THE RACE IS OVER

OWEN TUSTIN
Grassroots editorial column

If you'd just spent hours slaving away on a project for work just for your boss to say “This is excellent, now give it to Peter to present and take the credit.” you'd tell him to stick it where the sun don't shine. Your boss would no doubt want to keep it quiet because of the repercussions it could have on the office. Yet, in the high profile world of Formula One with millions of viewers worldwide, they feel it is 100% acceptable to do so.

As we all know team orders have been banned ever since Schumacher and Barrichello started making a farce of everything F1 stood for back in 2002. Ferrari continued to suck the life out of this once great sport like a vampire from any one of the latest movies or T.V shows. Only they used the words “Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message? Good lad. Just stick with it now. Sorry.” Instead of vicious sharp teeth but the result is the same.

If Alonso was in fact faster then he could have easily over taken Massa but even an F1 virgin could see there wasn't a significant difference between the two. F1 is nothing more than a business these days, it's turned into a very expensive and fast money making scheme.

Ferrari have sent a clear message, only one of their drivers is going to be challenging for the title. How is that sport, they have two drivers, where does that leave Massa? How can either one of their drivers call themselves sportsman, how can anyone take pride in winning a race that they didn't earn fair and square. In interviews after the race, he said, “It was a great win” and “All wins are special” well that only counts if you are a real sportsman. Let's not forget Massa in this, who just lets someone else win, I don’t care how much money they earn, it’s all relative.

Let's face it the days of Mansell and Senna are over, we will never see exciting, wheel to wheel racing again. Team orders, fake crashes and money have killed F1. RIP Formula One, what channels the Moto GP on?.