rec.autos.simulators

: My fav in that race was when the Ferrari mechanics failed to show up
: with EI's right rear wheel, that was hillarious

  Well, there were admittedly moments of comedy as well as drama :-)

--
Richard G. Clegg       Only the mind is waving
    Networks and Non-Linear Dynamics Group
      Dept. of Mathematics, Uni. of York
    www:  http://www.racesimcentral.net/

I still don't understand how this could happen: Ferrari must have
known that tampering with the dimensions of the car would be noticed.
Deliberate cheating with such a part would be just too stupid. This
leaves a mistake as the other possible explanation. Which, in turn,
would also imply a high level of stupidity -- most of all, since all
authorities seem to agree that no measurable benefit could come from
this slight change in dimensions.

BTW, I disagree with those who feel that the decision to disqualify
Ferrari for this offense is a disgrace for F1. If the verdict is not
overruled, I will regain some faith in the authenticity of F1 as a
sports event (as opposed to entertainment). Why? Because the
disqualification will diminish public interest in the Suzuka race. The
officials will earn less money due to this decision. This again means
that the decision cannot possibly be a marketing ploy (like the one
regarding the McLaren brakes in the last season: "They are too fast,
so let's slow them down artificially so the series remains
interesting!") Therefore, the disqualification shows a sportsmanlike
and objective approach: Ferrari built cars that do not comply with the
rules, so Ferrari has to be disqualified - even though it is very bad
for marketing.

Having said that, I hate when such things happen. I want the winner of
a race to be the first one who passes the finish line. I hope F1
introduces a thorough technical examination of the cars *prior* to the
start of the race: the cars have to be measured and then parked in a
'parc ferme' until the start. This would help to prevent
disappointments like this one from happening again.

--
Wolfgang Preiss   \ E-mail copies of replies to this posting are welcome.

France's GP in '81 (i think) where G. Villeneuve and R. Arnoux had their
epic battles for a few laps, would sum it up for me (also not forgetting
G.V. practice lap at the Glen under rain where he got a 27 seconds lead!).
Zandvoort where G.V. passed a Williams on the outside at Tarzan, etc, etc...

My point is that since that era, i haven't seen as good a pilot as he was.
Since then Senna, Prost, or Schumacher might be very good in their own
terms, but they all had the same things going on with them, they put out
their opponents of the tracks at on point or another.

You think we would be able to see a battle between Schumacher and Hakkinen
like Arnoux & Villeneuve? I don't think so, remember Schumi and Jacques V.
in the last race of '97 or Senna and Prost in Japan....

Oh and one more thing, the F.I.A. is like the Pisa tower.... It always bend
on the Italian side IMO....

My $ 0.02....

C. Giroux.

<SNIP>

I'm stunned at how fast the Ferraris were running considering they were
using barge poles. I wonder were they 10 foot ones.

FYI James Hunt only won the championship because a decision to disqualify
him for having a slightly under-width car earlier in the season was
overturned on appeal. I think Ferrari will be reinstated, and this is
probably fair. McLaren have said that they don't really want to win under
these circumstances, and this indicates to me that they wouldn't be too
unhappy about having the dq overturned. Initially I thought Ferrari deserved
no mercy, but when they said it was all over 1cm I changed my mind....

Lawrence

Formula 1 without Ferrari would no longer be Formula 1.

Part of the reason some of us follow Formula 1 is because of the
history and legacy of teams and tracks in Formula 1 especially Ferrari.

If F1 ever loses that, then it will be no more special for me than watching
an IRL race with a bunch of Billy Unknowns driving a bunch of cars for teams
I've never heard of on tracks that have no historical meaning (except for
Indy).

F1 needs Ferrari just as much as it needs Monza, Spa and open-wheels.

As far as this whole Ferrari disqualification fiasco goes, I really blame
both Ferrari *and* the FIA.

Ferrari should have no excuse for having parts on the car that are illegal,
at the same time the FIA should scrutineer the cars after qualifying and
sanction any exceptions then, not after a race is completed, the champagne
sprayed and the fans have gone home only to find out that what we watched
and cheered was all some dream that had no meaning. This shows a tremendous
amount of disrespect for the fans.

The FIA and Ferrari really managed to make Formula 1 look very stupid with
this whole affair, and it really puts a stain on this whole 1999 season for me.

We have a Championship decided in the seedy offices of politicking egomaniac
organizers and team managers who may or may not have bent the rules to get
an extra edge instead of by drivers competing with each other on the track.
This is the same way that FIA politics and selective rules ruined the 1994
F1 season, with those phoney suspensions and disqualifications of Schumacher
etc and of course the accident between Hill and Schumacher in Australia that
decided the championship (if Schumacher did crash into Hill out of desperation,
I can't blame him too much after all the offtrack B.S. that the FIA did to
try and control the championship)

In the end it's the fans who lose and they've turned Suzuka into a race that
is meaningless.

Seeyas on the track.

--John (Joao) Silva

GPL Ferrari driver.
Powerslide Racing Team  - GMSS  League F1 division.
Rossi Razzi Racing Team - IGPLC League F2 division.

Or howabout Andretti! Come to that, Tambay did Gilles a great honour the
year after his death by taking #27 to victory at Imola, the first time a
Ferrari had run in Italy since the Zolder accident. He was quoted as saying
that Gilles was riding in the car with him that day. "Victory was not
ordered by the Tifosi today day, it was ordained".

Mark

I'm damned sure that Brawn would have had things sorted for this race where
it really mattered.

Mark

Good eye!

For some - I could live without them, they're simply another team.
They were certainly an institution once, but that reputation has long
since faded. It is kept alive in the dreams of the Tifosi, but that is
all.

"They" presumably being Ferrari? The FIA officials did their job,
nothing more nor less.

Cheers!
John

BB

Ross Brawn has been saying all along that the team cars, and
specifically the barge boards, were scrutineered throughout the weekend
at Malaysia, from Friday to Sunday. They're the same barge boards (or
turning vanes) on the same cars since the cars were set up for the
Luxembourg GP. Doesn't it seem a little odd, at the very least, that it
wasn't until post-race scrutineering that the FIA tech rep found a
"problem?" This is certainly not the first time such nonsense has taken
place, as those who remember ex-FIA scrutineer Roland Bruynseraede (of
Jabroc plank fame) will recollect.

BB

Now that is actually funny :)  Thanks for the laugh.  F1 better off
without Ferrari... LMAO!... yer a genius... err....

Hammer

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