SCHUEY F1 said:
Thanks for that - I'm awfully jelly that we don't get coverage like this in Australia.
As for the race itself...
I really enjoyed Hamilton's aggressive - but controlled - racing this time around. I enjoyed his post race interview even more. Dry sports like F1 and Rugby Union could use more personalities like him. In fact, BBC's coverage last night (which I watched exclusively ahead of our local HD channels coverage) really rammed home how on top of their game they are, from go to whoah I enjoyed it.
Schuey's drive was good fun, and was complemented well by Brundle's on point dry wit commentary on Schuey's drive.
I felt so sorry for Button. What a muck up by the pit controller?!
Mrs elfinke really had enjoyed the race up to this point. It was lap ~48/52 and she was somewhat into it, the first race I have had her occupy the couch next to me for this season.
Then the RBR pit radio came through.
"Maintain the gap Mark". Those now infamous words rang through my speakers.
"What does that mean?" Mrs elfinke asks.
I explain, carefully choosing my words so as to not let my sheer annoyance and frustration come through, drawing comparisons to the Ferrari teams orders of the Schuey yesteryears, and the Tour De France conversation we had had earlier that day, and then concluded by explaining that F1 is supposedly a team sport and so team/constructor points are more important than individuals blah blah blah.
In the end, I give up and let my own feelings on the matter flow through my mouth.
It is now the on board camera of Webber dicing with Vettel near the old pit complex (andnotasinglefuckwasgiven.gif). Mrs elfinke gets up to leave the room. "Wait!" I hastily exclaim, "This could be really exciting?!"
"I don't care if it is" she retorts, and went to bed to watch Phil Spencer talk about houses or something.
Feeling dejected and let down by RBR and the sport in general, I watch the race conclude. My earlier frustration boils over when I hear Jordan try to defend the matter (note, not the individual decision but instead the overriding principle that dictated it. I'll come back to this).
And so F1 has lost a pseudo-casual fan this year; this morning over breakfast Mrs elfinke declared that what little interest she did have in watching the season dissipated last night, a feeling further exacerbated by me explaining the impact last night had on the driver's points championship standings.
All the 'it's a team sport' rhetoric ring hollow, not in the least because I'm sure Webber's pit crew are as much a part of 'a team' as Vettel's. And the thought that had the roles been reversed a different order wouldn't have been given doesn't ring true to me, though I am willing to give RBR the benefit of the doubt until such an event occurs.
But getting back to Jordan, I agree with him - in the moment last night, it was the right decision. The sport allows for those decisions to be made, and so RBR had no choice but to make that decision for the betterment of the team, as Coulthard(?) said later on, RBR were "damned if they, damned if they don't" in that case. The way it stands, the teams have no obligation to make F1 interesting to watch or fun to spectate - they have an obligation to win races and get points. That's all. Until that paradigm changes we are stuck with the current set up.
Outside of that, the principle of the decision is fucked. I payed nothing to watch that race, and I still felt ripped off. I have little-to-nothing invested in any of the drivers and especially none of the teams, beyond fleeting moments of joy after a good overtake, gaiety after Schuey loses another front wing, or conversely moments of rage after a dumb move or sorrow after some misfortune. Having nothing invested to me means a negative net result for my overall disposition towards the sport after a race like last night.
Anyway, this little story was fun to write down and I'm only half serious
As a casual fan though, fuck team orders.
/edit: Some unsurprising news http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsp...team-orders-20110711-1ha9i.html#ixzz1Rm5jAn4P
