14/02/2008
NEWS STORY
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Though it has yet to issue an official announcement on the subject, it is understood that following recent events at the Barcelona test, the FIA is to launch an anti-racism campaign, which will be called 'Racing Against Racism', to be followed, in time, by a similar scheme in rallying.
Whilst any scheme aimed at preventing scenes similar to those witnessed at the Circuit de Catalunya last week has to be applauded, one cannot help but note that once again the FIA is being re-active as opposed to pro-active.
The FIA came in for a lot of criticism in the days following the Barcelona incident(s), with the media in Spain and Britain leading the way. While the British media called on the sport's governing body to act, and to be seen to act, the Spanish media claimed that it was only a handful of idiots who were involved, and that the whole affair was being blown out of all proportion.
The fact is, all that's required is a handful of idiots, for as we know from hard experience, it doesn't take too long before they are followed by another 'handful', intent on copying the first lot, and so on.
Whether the FIA is deadly serious about preventing any further such incidents, as opposed to indulging in a knee-jerk reaction to appease the British media, remains to be seen. Any initiative aimed at preventing our sport following the route of so many others, however, is to be welcomed, and at least the FIA has shown a little more backbone than the world governing body of another sport, the International Cricket Council.
In reality, the bad feeling that some Spanish race fans have towards Lewis Hamilton has little to do with the colour of the youngster's skin, and more to do with the perception that he and his team colluded in preventing Fernando Alonso from winning a third successive Formula One World Championship last season.
When Alonso joined McLaren, on the back of successive title wins with Renault, it was fully expected that, providing the Woking team could supply him with the necessary equipment, the highly talented Spaniard would continue his winning ways.
However, it seems fair to say that nobody - and that includes team boss, Ron Dennis - had banked on Lewis Hamilton being so competitive and consistent straight out of the box.
Despite Dennis' best-intentioned claims that his team could deal with the situation and that there would be no favouritism, sceptics merely pointed to the events of the late '80s, when Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna were partnered at the Woking team.
While Alonso claimed to have brought 0.6s to McLaren, Hamilton got on with the job of leading the World Championship, which he did from Spain - Alonso's home race - right up to the season finale, in Brazil.
It is natural that Fernando will have felt aggrieved, for at Renault he was clearly number one, while at McLaren, despite assurances that there was total parity, he will have seen the obvious relationship that Dennis enjoys with Hamilton, having supported the youngster from his days in Karting.
Meanwhile, in Spain and in Britain, the media was busy fanning the flames, lauding one driver whilst constantly taking digs at the other, and of course, much of this was swallowed hook, line and sinker by the fans.
In Hungary, the bitter rivalry that had been simmering for some time was finally made public, or at least most of it. If truth be told, it was Hamilton who provoked the situation, by breaking an agreement and refusing to allow Alonso to pass him in the opening stages of the third phase of qualifying. The Spaniard responded by delaying the Englishman during his final pit stop. After that, the gloves were off.
We were later to learn that, over the course of the same weekend, Alonso approached Dennis, his team by then embroiled in the spy saga, with an ultimatum: "Make me number one... or else."
As the season developed, Dennis was to reveal that following the Hungaroring showdown, he and Alonso never spoke again, with speculation already mounting
as to the Spaniard's F1 future.
So let's get this in perspective. We have two drivers in the same team, both highly competitive, both proven winners. One, having won back-to-back titles, believes he should have outright number-one status, whilst his precocious young teammate is leading the World Championship.
The team continues to insist that, despite everything else that has happened, there will be total parity, no favouritism, that both drivers will be treated equally, fairly.
The media and the fans have their doubts... at which point the FIA steps in.
Ahead of the final race of the season, with the championship, to all and intents and purposes, a head-to-head between the McLaren duo, the FIA reveals that it is to appoint a "fair-play Tsar".
The move followed comments made by Carlos Gracia, head of the Spanish Motorsport Federation, who told Spain's AS newspaper at the time: "The FIA are going to have an official who is going to watch very closely that nothing bad happens to Fernando, above all in qualifying, which is where there have been most complaints or strange situations in recent races."
The governing body responds with a spokesman revealing to Reuters: "We can confirm that the FIA is in the process of appointing a special scrutineer for the Brazilian Grand Prix."
When the move was first announced, Pitpass felt duty bound to make fun of it; however, consider the real implications. Here was the sport's governing
body announcing that it would appoint a fair-play Tsar to ensure there was no hanky-panky with regard to Fernando Alonso's championship bid, thereby sending out the clear message to the driver, his fans and the Spanish media that there was cause for concern.
At the very least, if the FIA really felt there was need to appoint such an official, it didn't have to announce it publicly, thereby sowing the seeds of doubt in the minds of fans and the media.
Furthermore, Carlos Gracia, the man who called on the FIA to ensure that "nothing bad happens to Fernando", was alleged to have told a newspaper that he found it ironic that a racist nation, such as England, had to rely on a coloured driver. He subsequently denied making such a comment, claiming that his remarks were taken "out of context".
Explaining the role of the Tsar, Ron Dennis said at the time: "I made contact with the FIA representative in Spain and met him and his colleague, his assistant, and invited them here because there is obviously a firm belief in Spain that we are not being equal-handed, and that is contrary to the fact."
The sad fact is that in kow-towing to Gracia, the FIA was publicly giving credence to the worst fears of the Spanish media and fans of Fernando Alonso - it was admitting there was cause to doubt whether McLaren was treating its drivers equally.
The seeds that were sewn ahead of the Brazilian GP then developed into weeds, and we saw them scattered around Barcelona just over a week ago.
While the FIA is in no way responsible for the actions of a handful of mindless bigots who chose to express their anger, frustration and lack of intelligence in the most shameful manner, in appointing a "fair-play Tsar", the world governing body of motorsport contributed to creating an atmosphere, and as we all know, for some that is all that is needed. It is the proverbial green light.
"An act of this kind is a clear breach of the principles enshrined in the FIA statutes," said an FIA spokesman last week, "and any repetition will result in sanctions."
Yeh right!!!
It is all very well the FIA making threats - something it is very good at - but we all know that neither the Spanish nor European (Valencia) Grands Prix will really be dumped from the calendar. And why should they, with so many suffering for the stupidity of the few?
However, if the FIA is serious, never mind anti-racism campaigns; it must incontrovertibly state that if there is any further instance of racist behaviour this year from Spanish fans, then it will remove any Spanish races from the F1 calendar as of 2009.
While we don't expect the FIA to become involved in examining the human rights' records of countries being welcomed to the World Championship, it would be good to see the organisation pro-active in ensuring that any hint of racism is stamped out from the start, no matter the country or its wealth. No 'ifs', no 'buts'.
Hamilton was said to be 'saddened' by events in Barcelona, but he cannot be as sad as the rest of us, who expect a little more leadership and a little less re-action from those whose role we have always understood to be the responsible governance of world motorsport.