ltc

Yes, but I have come into possession of 8mm film (shot by Zapruder's grandson, who is eveidently a Ferrari F1 fan) showing a marshall waving a yellow flag from behind a grassy knoll ...

Charlie Whiting clearly could not have acted alone in this matter ... does anyone have Kevin Costner and/or Oliver Stone's phone number?

consolidated

If Ferrari really thought they had a case they should have protested, but they know they don't. If they had filed and failed it would have showed them to be world champion pouters, poor sportsmen and desperate. So instead they ask for a "clarification", a half-assed protest without the negative ramifications of losing.

Alonso even tweeted last night about "winning by the rules" and is supposedly behind the scenes pushing for a protest or civil case. If they keep this up it will not be good PR for Luca and his boys.

They just can't believe they got beat, and now willing to toss any dignity they had after a tough loss but very good performance in the garbage. They should put their energy into the F2013 instead.

ltc

And in a related story, Ferrari has asked the FIA for "clarification" regarding Lewis Hamilton's illegal pass of Timo (I always pull over in exchange for a free McLaren SLR) Glock at the season ending 2008 Brazilian GP.

There were several fans clearly waving Pittsburg Steelers' "Terrible Towels", which Charlie Whiting has said in the driver's brieing, was an acceptable substitute fir a yellow flag if a track marshall happens to be putting on his rain gear (or on a PortaPotty break) and is unable to reach the flags.

Clearly Timo acknowledged this and slowed, showing a marked concern for safety over standings; Hamilton did not, thus making an illegal pass on the last lap.

A penalty applied to Hamilton would give the 2008 WDC to Massa, who would pick up his trophy from Hamilton, and immediately hand it over to Alonso.

Speaking thru his attorney, Flavio Briatore, Esq, Alonso has threatened to blackmail the FIA should this "clarification" not proceed forward to a suitable outcome.

ilko

Great season re-cap with a bit of a British lean to it: http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/For...hts-2012-11-29

Bob Rouleau

Speaking of protests, I suspect ltc had a hand in this one

http://sniffpetrol.com

ltc

Nope, wasn't me. Probably Luca, likely still brooding and haunted by Enzo's ghost.

However, that site did link to some "must have" T shirts ..
The Kimi one is a definite

The "Fernando is faster than you" comes in T shirts, mugs, mouse pads ... apparently quite popular.

Bob Rouleau

Luca or Raj?

ltc

you're baiting me .... nice try

MUSSBERGER

You may be right but he's still my favorite. Love to see him do some sports car driving when he retires from F1

JustinL

I think Button was born to race at Lemans in prototype cars. He's consistent, easy on the equipment and has good race pace.

RajDatta

Sorry for disagreeing with your moderator. I should have expected backlash from Mr Rennlist..

consolidated

Now that it's over...

http://www.planetf1.com/editorial/82...nion-Losing-It

ltc

You really should post the full text ...

Fernando Alonso has spent a season gaining our admiration for some of the most remorseless driving yet seen in an F1 championship. While his team-mate was floundering with the troublesome F2012, "Tenacious-F" (As Andrew Davies has dubbed him) grabbed the car by the scruff of its neck and scored points.

He could never qualify it that high up the grid but come race day a combination of supreme racecraft, some blinding starts coupled with dogged determination resulted in a championship lead that many in the pitlane couldn't quite believe, given that the benchmark car was battling it out with the mid-grid. Now, with the post-race farce of Ferrari asking the FIA to review the footage from the race in order to overturn the result, the Scuderia, pushed by Alonso, have gone too far.

Alonso seemed to have matured as a driver. This version seemed nothing like the paranoid individual who yelled at his own Renault team and accused them of not wanting him to win the title in 2006 because they knew he was off to McLaren in 2007.

The incident happened after the 2006 Chinese GP where Michael Schumacher took control of the Drivers' title race after some botched Renault tyre stops handed him a win and almost promoted Fisichella above Alonso. Alonso accused his team of only wanting to win the Constructors' title and that there were those in the team who didn't want to see him waltz off with the No.1 to McLaren in 2007.

In the end he calmed down and after Michael Schumacher's failure in Japan he became World Champion again.

The following season and Alonso thought he'd be walking into a McLaren team where he was a definite No.1 and Lewis Hamilton was No.2 - and expected to be favored. When McLaren turned round and told him that they gave their drivers equal equipment and equal treatment he was not impressed.

This was at the time when McLaren were up to no good and using illegally obtained Ferrari designs via Mike Coughlan (McLaren) and Nigel Stepney (Ferrari). So when Lewis Hamilton annoyed Alonso in qualifying for the Hungarian GP and Alonso retaliated by leaving his car in the pitbox so that Lewis couldn't get a final qualifying run in and beat his pole time, the relationship between Alonso and team boss Ron Dennis achieved meltdown.

The FIA intervened (quite unfairly because it was an intra-team argument) and pushed Alonso back to sixth on the grid. The points he lost that day ultimately lost him the World Championship. On the morning of the Hungarian race Alonso allegedly threatened to go to the FIA with evidence of Spygate unless he got his own way, so Dennis then phoned FIA President Max Mosley himself.

At the subsequent FIA inquiry in Paris, Dennis revealed that Alonso had deliberately not attended the Paris hearing, even though the Spaniard had been asked to by the team.

Fast forward to this season and the moment Sebastian Vettel overtakes Alonso in the Drivers' title race, the Ferrari press team give a briefing to the BBC that Vettel has reached an agreement to drive for them from 2014. Vettel denies it fiercely and has to issue strenuous denials to his team and his fans.

After the race in Brazil last Sunday Vettel revealed that he was proud to have won the title without resorting to 'dirty tricks' which was a reference to that particular piece of gamesmanship. Judging how mentally unhinged Alonso sounded after the Chinese GP in 2006, when Schumacher took over the lead of the championship, you even have to wonder if Alonso encouraged the release of that piece of dis-information.

The clutching at straws represented by Ferrari (backed by Alonso who tweeted about enforcing the rules) studying Vettel's whole race to see if he made a mistake that could gain him a penalty is a sad reflection on the psyche of someone who we admire for not giving up, but who needs to know when to give up. There is a thin line between absolute determination and raving obsession and in pursuing the title victory after it's been well and truly lost, Fernando's showing us an unhealthy aspect of his personality that doesn't seem to have matured as well as the public image.

In 2007 there was a big controversy after the Brazil race that Kimi Raikkonen won (Massa handed him the win) because many of the teams were using illegally cooled fuel. This wasn't spotted by McLaren but actually brought to the attention of the FIA by technical delegate Jo Bauer. Cars that had finished in front of Lewis Hamilton could very well have been disqualified making him World Champion not Raikkonen.

After the 2007 race Fernando was asked by Spanish radio station Cadena Ser what his reaction would be if they gave the title to Hamilton: "It would be a joke, and we've had too many already," was Fernando's reaction. "If something like that happened, it would end up burying the sport." (And in this case McLaren were going on information supplied by an FIA official, not on claims brought up by evidence the team had dug up themselves).

We had an epic 2012 racing season, with an amazing finale and a miraculous finish for Vettel. Alonso along with Stefano Domenicali had won plaudits for their unceasing struggle against faster cars and a wind tunnel that wasn't calibrated properly. They took the prize for being gallant losers. Not any more. Strike the word gallant.

Dave Jorgensen

agdamis

Even I will concede that this is a bridge too far. Ferrari's behavior is shameful, in this case. Be the bigger team and be the great driver everyone knows you are and walk away with your head high proud of a great season and a truly hard fought and well deserved second place in the championship. Concentrate your efforts on kicking a$$ next year.

ltc

Ferrari F1 design meeting....

Pat Fry "the glass is half full...call Sauber and ask for the other half"
Nick Tombasis " the glass is half empty...empty is faster than full"
Stefano Domenicali "the wind tunnel predicted a bottle, not a glass"
Luca "my champagne is ready, what am I drinking out of?"


Red Bull Racing meeting...
Adrian Newey "OK, so the glass is twice as big as it needs to be...onto the next topic"