Caught in a complete stalemate

Mobile ESPN’s Chetan Narula analyses Force India’s position in the current climate where F1’s existence is at stake.

These are precarious times to be involved with Formula One especially if your name is Vijay Mallya and you own a team in the sport. The activity on, and off the track, this past week at Silverstone ought to have left the Force India owner feeling like a boat marooned in the middle of a raging river, not knowing which bank to head for.

First, off the track, for there is nothing as big as the looming threat of a breakaway series which if carried out in all seriousness will split the sport into two, probably never to be healed again. Although there is still some time to go before the FOTA works out the finer points of such a rebel series, the very fact that they have come out with this announcement means that the FIA have messed up, and big time.

How can you put ridiculous financial restrictions on automobile giants renowned world wide for their increasingly costly innovations, not just in Formula One but other motorsports events as well, is just beyond fathomable understanding? Not to mention that most of this money spent surely seeps through to the road car segments of these teams. Yes, the current financial situation means that some stops must be pulled to make sure that the smaller teams survive and there is actually a sport to run, but frankly, 40 million pounds is a ridiculous figure to be running a F1 team with!

 

Naming Ferrari, Red Bull and Toro Rosso as unconditional entries in the penultimate list released for 2010 season meant that the teams had been pushed into a corner by the FIA president Max Mosley and therefore were left with no option but to break alliances with the governing body. In all this melee, Williams sided with Mosley and that was a given since they manufacture the F2 series chassis for the FIA, and hence get cash to keep going.

Now this was supposed to be common knowledge that Mallya is running the team with his personal fortune but that doesn't seem to be the complete truth for he cited various banking alimonies as the reason for going against the FOTA. The other reason was a simple one that they are in the business for racing and therefore have to go the FIA way.

But therein lies a problem: Brawn, McLaren and Red Bull are in it for the racing as well, but they didn't see any reason to side with the FIA? So Force India going the Williams way was a very surprising move indeed.

As long as Ferrari were part of the 2010 season, it was all good for Mallya but the FOTA announcement on Friday means that Mallya and his team are now marooned. They are now entered for 2010 in a competition that comprises Williams, Manor, Campos and USF1. Surely getting points will be easier there!

For in the current world championship scenario, getting championship points is fast becoming a problem. At Silverstone, Force India were quick having brought new upgrades for their ‘home' Grand Prix. These upgrades were reportedly worth four-tenths of a second and the effect was visible in Friday practice when Adrian Sutil went third fastest in the second session.

So a good qualifying performance was on the cards with BMW, Renault (of Nelson Piquet) and McLaren struggling for pace, and Toro Rosso now clearly behind Force India.

A brake problem prevented Sutil from going anywhere past the barriers and starting from pitlane, 17th was the best he could do. But the Italian was in fine form as he finished a credible tenth, having failed to make it to Q2 and driving a solid one-stop strategy. On the way, Fisichella made some interesting passes, even taking two cars at once at Stowe and running as high as 4th before pitting, only to finish just outside the points.

So what is the problem here? Despite making consistent strides towards the top of the heap and consistent performances which have seen them in potentially points scoring position, why is it that Force India fans still end up hoping that there be some incident which takes out a couple of cars ahead? Why are they caught in a stalemate on the track as much as off it?

Simply because Formula One today is at its progressive best! Cars just don't break down without a reason anymore as we need Sebastien Bourdais to run into the back of Heikki Kovalainen to register two retirements for a long drawn race at Silverstone, which was previously known to be tough on engines, tyres and brakes, the works et al. And somewhere we have Max Mosley to thank for this. It is all such a big conundrum.

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