Rambling on…

Looks like McLaren, or at least Mike Coughlan, Fernando Alonso and Pedro de la Rosa knew a lot more about the spying than was previously thought. More info here.

Many in the F1 paddock were saying the punishment was unfair and did not fit the crime. Now that the facts of the case are out, I wonder what their opinions on the matter are now.

A few tidbits:

Alonso then replied under a section headed Ferrari: “Its weight distribution surprises me; I don’t know either if it’s 100 percent reliable, but at least it draws attention.”

De la Rosa then replied: “All the information from Ferrari is very reliable. It comes from Nigel Stepney, their former chief mechanic – I don’t know what post he holds now. He’s the same person who told us in Australia that Kimi was stopping in lap 18. He’s very friendly with Mike Coughlan, our Chief Designer, and he told him that.”

…

The evidence said: “In total, at least 288 SMS messages and 35 telephone calls appear to have passed between Coughlan and Stepney between 11 March 2007 and 3 July 2007.”

This puts into focus the stark reality of the harshness of the paddock. No wonder designers and important team personnel are put on ‘gardening leave’ before they are allowed to join another team. Drivers don’t even get to test the following year’s car even though they’re contracted until the end of the year. Pinnacle of motorsport? Yes… in more ways than one.

McLaren has been fined US$100 million and docked its constructor’s points! Their drivers are safe though, no points penalty for them. This is definitely something that will tarnish this year’s championship. Funny how every year there’s something that will ‘tarnish F1′.

More comments tomorrow once the exact details of the case are revealed by the FIA.

The British sporting press is famous for bashing people they even remotely dislike. Case in point is a certain M.Schumacher. All it took was a ‘touch’ (ok, it wasn’t really a touch) with Damon Hill… and from then began the Schumi-bashing. Ever since 1994, Schumacher has had a love/hate relationship with the British press. Being German made it even better (the Brits love to hate Germans, even tho they can’t seem to stop loving the cars that Germany produces).

But Schumacher and his nationality aside, what about Fernando Alonso? That last incident in Hungary has surely soured his reputation not only within the McLaren camp, but with the British press as well. Yes, so Hamilton swore at his team boss and told him to “fucking swivel” (for you tango). But, tango correctly pointed out to me personally that Hamilton’s exuberant exchange with his team boss was hardly covered in any of the British motoring press.

Tango pondered, “A case of nationalism surely?”

I’m willing to bet that as the coming weeks unfold and if Alonso calls it quits with McLaren as predicted by so many, he will start to feel the cold stare of the many British journalists and by extension, the British fans. Good luck Fernando…

p/s: Yeah yeah.. it’s like our third F1 post in like 2 days… SO?

Post-Hungary and Lewis is already saying that Alonso has not spoken to him since Saturday’s qualifying.

Well that’s what you get when you have two competitive drivers and no real team orders to speak of. At least at Ferrari during the Schumacher era, you didn’t have that kind of problem. But then again, with Schumacher around, you know he’d dominate either on the track or back at the factory (with his superhuman work ethic).

How often do you see Alonso giving high-fives and back slapping his mechanics? Not very often. You see that alot with Lewis. So who’s the rookie? Even if Lewis wasn’t a Brit, I think he’d still manage to rally his McLaren mechanics around him.

As for the qualifying on Saturday, who was wrong? Well.. all of this wouldn’t have happened if Hamilton moved over like the team asked. But he’s not one to just move over right?

So, Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1 rookie with 11 races under his belt. But driving like a seasoned and hardened veteran. We’re in for a good few years of racing to come!

RTM is the official Formula 1 broadcaster in Malaysia for 2007.

Anyone care to tell me why the Malaysian government has cared to spend millions of Ringgit building the Sepang F1 track only to have RTM show us delayed telecasts of the races? Yes, the race was covered live for Sepang… but what’s the point in only having live coverage for the Malaysian race when the other races aren’t covered live? It’s a long championship which isn’t won or lost in a single race for pete’s sake!

Malaysia is already struggling to keep the race as it is with Singapore coming up with a night street race. Bernie Ecclestone was clearly putting the pressure on Sepang when he said that the facilities are starting to look like they need a bit of fixing up.

Let’s not forget that RTM gets its commentary from the excellent team at ITV over in the UK. Former F1 driver Martin Brundle and James Allen provide an excellent insight into F1 that even Starsports can’t offer over on Astro. This is one of RTM’s trump cards, but does it recognise it?

So, if RTM keeps screening the races at midnight, how is it going to drum up support for Formula 1 in general in Malaysia? So what if it clashes with the news slot? Who cares? If I wanted to watch news, I’d go to the other terrestrial channels. It’s not like RTM’s news coverage is any good anyhow!

While we’re on the topic of F1 and RTM, what’s the thing with cutting to race highlights when the drivers are popping the champaign on the podium? Were they drunk while driving? What is it? Enlighten me… Not that RTM displays any sort of F1 knowledge in any sense of the word, they even cut the podium ceremony in Bahrain, where the celebratory drink isn’t even alcoholic!

Buck up RTM!