The media don't understand Formula One
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by user Alex Holowczak
Last weekend's Monaco Grand Prix has turned out to be rather controversial.
Ron Dennis said on TV that he told his drivers not to push the car when they were first and second and it seemed like Hamilton could maybe pass Alonso. Under rules in Formula One, that's a no-no - a team need to leave it to the drivers to make that decision.
I am a patriotic Brit. I am backing Lewis Hamilton to the hilt in this championship, and I hope he wins it. Back here, the papers have been slandering Dennis, for not giving Hamilton the chance to win the race.
But I am fully on Dennis' side.
His drivers were in first and second place. A dominant first and second place at that, there were no rivals anywhere near them. The common sense thing to do was to tell the drivers to hold station. Bring both cars home, it keeps the team happy.
And it's not just me. Ex Formula One drivers, such as triple World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart, quadruple runner-up Sir Stirling Moss, and ex-driver turned commentators Martin Brundle and Mark Blundell all agree that McLaren did absolutely nothing wrong. It was the common sense decision for the team.
Formula One as a sport has always been about the team. In the days that Moss drove, it would be quite common for a Number 2 driver to give up his car to the Number 1 driver in the team if the Number 1 couldn't drive his car. It would be done to maximise the team result, not the driver itself.
In 2002, this was taken too far at the Austrian Grand Prix, as Michael Schumacher was allowed to pass in the last half a mile of the race by his teammate Rubens Barrichello in order to win the race. That was clearly too far, Barrichello eased off. It maximised the performance of one driver in the team, not two.
It's a hard thing to put a rule too. Although usually, common sense seems to be the general logic behind the idea. You can tell if it's not right when it happens. There was nothing wrong with what happened on the streets of Monte Carlo on Sunday, as it helped the team, and didn't favour one driver over another.
Now there has been speculation of Hamilton leaving McLaren.
To explain, Hamilton was a prodigy of McLaren. Dennis saw him at a young age, and through the years, he helped to nurture him through the junior formulae until he made it into Formula One this season. Leaving McLaren for Ferrari, as is rumoured, is really not on the cards.
The media has over-reacted in an act of national patriotism. The disadvantage of not knowing about the done thing in motor sports.
Monaco was fair. Alonso won, and Hamilton was second. And Hamilton is not going to leave McLaren. He has a perfectly good team there, and has shown he is almost a match for Alonso already. Which considering Hamilton has been in five races, and Alonso five seasons, shows that Hamilton will soon have the edge on his teammate.
If anything, I see Alonso leaving for Ferrari or another team in the near future. Hamilton has been backed throughout by McLaren, and they have no reason to end that in the future.
