Today's Formula 1 Grand Premio Do Brasil (Brazilian Grand Prix) will not necessarily be remembered for any particularly great racing. Nor will it be remembered for Vitantonio Liuzzi's "rather comprehensive" shunt that sheared off half of his Force India.
It will, however, be remembered for Red Bull Renault's stubborn refusal to implement, even secretly, team orders that would've put Mark Webber in front of Sebastian Vettel. As the points stand now, one week out for the final race of the season, Fernando Alonso holds an eight point lead over Webber and fifteen points on Vettel. Lewis Hamilton is a distant twenty-four points out. Had Red Bull ordered Vettel to relinquish the lead today at Interlagos and let Webber in front, the Aussie would've been a mere one point back from Alonso.
The main reason that this presents a problem for the Red Bulls: Alonso has, in essence, a fresh engine for Abu Dhabi.
So the debate became a simple two-point question. Which of these makes you more upset with Formula 1 at the moment:
1. Wanton disregard of the rules
or
2. Wanton Stupidity in spite of the rule
Let's look at both points individually.
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Point one, wanton disregard of the rules.
At the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, Ferrari used some rather obvious codes to tell Felipe Massa to get out Fernando Alonso's way. Once Massa was removed, Alonso cruised to victory, with the only conciliation to Massa being Rob Smedley's forlorn "Good Boy. Try to keep up. Sorry."
The incident caught the attention of the stewards, who fined Ferrari $100,000(US) after the race. The Scuderia was then brought before an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sports Council. Forgiving the fact that almost every meeting of the WMSC is considered extraordinary, the WMSC ruled that the penalty given after the race was sufficient. This ruling set off a firestorm from the many teams claiming that everyone would use team orders now.
Granted, most fans already knew that team orders still play a major factor in racing, with the orders usually decided before a race and not blatantly disregarded the way Ferrari did.
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Point two, wanton stupidity in spite of the rules.
Red Bull Renault was faced with the chance to put one of their drivers in an even better position to win a driver's championship. The driver was NOT Sebastian Vettel. Mark Webber, the veteran Australian, has never been so close to a driver's title. If Vettel had been told prior to race start that he should yield to Webber, then no one would've said a word. RBR clinched the constructor's title today, so that championship would not have been effected.
Now, with Vettel winning at Interlagos, Webber rolls into Abu Dhabi eight points back instead of one point back. Fernando Alonso has a very lightly used engine for the Yas Marina Circuit. That'll make him tough to catch.
It all goes back to a lack of intelligence on Red Bull Renault's part. They could've locked one of their drivers into a much closer spot, but they've steadfastly refused to use team orders.
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If you got to any one of the many Formula 1 websites out there, you'll find a plethora of comments on this issue. Some are just plain funny, some angry, and some sad.
Robert said he wouldn't really be bothered by Vettel, Webber, and Alonso taking each other out in turn one at Abu Dhabi and then Lewis Hamilton driving to a championship.
One comment I saw that was particularly unfavorable to Red Bull stated that, if Alonso was leading Webber at Abu Dhabi, with Vettel running third, Red Bull would probably order Webber to crash out Alonso and take himself out so that Vettel (or as this writer called him "the anointed one") could win the championship.
Personally, I would love to see Webber win, but I hate the idea of a Red Bull driver winning the Driver's Championship. In the end, this has solidified my fan-craziness for McLaren.