22/02/2005
NEWS STORY
Although Ron Dennis is intending to put some fun back into F1 this year - as reported by Pitpass on Friday - it is some of his other comments that has Pitpass seriously worried.
The Englishman revealed that the Woking outfit's current line up of Fiery Colombian Montoya and Iceman Raikkonen is getting on famously, with lots of smiles, and a greater sense of 'shared fun' than during the Coulthard/Raikkonen days.
"They are more smiley," said Dennis, "they laugh at the same things, they are in good humour and we're fostering that. I'm thinking of re-introducing practical jokes."
One of the best practical jokes however is not in fact a joke, but a sad reflection on contemporary F1.
For Dennis also revealed that doesn't expect the race cars to do more than five laps on Fridays, whereas the third car might do as many as 50 laps. Furthermore, he firmly believes that none of the top four teams will do more than 10 laps with their cars on Friday.
Add this to the new qualifying debacle and what you get is a sport that, far from putting on a good show for the people, is disappearing further and further up its own arse.
The 'old' qualifying system was scrapped because of the lack of action during the first half hour of the session - as teams waited for optimum conditions.
Now we have a situation whereby few broadcasters are going to show the main (Sunday) session, while those that pay out good money to see the stars on Friday will be treated to seeing their heroes spend most of the day sitting in the back of their garages.
Despite the huge amounts of money invested and the constant claims of a desire to put on a show and entertain, Formula One appears to be moving backwards... at break neck speed.
Stuff the practical jokes, give the fans what they want... a bit more on-track and on-screen action!