Are rules made to be broken

 

Subject: Are Rules are made to be broken





There’s one thing which describes F1 Grand Prix motor racing, its its professionalism.

The race is compartmentalised into the preparation and the contest for a grid position, the rich and the famous strolling the start area walking amongst the gladiators of this sport both human and cars and then the start with all the cars funneling into the first corner and then the race is talked and analysed to death by the experts, many of them famous for being ex drivers. The technical detailers about the cars, the track, the tyres the down force, the bits and pieces that are designed by engineers in wind tunnels and all the personalities behind the wheels.

It’s this last element, the drivers and particularly the contest between Louis Hamilton and Max Verstappen which ignites the crowd and the huge world wide audience watching today. Hamilton multiple world champion, the man who has been the trend setter in F1 for the last eight years as the successor to the long rein of Michael Schumacher. Max Verstappan, the young pretender who’s phenomenal skills are complimented by an aggression which was honed by Verstappens father, Jos, who brought his son through his carting days and fed him the desire to win at all costs. We have seen this desire in recent races used to excess by using questionable tactics to outflank Hamilton especially on overtaking on corners. Today was no exception with Hamilton being forced off the track by a lunge down the inside of Hamilton’s car. To me it was a no brainier that the move was dangerous and didn’t allow Hamilton enough space to get around the corner but to some of the commentators it was simply racing.

The race has just finished but clearly on a technicality, one those technical rules which seem to plague, sometimes improve modern sport. One sees it in football where goals are disallowed due to a camera on the touch line, in rugby where try’s are ruled offside or the ball not properly grounded, wickets not given, catches questioned in cricket and now the decision based on which cars can overtake a safety car. The rules state “all lapped cars have to be allowed to pass the safety car before a race resumes” but in this instance they weren’t because as soon as the drivers in front of Max Verstappen had passed the safety car and Max was sitting behind Louis, the race director said the race can start.  On old tyres Louis had no chance to hold Max’s charge who swept by to win the race. The Race Director Michael Masi at this crucial moment had ruled against the rules and to my mind that has to be wrong.