each lap, and inevitable the message came to Massa. 'Fernando-Is-Faster-Than-You, do you understand' came the message from Smedley to Massa over the radio. I think we all understood what was meant and sure enough over a lap later Massa cruised out of the hairpin to the delight of the Spaniard who casually took up first place.

Cried of foul rang wide across the internet, in the grandstands and among the media, most notably from golfer Ian Poulter who posted on his twitter, ‘That's nonsense if I was asked to bogey the last to let a Cobra team mate pass. I would tell them to forth and multiply. Make birdie instead’.

It's hard to say if what happened robbed us a great fight to the end, as there is no saying that Alonso would have made a move. But what we can say is today we were robbed of a rightful result. For me, it’s very much irrelevant that Alonso was faster. If in front of Alonso was a Red Bull or a McLaren he would have to find away past that car, else face being second.

We all understand why Ferrari has done it. We all understand that Massa had to do it but what we seemingly can't get to grips with is why it has to happen. One thing we must not do is look back on how sweet of a win this would have been for Massa and the F1 world a year on from the accident. We must deal in facts and leave feelings aside, after all if Ferrari broke a rule today, that is the most important thing.

Of course it is nothing new in the sport. As Martin Brundel and David Coulthard rightly point out in the excellent F1 Forum on BBC, the sport is built on this, it happens regularly. So why has this one incident caused so much out cry?

All the interviews after the race tell their own story. The 'I didn't know what happened' interviews by Alonso, bringing back vivid memories of Singapore 09 when he was being grilled on the result of Singapore 2008, and the very shady interviews from the top heads of Ferrari spoke volumes. But the most telling of all came from Felipe Massa, who once again was in the heart of every Formula One fan world wide.

When asked by BBC Radio 5 Lives David Croft in the post-race top 3 interview his string of questions, both his body language and his expressions spoke louder than his very striking words did. The nervous laughter when answering the question 'What happened?' was very compelling and matched his answer of, 'I don't really need to tell you do I?’. Seemingly though, and much more interesting, was how his answers had changed by the time Lee Mackenzie interviewed him for the BBC. Coulthard remarked on how professionally he answered the questions, however everyone could see and hear the hurt and anger voice and body language in the second interview, no matter how professional his words of 'It was my decision' were.

For all the analysis after the race, I felt that Coulthard's comments that 'it's part of the sport' were quite irrelevant. I think the uproar wasn't just about today it was the frustration of why it has to happen.

Since the end of the race I have spent my time ranting on various forums and I have been researching and asking sources about it and I have come to many conclusions.

Firstly, I don't believe today is about people thinking this hasn't happened before. Today is very much the straw that broke the camels back. We witnessed all the radio communications and saw with our very own eyes what happened and it does leave a very sour taste in the mouth. But I didn't hear an out cry like this in 2007 when Massa again let his team mate through 'for the team' and for 'the championship'. Again in 2008 I heard barely a whisper when Raikkonen returned the favour in Brazil.

So does that mean that to the degree we understand a decisions, make it any more fair? In 2007 and 2008 we understand why they did what they did. It worked in 07 and nearly worked in 08 so were they wrong to do what they did? Is it really much different from today as they effectively rigged a result for 'the good of the team and the championship'?

Secondly, today we have witnessed the business that is Formula One and not the sport. From hearing Stefano Domenicali say after the race that the result was effectively pre-mediated shows this race was settled in the board room and not on track. We heard Luca Colajanni stumble and stutter through a tough interview with the BBC, which hardly convincing results.

In both the interviews I was very much struck by the way they answered the questions. Sometimes they categorically denied that they had asked Massa to move over, however in other answers, especially Stefano’s 'We decided before the race what's best for the team' answer surely shows that it was pre-empted or even executed?

My final conclusion is a very unfortunate one.

Today we have seen that our sport isn't as 'fair' and as 'clean' as we are often fooled to think it is. Formula One is riddled with business decisions, clauses in contracts and people pulling the wool over ours, the fans, eyes.

A Ferrari won the German Grand Prix on Sunday. There was only one problem: the wrong one did.

And the "win" could cost F1 much more than its already failing reputation.

Felipe Massa appeared to allow his fellow Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonzo pass him during Sunday's race. FIA later confirmed this by penalizing Ferrari $100,000, after team orders were conveyed to Massa at the 49th lap of the race which saw Alonzo move to the front.

The monetary penalty is mere peanuts for Ferrari. But what is more indomitable is the fact that the race results were allowed to stand.

With F1 in quiet recovery from last year's near coup by major constructors, one might understand FIA not coming down severely on their sports' most popular constructor for fear of losing control of an already tense situation.

But that is precisely why they should.

Allowing Ferrari to keep the one-two podium not only does nothing to enforce the ban on "team rules" dictating outcomes of races, but also endangers the very existence of the sport.

By doing nothing FIA is actually encouraging Ferrari—and other teams by proxy—to ignore the rules set out in F1. It also gives the appearance that it is Ferrari, not the FIA, who is really in charge and that alone could be disaster.

Multi-billion dollar companies never became so by playing on the losing end of an uneven field in anything; let alone F1. The perception that F1 is a "losing field" for their brands could spell the end of their relationships with the sport.

And that could cost them money.

Money, of course, is the real motivation in F1. If F1 itself is perceived as being nothing more than a prancing ground for Ferrari; that other manufacturers' money is doing nothing more than bolstering the Stallion's brand and not their own, they may simply do en masse what some other constructors already have done:

Leave.

And for all the brand power of "Formula One," no one will watch a "one horse" dog and pony show bleeding constructors—and fans—for very long. For the want of an actual race, fans may finally seek their speed elsewhere.

For want of a return on their investment, manufacturers will either move onto other series or—as was nearly the case last year—start their own. And no one watching F1 means no sponsorship or manufacturers money for FIA.

But what is most surprising is that, for all this, they still allow Ferrari to run roughshod over the sport, as if the preceeding predictions could never come to pass and as if history itself had never existed. One mentions history because FIA should know better; There's precedent for all this. Which begs the question:

Has no one in Paris, France ever heard of CART?

This weekend saw Ferrari take an upturn in performance and proved that, if all runs smoothly, the Prancing Horse can be up there taking the fight to Red Bull.

Alonso looked terrific through Friday and Saturday practice, and seemed a solid bet to take pole position. In what dry running the teams did manage, namely the third practice session on Saturday morning, the Ferrari's long-run pace on the harder compound tyre was impressive to say the least.

When qualifying came around, most were surprised when Vettel pipped Alonso to pole by just two-thousandths of a second—the equivalent of twelve centimetres on the track.

It was clear all weekend though that it was set to be tight between both teams, while McLaren were struggling for grip and general pace in the tricky conditions.

Felipe Massa qualified in third behind his team mate, confirming Ferrari's return to form on this type of circuit layout.

Vettel's race got off to a bad start, the German admitting that when he released the first clutch the car bogged down, ultimately causing the wheels to spin. This allowed Alonso to pull alongside him into the first corner, subsequently meaning Massa could cruise around the outside of the sparring pair, demoting Vettel to third by the first corner.

Massa managed to pull out a small gap to Alonso, who in turn broke away from the Red Bull's clutches. Having all started on the softer tyre, when the first pit stops came around - with Alonso pitting first to ensure he did not fall prey to a charging Vettel—Massa's pace deteriorated as the Brazilian struggled to acclimatise to the prime compound tyres.

This led to a thrilling exchange of fastest laps between the two Ferrari drivers. Alonso closed the gap to Massa to within a second, to which Rob Smedley—Massa's race engineer—urged his driver to "push like crazy" over the team radio. Massa responded brilliantly, pulling out a substantial gap to his team mate over a few laps.

With the fastest lap being somewhat of a moving target as the two Ferraris pressed on, Alonso once again closed on Massa. Whether the Brazilian's tyres had become exhausted in the previous laps or Massa could simply not find any more pace has yet to be confirmed by team or driver.

On lap 47, Smedley sent a radio message to Felipe Massa: "Ok, so, Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?"

Since Ferrari announced before the Canadian Grand Prix in June that Massa had agreed a two-year contract extension with the team, rumours have circulated that one of the terms of the new contract, which came as a surprise to some inside Formula One, is that Massa must play a supporting role to Fernando Alonso.

Ferrari have a long history of having 'first' and 'second' drivers within the team, no example more prominent than at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, where Rubens Barrichello was forced to make way to his team mate Michael Schumacher for the race win.

The resulting backlash from the media and fan uproar meant that 'team orders', in which a team can directly manipulate the result of a race, were banned in the sport.

One lap after the ominous radio message, Massa had a poor exit from the turn six hairpin, allowing Alonso past in a spectacularly unconvincing fashion.

The rest is history: Alonso went on to win the race, albeit with a similar pace to Felipe Massa for the remaining laps. Ferrari have since been summoned and eventually punished by the FIA race stewards, receiving a $100,000 fine, and the case has been referred to the World Motor Sport Council, who have the power to strip the team of their result at Hockenheim, suspend them or sanction them further.

The question that remains to be answered, despite having been posed to nearly every Formula One personality in the media this evening with mixed responses, is whether or not Ferrari made the right decision in ordering Massa to make way to his team mate.

The problem Ferrari faced was that for a team that have invested millions in Formula One, they have to consider what is best for them. The only possible outcome that could satisfy Ferrari's needs is winning the World Championship.

Alonso was best poised to challenge for the Championship before Sunday's race in terms of points position, therefore naturally Ferrari would elect to support the Spaniard over his eighth-placed team mate.

Their argument that—had Alonso not passed Massa when he did—he could have come under threat from Sebastian Vettel, is neither here nor there.

By allowing Alonso through, Ferrari could have endangered Massa's chances of finishing second, and besides, their relative pace was so similar with less than twenty laps to go, there is little evidence to suggest that Vettel could have managed to launch an attack on the Ferraris. That will remain somewhat of a moot point.

There are two sides to Formula One, as there are to every sport: the sporting nature, and business.

Most players involved, the teams included, are interested primarily in the business - success, finances, reputation, etc. The fans, of course, want to see racing, and today they felt deprived of that.

The most pressing issue for the fans in this incident was not that Ferrari were in breach of the rules, but that one man was robbed of a deserved victory, and that they were robbed of the possibility of a decent on-track battle.

After the race the press laid into Ferrari and Alonso. One of the questions posed to Alonso by a journalist in the post-race press conference was: "I think we all know what happened on lap 48 and we don't need any fairy tales about tyres or anything to be clear of that. I just want to ask you, because in 2006 in Monza you said that Formula One is not a sport any more for you, but was that which we saw today a sport?"

Alonso, Massa and Ferrari handled the endless, pressing questions from the media very differently.

Fernando responded in a way similar to that of his good friend, one Bernie Ecclestone - changing the subject at every possibility and playing the media game.

In interviews with the BBC, both Ferrari Team Principal Stefano Domenicali and Press Officer Luca Colajanni continuously denied any notion that team orders played a part in the race.

But Massa handled the situation brilliantly, by neither confirming nor denying any mention of team orders, and simply saying in a suggestive manner: "Well, I don't think I need to say anything about that," in the face of questions regarding the exchange of position.

Whatever the result of Ferrari's referral to the WMSC, and however the first/second driver game plays out at the team in the future, Felipe Massa, much like in Brazil 2008 and after his near-fatal accident in Hungary one year ago, will come out of today's events stronger, more determined, and with a deeper hunger to prove himself yet again than ever before.

Ferrari's inexcusible act of cheating at the German Grand Prix has left many questions asked about the status of Felipe Massa at the team. With Ferrari making it publicly clear where the little Brazilian stands within the team, Massa may well look for a way out.

Ferrari's disgraceful treatment of a driver who has served them so well as a test driver and race driver for so many years may perk Renault's ears up.

If Eric Boullier is being completely honest and Renault are not in any financial peril, it would not be beyond the realms of possibility that they would try to lure Massa away from Ferrari.

Vitaly Petrov has done reasonably well in 2010, without ever really excelling. Renault have not committed to the Russian long-term. Given that, it would make perfect sense for them to at least talk to Massa.

Having two established drivers on the grid would be a signal of intent from Renault, who would be in a stronger position to move forward as a result.

Anyone who follows Formula One will know what Massa will bring to the table. He brings professionalism and a drive to always improve. The latter trait being how Felipe established himself and how he came within a rainfall's judgement of the world championship in 2008.

Massa would push Robert Kubica harder than Petrov has done, which in turn would provide a real sense of competition in the team. This would drive both the drivers and the team on.

After all, if Renault are serious about being back in the hunt for the championship, they'll need two drivers of championship quality to help them.

A possible defection would also leave Ferrari in a tricky spot. 

After seeing Massa's treatment, a high-profile driver such as Nico Rosberg may feel he is better off staying put at Mercedes. An attempt to lure Michael Schumacher back would also seem nonsensical given his under-par performances in 2010 and his long-term commitment to Mercedes.

The only drivers that stand out as contenders for a vacant Ferrari seat would be Adrian Sutil and Kamui Kobayashi, who have both impressed me this season. Nico Hulkenberg has shown flashes but appears to be a work in progress.

My Formula One heart would love to see Kobayashi in a top team. I'd also love to see Massa get away from Ferrari after the way they have treated him in Germany.

Ferrari should not want to lose Massa though. He is a top driver and has been devoted to the team for many years now. 

Today Ferrari stole a perfect moment away from Felipe Massa.

Their undeniably transparent attempt at a coded order left Alonso a gifted race win in his bid for the drivers title.

Upon being told that Alonso was faster than the Brazilian, Felipe Massa was asked 'Do you understand?' Moments later he was to surrender his potential victory as Ferrari's team decision forced an unsatisfying outcome.

You didnt have to have the volume button on whilst watching the aftermath of the chequered flag.

You could have heard a pin drop. Felipe did his best to control his body language, but little moments of disgust and frustration were evident for all to see.

What us watching spectators should be most angered about is the loss of the personal opportunity that Massa had presented himself with.

He had allowed himself the chance to triumph in a Grand Prix exactly one year after his career threatening injury. A poignant moment to subvert the horrific blow to the head sustained one year ago was on the cards.

It can in some respects be understood why Ferrari staged the fiasco.

Massa had not been at his best since the accident and his inconsistency would lead many to believe that he did not deserve the victory.

Fernando Alonso had also seized upon the downfall of Massa. He had taken the team in a more fruitful direction.

The momentous points gap between the two of them was almost on a par with the Kubica-Petrov deficit at Renault and the gap between Rosberg and Schumacher at Mercedes.

Yet rules are rules. They are there to be abided.

After Michael Schumacher's controversial win in Austria almost a decade ago, the regulations had to be rewritten to stop the sport from turning itself into a mockery.

One person you would have expected a little compassion from was former driver David Coulthard. Surely a guy of his stature could not have appreciated giving away such a hard fought win so lethargically.

Sadly, he seemed to back today's events.

Maybe this was born out of his staunch loyalty to the ways of Mclaren when he was pray to similar indiscretions alongside Mika Hakkinen. He appeared to be not far removed from being under a spell.

Therefore today's scenes must act as a reminder that teams who mess with the spectacle of Formula 1 should be punished. Disciplinary action consequentially needs to be taken.

From a moral standpoint Felipe Massa should be afforded the win. Yet as his team was the ones who have brought the sport once more into disrepute, you have to feel that any action will affect all those involved.

Felipe however will never get this day and this opportunity back again. He may even never win another Grand Prix again.

If he does not then this moment will epitomise the darker and negative side of the sport, and one that should be dispensed with.

A fairytale of triumph over adversity should have been exhibited, but instead a bitter nightmare is left for us to comprehend.

The whole world is against Fernando Alonso.

At least, that’s the impression that you’d get if you listen to the man himself, or his often similarly paranoid team, Ferrari. 

In Canada, we had Alonso and his team carping on about how the slower teams cost him victory. In Valencia, Alonso has gone further, essentially accusing everyone in Formula One of conspiring against him, even including the race stewards.

He wasn’t happy with just accusing the stewards of incompetence either; he accused them of manipulating the race result, charging, “It’s a shame, not for us because this is racing, but for all the fans who came here to watch a manipulated race,” Alonso said.

Yes, Fernando, it’s all about the fans—not a hint of self interest.

The incident in question came with the safety car on lap nine, which was brought about by Mark Webber’s awful accident. As the safety car left the pit lane, Lewis Hamilton and Alonso were approaching the pit exit. Timing, in this case, is everything.

Toward the end of the pit exit is a white line that crosses the track—the second safety car line—after which the safety car is deemed to be on the circuit and cannot be passed unless directed.

Approaching this line, Hamilton saw the safety car exiting the pits and took his foot off the accelerator—only for a split second—but it was enough to ensure that safety car hit the line a metre of so ahead of the McLaren.

Hamilton then committed the quite serious transgression of passing the safety car, convinced—if Hamilton is to be believed—that he had reached the line first. But that’s not what Alonso had a problem with.

What particularly raised the bushy eyebrowed Spaniard’s ire was that the stewards took almost 20 minutes to penalize Hamilton, by which time the Brit had built up such a buffer that he could serve his driver-through penalty and come without losing track position, effectively nullifying the effect of the penalty.

Does Alonso have a point? Absolutely—there is no valid reason for the decision to have taken so long, but the real damage was done when Hamilton overtook the safety car and Alonso did not; it was only exacerbated by the delay.

Passing the safety car is about as bad as any transgression on the race track and should attract a more serious penalty, but that’s the penalty as it stands. The safety car is on the track for a reason.  Passing it is, by definition, dangerous.

The real irony is that if Hamilton had not hesitated, he would have legitimately passed the safety car and Alonso would have been in the position to make that difficult decision.

Alonso’s almost hysterical complaining—which elevates to new levels whenever Hamilton is involved—is embarrassing. He is painting himself as one of nature’s perpetual victims. All drivers complain on occasion, but most of them get on with the driving while they’re doing it. Alonso becomes obsessed and seems to forget what he’s there to do.

It was the same in Canada. Yes, he was slowed by back markers at crucial times in the race, but that’s F1—suck it up and get on with racing. 

Alonso showed himself to be a world-class whinger at McLaren in 2007 when he was out-driven by the young upstart Hamilton. Alonso accused the team a favouritism and sabotaging his championship tilt.

He is not one of those drivers who is inspired to greater heights by internal competition. He has a pathological need to be the team's undisputed No. 1 driver.

His recent outburst is ridiculous and the FIA should sanction him for it. Of course, if they do, then it’s all part of the conspiracy, that’s the beauty of paranoia.

The raft of new updates that Ferrari are bringing to Valencia is only the first part of a three-stage attack on the 2010 World Championship. Yet McLaren are already worried, and the new car hasn't even turned a wheel yet.

Fernando Alonso has been quite quick in the last few races, making his way from the back of the grid after a few misfortunes during qualifying and practice, despite having a car that clearly wasn't the fastest on the grid.

Winning in Bahrain was a lucky fluke at the expense of Red Bull, and he hasn't really been in a position to take advantage of the speed the car has due to Red Bull locking out the grid in qualifying.

After Ferrari improved their reliability in the early part of the season, while most other teams updated their performance, they started to slip back, but still showed their potential. Could Valencia see Ferrari, in the hands of Alonso, pull themselves back up to the top step of the podium?

During the last race, in Canada, Alonso did lead for a short while, and was a serious challenge to Hamilton's pace, despite McLaren's F-duct. With the new updates, Alonso may have gone from just behind the race leaders to ahead of them by a good margin.

Think back to Monaco. Alonso managed to put his car into the wall during third practice, meaning he had to start from the pit lane on race day. His performance, on a track that was notorious for its lack of overtaking even before the new teams joined the grid, showed that the Ferrari was quick, and, given the chance, could have gone for the win.

Now, compare that to the tight Valencia street circuit, with its similarities to the Monaco track, and Alonso not making a mistake during practice/qualifying, and we could have Alonso as a winner in a victory that he actually earned, rather than one that he took from Vettel.

This could be the start of a major Ferrari comeback, with updates promised for Valencia, Silverstone, and Hockenhiem.

Alonso for champion, despite Red Bull's strange hold on the championship? Stranger things have happened.