Give Ferrari a break, writes CAR deputy editor John Bentley, after the team followed its routine and drove off with top honours in Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.
Give Ferrari a break, writes CAR deputy editor John Bentley, after the team followed its routine and drove off with top honours in Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.
Bernie Ecclestone must be a worried man after the Canadian Grand Prix. On a day that saw thrilling last-lap action in the two-wheeler Catalunya Moto GP and the SBK round at Silverstone, not to mention a sensational Euro 2004 soccer clash between England and France, Formula One’s showpiece made for comparatively boring TV viewing. In fact, the biggest drama came in post-race scrutineering, which saw Williams and Toyota disqualified because of illegal brake cooling ducts.
But, as I’ve said before, you can’t blame Ferrari for being efficient while the opposition falls apart. Once again, Renault looked threatening only to deceive when basic mechanical failures put their cars out of contention. And the other teams simply chose the wrong strategy, their choice of a three-stop programme proving inferior to the two-stop pattern preferred by the victors.
But the most ridiculous anti-Ferrari comments came from those questioning why Barrichello was not waved through by Michael Schumacher when the latter was running heavy in the middle stint. The same critics are always griping about the fact that Rubens is not allowed to race his team leader. This time he certainly was, forcing Michael to take defensive lines through the corners. And, as the Brazilian freely admitted, after his final pit stop he tried to put together a banzai lap to get ahead, but cooked his brakes and went off. Seems Ferrari can’t please some folks, no matter what they do.
