Formula One Excitement Returns
Excitement returned to Grand Prix racing with a superb race in Istanbul.
Ferrari, as has been usual since Australia, was the team to beat and Lewis Hamilton certainly did his best. His aggressive driving in the second stint was a joy to watch. This does not detract from Massa who did all that was needed of him. He loves the track and it shows and despite an apparent improvement by the McLaren Mercedes I think he still had the best car. If you just watch the in-board car shots you would have seen that the Ferrari drivers don’t need to work as hard. That touch of under-steer doesn’t change to a snap out of the back; they can get power to the road without lots of steering wheel corrections. Something which is so vital when you have got high speed sections linking up, as you have on this circuit, coupled with the need to be able to change direction quickly and get back on the power early through the tighter sections.
I was sad to see the Super Aguri had lost its fight to survive. I well know from my own experience what it is when sponsors don’t pay and threaten your very existence. I am surprised that somewhere within the Honda Empire there wasn’t the will or sufficient help to find a new sponsor. The possibilities of feeding young Japanese nationals and other potential Lewis Hamiltons into Formula One via Super Aguri was tremendous and would have made up for the waste of time, money and direction that their own team has carried out from the English base. Also in this period when the regulations are changing and we are likely to see more changes introduced because of environmental issues, I could well imagine that back there at R & D in Tokyo they are coming up with many varied ideas on how best to meet the new challenges and that perhaps a little competition between two teams could have been good for all. But perhaps that is why it didn’t survive.
John Surtees
12 May 2008
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