I have decided not to advertise this is the usual spaces, partially because this first post is an incredibly biased look at something that I have managed to annoy other people and myself about. Normally, I don't write articles that are personalized or Biased.. Hense the reason this is completely new, and not being posted anywhere
The 2012 championship went to Sebastian Vettel, winning by 3 points after fighting back from last following a first corner collision with Bruno Senna and various other cars.
After that, Vettel put on a seemingly heroic show to make up places over the next few laps.
Over these laps, there was a lot of controversy - regarding the yellow flags and the flags to show that the track is slippery.
This is the part that may be crucial for the rest of this post. I am a huge Ferrari fan. I have supported them for years, and will continue to do so no matter what. I know that they do some scum-baggy things at times (The whole fiasco in America is one example of this) but is still find myself with an unbelievable draw to them.
The last 5 years have been hard for Ferrari. Kimi Räikkönen was the last driver to bring home the Drivers Championship, and that was in 2007. This was, in my opinion, the first major chance since then. We have always been nearly there, but at the same time; not quite.
So, when Vettel span on the first corner, you can Imagine the delight. Its never good to see a driver involved in a bump, but on this occasion, I did smile.
There was, not just for Ferrari fans, but every fan of Formula one ,another advantage to this spin. The next few laps that Vettel did.
No matter what team you support, those laps were the laps of a great driver. Anybody who puts those laps in deserves some form of commendation! A show like that would even make me think twice when reading an article by Jackie Stewart on the BBC, entitled "Sebastian Vettel not yet a great" .
However, Sebastian Vettels on board camera revealed a few controversies, on Laps 3, 4 and 9.
Lap 2 - involves an HRT
Lap 4 - involves a Torro Rosso
Lap 9 - involves a Sauber
These arose due to a number of confusions with flags, caused by weather, previous collisions debris on the track.
I was watching the German coverage. This is because for this year I am based in Germany. So, form my point of view, It looked like , quite simply, that Sebastian Vettel was proving to the world why he deserved to be champion.
It was only aftereards, when I logged into twitter ( I don't tweet during the race because that means Im not watching the race) that I saw that Sky Sports F1 had been making an issue out of something. Upon further Investigation, I realized that the fuss Sky were kicking up, was because of a suspected overtake by Vettel on Lap 9 of a Sauber under yellow flags.
I only saw stills at first, and was convinced that he had until another Ferrari fan posted a video. They were arguing against Vettel, but having watched it - it was completely Legit.
The confusion was with the light board.
to put it simply:
- A solid yellow on the board , means slippery track
- A slow flashing yellow (4 times per second) means single yellows
- A quick flashing yellow (8 times per second) means double yellows
When a driver is in a yellow flag zone, 2 lights come on in the cockpit (steady) to tell them that they are in the yellow flag, and therefore no overtaking zone.
(if the lights flash, it means that the safety car has been deployed)
The scene of events is show below in a video I found on Planet F1 which explains it very well, and proves that the lap 9 incident that Sky F1 had blown out of proportion was in fact legal.
The story is similar for the lap 3 issue, apart from Sky didn't decide to mount a serious attack about it.
The one that wasn't shown is probably the most important.
I have explained the flag rules, and have (hopefully) shown that I will admit when the driver that I desperately didn't want to win is due their credit or is accused wrongfully of things they have done. But this, I think is condemning..
There are a lot of argument about this. The youtube feed that this is from is filled with people fighting.
Im using this as a vent, Ill admit.
What I will say is this:
If there is nothing wrong (and please, if you can prove that this is legal, then do) then fine. I will still be gutted that Ferrari lost the championship. I will however hold my hands up, and say that If this is , then after the nightmare for a race that Sebastian had - he should have won it.
I can to the decision that, after the year that has been, I am not annoyed that Vettel won it, but that Ferrari threw it away, both in the final few races and in this last race, when the spin almost handed the championship to us (and , if Vettel had not done those laps). I will say that there are 3 examples here, but that still means that he passed well over 10 cars in less than 8 laps - with a pitstop for Inters. I will also add that Adrian Newey needs a shout out - not for what most Ferrari fans are saying, that he is the one that has won this championship - but for designing a rear left suspension that can survive the clunk that it received!
If there is something here, then I will sit, safe in the knowledge that we could have won and should have won.
Either way, I am proud of Ferrari. This has been a great year for us. We took a dog of a car and made it so that it was still in with a chance right up until the last race. We did well, and despite out stunt in America, we did well.
I will also put in a shout for Alonso. He did incredibly well this year. I hope, that as I have, Red Bull fans will be able to admit when their rival has done well.
and , as a final note - and I put this last to make a point - Felipe Massa. He deserves a pat on the back. Life in F1 is tough when you are winning, but when you could do better and yet you are told to pull over for you team mate, even in your home race.. He deserves credit, and I personally think that he has been an asset to the team this year.
Here is to 2013. Whatever happens......
There are lots of things that could happen, 2012 has prove that. But there is one thing I can gaurentee..
Ill still support my Ferrari
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please post your comments here......