Your questions answered - Hungarian GP

Perhaps McLaren is shrewd in trying to get adaptable drivers for their manufacturer championship tilt, hoping that if somethign doesn't suit one driver then it will with the others "different" style, and stil net constructor points. However, it could also be that they are trying too hard to please each driver and neither is benefitting. or of course it could be that they just have a slow car and the voiced opinion that they are working towrds havign the car ready for next years title race is correct?

As for Schumachers challenge on barichello? Absolutely disgraceful and made all the worse by his denial of it and still trying to shift blame to other drivers. I think we all remember him taking out Damon Hill in order to secure the title, trying the same trick with Villneuve and failing...he has a track record of beign a very poor loser and resorting to rather underhanded tricks...I agree with Coulthards assessment and hope he hangs up his racing boots at the end of the season for good!

Why cant we have a text version of these things? :(

i notice that you have no trouble with ferrari's actions at germany, but i think that seemingly everyone in formula 1 has forgotten that without the fans, there is no sport, and if teams use team orders to make the sport trivial, than the fans are less likely to watch f1

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Spot on Murray - you are a true legend!

P.S. don't think the McLaren drivers having different styles will cause them any development problems.

Can you replace JL in commentary box. Then the weekends would be perfect. TA

Yes Murray,banning team orders was a stupid over reaction to the 02 Rubens/Schumacher incident if you think that todays F1 is the same as decades ago.But it's not,there's a large percentage of the viewers today who are not "purists" as such and just want to see an honest,fair race between drivers,culminating in the award of a Drivers Championship.These are the very people who look at all the advertising and sponsorship logos that is todays F1,and in effect by buying these products,pumping money into the F1 coffers.The over emphasis on the Drivers title is probably unfortunate for the Teams,who want to dictate which of their cars finish in which order,but you can't turn back the clock.

Could Schumachers stunt have anything to do with Rubens knocking the Stig off the top of the Top Gear Leader Board????

mename2332, McLaren use team orders too. Kovalainen was ordered to let Hamilton through on at least one occasion last season. Similarly Hamilton and Button have been ordered to hold station and not race each other on at least two occasions this season. I imagine that's why Murray isn't making a big deal out of the team orders thing, because he knows that all teams do it.

And yes, can't we have a text version of this?

Hi Murray,

Whilst I accept your arguments surrounding the team orders controversy at the German GP, I do disagree with you. I strongly believe that drivers should be allowed to race, and that race was in the bag for Massa until he was told to move over. He took advantage of the squabbling between Vettel and Alonso at the start, and raced off into the lead, building up a respectable gap. If Alonso was worth his salt, he would have been able to find a way past Massa without being gifted a hollow victory.

Given your comments regarding Lotus and Bernie's prediction that two of the current teams won't make it to 2011, what are your thoughts on the survival of Virgin Racing and Hispania?

I'm a bit amazed as to how quickly everyone seems to have forgotten about Vettel clearly changing direction and taking his team mate out also at top speed and not that long ago!! As much as I agree Schumacher is completely in the wrong, there are also other drivers out there who need a reality check on their ego's. I haven't ever heard Vettel admit that after watching the footage he was in the wrong, however, Schumacher has now put his hands up. Schumacher is too old and trying too hard but Vettel is immature (as has been seen in the last few races) and needs some guidance before someone does get hurt.....

I agree with an earlier comment. We should get a text transcript of these videos. Most people can't watch them during their lunch breaks in work.

Cheers for answering my question Murray.

Support 2.

"Why can't we have a text version of these things? :("

Mrs Miggins Pie Shop Patron!, if Schumacher on Barichello was absolutely disgraceful(which it was), what about Senna on Prost in 1990 at Suzuka? or have you forgotten? Its also funny how in the replay of Schumacher and Hill, Schumacher turns into the corner and Hill hasn't even attempted to slow down or turn into the corner! But its ok, Hill got his revenge at Monaco.

Spot on cookster, i also think Alonso needs a reality check on hos ego!

ayjayz, if you are referring to turkey, than don't forget that then jenson & lewis had to save fuel, so they were told to do that, and they did have a brief battle, before holding stations. and in germany 2008, i can find no radio evidence to say that it was team orders that made kovalinen cede the place to lewis

Hi eddie going back to the passing item with ferrari and team orders Take away the radios and have all teams give a full list of what thay put on the pit wall boards so thay cannot put team orders on them.
what thay did is just so wrong for the sport David LITTLEWOOD
FROM BLACPOOL

Reference Comment 13 from DR :

We should indeed get a text transript of these videos - but that's because MOST people in the world don't live in the UK ! What about the rest of us who rely on the Beeb for our information ?

Whatever way we look at it this is motor "racing" where drivers compete against each other for the title. Once teams start dictating orders to their drivers it becomes a procession as seen in recent times and why the viewing figures have dropped dramatically. I have watched F1 since 1974 and quite honestly believe that the incident relating to Alonso/Massa has seriously damaged the ratings and US armchair supporters. There is a rule that should be followed like all F1 rules or the sport becomes uninteresting. I would further like to add that Bernie Wcclestone is well past his F1 sell by date and has some very prejudicial views. Swop Murray for Bernie and the sport would see an upturn all around

The rule over team orders. One incident has occurred and all of a sudden everything needs to be changed. The rule needs to stay because it gives us the result we want, the racing we want and the popularity F1 needs! Without the rule we WILL have Austria 2002 again and we don't want that at all!!!!!

I always find it quite funny when you see Vettel being interviewed when things havent gone his way. He actually looks like he's going to cry. The bottom lip goes and everything!

12. At 1:10pm on 05 Aug 2010, Cookster wrote:

'I'm a bit amazed as to how quickly everyone seems to have forgotten about Vettel clearly changing direction and taking his team mate out also at top speed and not that long ago!! ......Vettel is immature (as has been seen in the last few races) and needs some guidance before someone does get hurt.....'
_____________________

I agree.
Vettel does indeed seem to be 'The new Schumacher'
By this I mean that he continues to employ questionable or dangerous tactics that go unpunished.
Pushing fellow competitors towards the pitwall at race starts has been the most recent topic of discussion, but his pushing of Lewis into the servicing area, when they were side by side in the pitlane in China, should surely have received a proper punishment!

On the subject of Schumacher 'fessing up' and saying sorry if his driving had appeared too hard.
I don't believe it. He knew exactly what he was doing, when he slowly pushed Rubens towards the pitwall, and it was the same kind of thing that he's always done.
What's changed now? If he's getting softer in his old age he wouldn't of done it in the first place!

I think that he's made a media friendly comment just to keep Mercedes happy.

I wonder what someone who placed a bet on Massa to win would have thought of Ferrari telling him to settle for 2nd place?

I wonder what a bookie who had to pay out on bets that Alonso would win would have thought of Ferrari "fixing" the result?

To be honest, I don't really wonder - everyone knows that Formula One has absolutely sweet FA to do with sport, competition or fair play ;)

Sorry Murray, but I disagree over your comments about team orders. I think this rule is completely policable. If the stewards have access to all the car telemetry, and they can tell how much fuel is in the car (which I believe they can) then surely they are in a perfect position to make a judgement call should they suspect any wrong doing of the teams. I think that this rule is good for Formula one as regards the viewers, and that the stewards should be given full power to police it (if they havent already). If after this the teams want to try something sneaky to try and fool the FIA then good luck to them, but surely if the penalties for such actions are harsh (which I think they should be) teams will concentrate on the more positive aspects of F1.

There's nothing wrong with the driving styles of Jenson and Lewis, its the car that can compete at top F1 level that McLaren is not able to provide for them that's causing the problem. Both drivers have shown time and again this season that they improve at least two places from wherever they start on the grid. They won the World Championship in the last two seasons, and are now contending again with others for the top honours and showing doubters what they're capable of. So, stop all this nonsense about driving styles.

This is ridiculous if you have a team orders rule then it should be explained better not:All team orders that interfere with a race result are prohibited. That rule does not stat what penalties can be given or whether a car moving over to let his teammate finish 17th is actually a team order. And also if they have this rule they should enforce it with proper penalties not £65,000 fines which for a team like Ferrari is so little to them. I have never been a fan of team orders but have got used to them over the years when i have watched Formula 1.

I think its quite simple the teams FIA and this FOTA should decide which is more important, the drivers title or the contructors.

Us the fans, the majority anyway, look at and deem the drivers title more important and prestigious, so why not take the Moto GP approach and make the teams be more sponsorship, the driver drives the car like driver in press conferences where a Rolex watch. The constructors title still exists in Moto Gp its just secondary

The fact the first comment mentions the Schumacher/Hill incident is very telling. We never forgave him for that over here. His move the other day was wrong and he got punished for it which is all that had to be said and would've been if it was anyone else.

Senna in 90 didn't break and took Prost clean off and funnily enough back in Portugal in 88 pretty much tried to do the same thing Michael did last weekend in nearly forcing Prost into the Wall at 180mph. He like Michael apologised later. The cars were much less safe then as well.

Michael has made some poor choices through his career but have a few other guys particularly since safety improved. Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton are all very very aggressive at times and push the boundaries but the one who gets the critisism in the UK at least is Michael. We really liked Hill I guess?

Team orders should be allowed as Murray says because its a team sport. Fans can quite easily vote their disapproval by not buying any merchandising or team/sponsors products if the team is seen as being unfair to a driver?

To matt-stone,

You're missing the point slightly. You're right in that there's nothing wrong with either McLaren drivers styles, but the issue is whether the two very different styles cause problems for McLaren with car development... I thought that if McLaren have to go somewhere in between, then neither driver has a car that fully suits them and could possibly help explain why they're currently the 3rd fastest team. It is of course not the only factor, just(possibly) one of many.

Thanks Murray for taking the time to do these blogs. They're very interesting.

Good on you Muzza, I honestly thought you'd be super critical of the Ferrari situation but you spoke the minds of a myriad of F1 fans..........F1 is a sport and therefore the objective is to win; Alonso is a man I would put my house on to win a WDC.....Massa, sadly, I would not...........

Thanks for answering my question regarding Lotus, Murray! Look forward to the next blog.

"We do put in extra work to make sure the videos can be watched by all our users around the world by producing separate versions for the UK audience (to whom we can broadcast F1 race footage) and the international audience (to whom we can't) and that makes the argument for providing a text version weaker."

Sorry Andrew,
This doesn't seem to make sense. My understanding is that you produce a separate version for the international audience, but then why am I not seeing this separate version. I'm seeing the same version which it then tells me I cannot watch.

It's extremely tiresome that on the BBC site you follow a link to a video, and at that point you are told you cannot watch it. The links themselves should have an indication. (This is simple to implement - add a CSS class to the body when you detect the international IP, and have a 'flag' of some kind on such links).

As a driving analogy, the BBC puts the cul-de-sac sign at the end of the road rather than at the beginning where it belongs.

Thanks for the explanation Andrew.

And mename2332, it's worth noting that radio communications have only been completely opened up to the public since the start of the 09 season.

In any case, I don't think there can be much doubt what the arrangement was between Hamilton and Kovalainen. And quite right too - Hamilton was clearly number one on merit, so why have Kovalainen holding him up or taking points off him if there was a championship at stake?

As for orders to "save fuel", it's funny how the command came down from on high almost immediately after Button and Hamilton had almost run each other off the road. I'm amazed Ferrari didn't tell Massa to "save fuel" at Hockenheim, it would have prevented a lot of controversy.

Then everyone could have gone on pretending team orders don't happen.

why is it that the most obvious fix for all the problems is not resolved or even noted? if the cars / tracks were made so faster cars could overtake then massa wouldnt have had to move over for alonso because alonso could have just overtaken. similarly, i recently watched vettel stuck behind alonso for much of the race, in a 'faster' car, but he couldnt get past cos of 'dirty air', etc even tho he was 'faster'.

"As a driving analogy, the BBC puts the cul-de-sac sign at the end of the road rather than at the beginning where it belongs."

lol what a funny analogy ill remember that

Re: Comment 27

"1. Statement of commitment
1.1 The BBC is committed to making its output as accessible as possible to all audiences (including those with visual, hearing, cognitive or motor impairments) to fulfil its public service mandate and to meet its statutory obligations defined by the Disability Discrimination Act.

1.2 Unless it can be shown to be technically or practically impossible, all content MUST be made accessible."


I dont see the words 'core content' or 'added value content' in the BBCs statemet of commitment it says 'all content'. It is also not techically or practically impossible to provide a text version so I dont follow your argument. Its a shame that the hearing impaired are excluded as a result of nostalgia for Murrays voice and a lack of man power.

I thought the name of the game in F1 was for all the drivers on the grid to race to become the formula 1 world champion. By following team orders in order to allow one driver who on race days hasn t got the capability to pass a team mate in order to win races. Should in my opinion not deserve to become world champions of that sport due to not being able to become world champion on there own merrit.All this indicates to me is that teams can dictate who becomes the next world champion and who doesnt this makes a mokery of the sport. F1 teams shouldnt be giving team orders its job is to ensure that the can deliver the best cars to the drivers so they can become world champions and the teams get the constructors.By doing this all it becomes is a big parade and F1 will lose the fans.

What Michael Schumacher did was wrong and he has been punished for it im not a Schumacher fan but bear in mind A senna became one of the greats for doing things like this all his career.No-one ever remembers onyone who just lets someone past.

Although the rule on team orders is fairly clear, Formula 1 teams are always looking to find ways around rules, so leaving any ground for interpretation of the rules is likely to cause problems. The rule on team orders is perfectly clear, just as clear as Ferrari's breaking it, but the governing body needs to weigh the relative merits of the drivers and constructors championships.

I don't care who wins the constructors championship and wouldn't be able to tell you who won what in what year. I can, at a stretch, tell you who won the drivers championship in a given year. I watch as much coverage of each grand prix as I can, consuming the advertising as intended, so I help to pay for the teams by doing that. If it was purely a constructors championship, I'm not at all sure I would continue to watch. I won't claim I'm typical, I'm just me, but I suspect, Tifosi aside, it is the drivers who attract most fans to the sport. Ferrari's team orders seemed designed to improve the chances of one of their drivers in his championship, but might also have been designed to protect the team from the advance of Sebastian Vettel. It could be argued if he'd caught Alonso, he would also have caught Massa, so their move was understandable.

Would I change the rule? No, it should stand, because driver victories are more celebrated by paying spectators/viewers and the sport wouldn't exist without them. Whoever you drive for and whatever you drive, you should win because you've earned that victory. If only life were so simple...

As an aside, a newspaper article was discussing the failure of the Mercedes team this season, so far, and what the implications were for next year. The suggestion has been made that the tyres don't lend themselves to Michael Schumacher's style and the change in supplier might change that next season. The car was also designed with Jenson Button in mind, so next year's car is more likely to favour Schumacher. Will this prove detrimental to Rosberg, who is going to be around for a few years to come? Would you skew the design in favour of the driver who seems so out of touch this year or would you lend more weight to the junior in the team's interests? It's a quandary.

40. At 09:43am on 06 Aug 2010, Simon_Says wrote:
Re: Comment 27

"1. Statement of commitment
1.1 The BBC is committed to making its output as accessible as possible to all audiences (including those with visual, hearing, cognitive or motor impairments) to fulfil its public service mandate and to meet its statutory obligations defined by the Disability Discrimination Act.

1.2 Unless it can be shown to be technically or practically impossible, all content MUST be made accessible."


I dont see the words 'core content' or 'added value content' in the BBCs statemet of commitment it says 'all content'. It is also not techically or practically impossible to provide a text version so I dont follow your argument. Its a shame that the hearing impaired are excluded as a result of nostalgia for Murrays voice and a lack of man power.


---------------------------

A very good point, and obviously they have no answer.

bbc.kongjiang.org/www.bbc.co.uk/complaints is where we all need to go now then...

Look, any sport is paid by the public. The sponsors are paid by the public, everything as a bottom line is paid by the public.i pay my gate money to see a race and if I am with intent conned and over ruled by anyone like the Sponsors that I pay for or the public pay for pulled out there would be no sponsors, No teams, and no formula 1. You drivers and teams and ex drivers get off your high horses and join the real world and not in your tight knit isolation (coultard is a prime example) I don't often have the same opinion with Jordan but he is right, people pay to get in and see a race not get cheated and even worse the teams going in opposition to the Rules to do it . And you murray Walker really are a disappointment as you are with the Jet set and not the Gate payer too!. Well done Eddie Jordan he may have done it with his drivers but the rule was not implimented then as it is now.

@Killy (32): "Fans can quite easily vote their disapproval by not buying any merchandising or team/sponsors products" - Ummm, what makes you think I'm buying their products in the first place?

@Andrew Benson (27) - I understand that you probably don't make the rules. But perhaps you would care to explain why two different versions are necessary? What is the difference between them (and don't just say 1 is for the UK, and 1 is for the rest - I've read that bit already!). Perhaps if you guys just made 1 video version for EVERYONE, you would have more ability to make the text version... Yes? After all, I think probably no particularly special talents are needed to listen to commentary and type it into a PC - or at least, much less talent than say, video editing?

Going back to Schumacher and Barrichello. If this was his first offence I would agree we are all being a bit harsh on him, but then again he was looking into his mirror and could see exactly what he was doing.

Back in Canada he almost took out a Renault I think when we was over taking him, bouncing off tyres trying to again, force the driver off the track. This was blamed on 'tyres' Then in Turkey he did the same thing Vettel did at the same corner, just avoiding the same outcome.

Thats 3 time this season, I think bringing things up 10+ years ago is a bit OTT Just because Senna did it once, it is now of for Schumacher to do it?
Everyone mentions the Villeneuve and Hill incidents, but after reading about the classic Belgium races of 1990 it seems it did the squeezing thing on Hakkinen as well, and lets not forget about the qualifying incident of Monaco. A sore looser and a Bad sports man.


My view on team orders, which most teams seem to stick to is that racing is open until after all pit stops and all drivers are into 'fuel saving mode' then all positions should stay as they are unless there is a major time difference, or the leading driver is well off in the points and has 0 chance of winning the championship. Massa was not much slower and still quite close to Alonso on points, this is why I think Ferrari were in the wrong.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Thanks to Ferrari and them 'not using team orders' I lost my bet on Massa.

Thanks very much.

Sorry Murray but much as I respect your F1 knowledge and enthusiasm, I completely disagree with your views regarding team orders and I'm really suprised that you take this view. As an F1 fan since the 70's, I watched the German race and felt totally cheated when Massa allowed Alonso to pass him. F1 is supposed to be a sport (the clue is in the name of the governing body - World MotorSPORT Council) and sport is firstly about true competition between individuals. If I remember correctly, Vettel was catching the Ferraris so the fans were cheated out of a potential 3 car race finish. The result was shameful and the fans deserved better. I wonder how other sports fans would feel if their rules allowed the results to be decided by the teams? If the team orders rule is abolished, it will give all the teams free rein to decide the results of races at will. I very much hope the rule is retained and any breaches punished to the fullest extent.
BTW, there is one way to eliminate the team orders issue in a stroke - only allow each team to have one driver! Controversial yes but no room for team orders then.

Lack of a text version of Murray's comments effects a lot of people. 8.7 million people in the UK are deaf or hard of hearing. This is also an international site so worldwide hearing impaired customers will run into the hundreds of millions. In addition for people whose first language is not English it does help to have a written English guide to understand spoken English and pronunciation.

As a deaf formula 1 enthusiast (and BBC license fee payer) I am excluded from Murray Walker's blog. The spirit of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995/2005 requires organisations to do two things:
1. Provide an equal service to people with disabilities
2. Make reasonable adjustments

The service provided to me is not an equal service and could very easily and cheaply be made equal by a 'reasonable adjustment' in providing a text version.

First of all, thanks Murray for another great feature.

Team Orders:
I agree with you that the rule is rediculous, it was a total overreaction to Austria 2002. I think it should be scrapped, BUT on a abuse it and loose it basis. I.e. allow it but if the teams start to take the proverbial with TOs then ban them completely.

Schumacher:
Undoubtably very dangerous and it was right to penalise him. This is his nature and its not going to change, The Ferrari team orders opened some old wounds between him and Barrichello so both were absoluutly determined to win that particular battle. He does have history, Adelade 94 (although I have always maintained that Hill was not entirely blameless in that incident, would Damon have made the corner at that speed if Schumi wasnt there.... I dont think so) Jerez 97 (again I mainain that JV was not entirely blameless for the same reason as above. There is no doubt though in both of those cases that Michael turned in with intent to make contact (esp 97). In Hungary I dont think he would have intended to make contact, he said himself in the interview that he was trying to discourage Rubens from going up the inside, Rubens was having none of it and Michaels attempt to close the door was a little severe. Rubens should have known (maybe he did) that Michael was going to squeeze him, but as we have seen in the past Rubens is prone to seeing red sometimes.

Much as I dislike defending Schumacher (never was a fan) whats different about what he did to what Vettel has done at the start of pretty much every race this year?

Petrov:
Totally agree with you, they (Renault) want to keep him for the sponsorship but they are not willing to keep him if he is clearly slower than someone else (Unlike HRT and whats his name the Japanese guy).

Mclaren:
Dont think its an issue, Mclaren are big enough and old enough to be able to sort out something like that, Lewis says its the best car he has ever driven so it obviously isnt a problem for him. Jenson I think is slightly off the pace and has been since Turkey, maybe he cant make this blown diffuser work? but before that he was pretty quick. Was he ever going to beat Hamilton on raw pace? I don't think so, but I thought his superior race craft and less aggresive style would help him, and I suppose it has, he has raced well, but he needs to get his act together in qualifying. He is having the same situation as he did last year, his quali performances in the latter part of last year were awful. He could blame the pressure then but whats his excuse now?

Lotus (sorry this is getting rather long)
I think they have the right idea. Mike Gascoyne is the man for the job. I dont think he has ever reached his full potential due to his rather tenaciaous character meaning he has skipped around between virtually every team in the pitlane. He built race winners for Jordan and I think he was instrumental in building the foundations on which Renault won their championships. I hope he can do the same with Lotus

Text Version.

If the BBC were interested, I'd transcribe them for free.
Saying they don't have the resource is a poor excuse.

I agree with Cookster's comments and we all seem to have forgotten ( well the BBC F1 team have ) that, ok what Schumacher did was wrong and dangerous ( very ) nearly putting Rubbens into the wall but what about the Vettel move on Alonso a few races ago at the start of the race. If Vettel had put Alonso into the wall ( which was at the start ) just think about the damage and carnage that would have resulted, possible death too. But no one, no one even from the F1 team has ever mentioned that little move which would have had far worse consequences.

In my view there is no consistency in reporting and punishment. Vettel should have been punished for that move.

hello! can you help me ! I have ideas for airodinamics and quick reles systems packages how and who can talk to ?

For everyone that is commenting on Jenson and Lewis having different driving styles - McLaren have mentioned this in interviews and said that even though they have completely different driving styles they both want the same set up from their cars. The fact that Lewis is agressive and pushes his car to the limit and Jenson tends to be smoother and look after his tyres better doesn't dictate the need for a different design of car - it affects the setup and more importantly how the car lasts in the race.

McLaren just seems to be struggling with their exhaust blown diffuser and how to have a flexible wing which is legal. Personally I think they are, in a sense, being too cautious and not willing to take a gamble on the wings etc... don't forget they started putting a lot of effort for a couple of weeks into the ride height solution only for the FIA to deem anything of the sort illegal so they are probably nervous about wasting resource

@darran mccalman (57) - before you go and talk to anyone, I suggest you go back to school and learn some English grammar & how to spell!

Murray, after what happened in Spa I'm anxiously waiting for your comments and review. Please, don't be long...

The 2010 season reminds me of the F1 of the late 80's and early 90's!

Cheers!

Where are you Murray??

It's been a while since your last review...

Earlier in the season you said that Fernando Alonos would win the title, do you still feel the same way about that?

Is F1 a team sport or an individual one? If it's a team sport, is that compromised at all by the Drivers' Championship, and if so how would you resolve the conflict?

Hi Murry,

What do you think Hamilton needs to do to keep the championship alive in the last stage of the season?

Did Mclaren cost Jenson the race by being so indiscreet over team radio re pitstop?

Hi Murray,

I was just wondering if Alonso, Button and Massa could all be DQ'ed as they all crossed the white line marking the edge of the track just before they crossed the finish line at the end of the race? Since all through the race the commentator were constantly saying that although other wide parts of the track could be used, this particular section was "off limits".

Thanks

Peter Wright

Hello Murray,

Do you approve of F1's expansion into the Far East at the expense of European venues?

Thanks and best regards as always,

Gianni

Hi Murray,

At Silverstone I asked you who you thought was going to win the Drivers and Constructors Championships. You said Alonso would win it but would like Webber.
I thought your answer was odd but now I think Alonso might as the other cars will take points off each other.

So my question is:

Who do you think will win both the drivers and Constructors championships?

Dear Murray,

what do you think about the lack of punishment of Ferrari's team orders? Should F1 simply abolish a rule that clearly isn't working due to lack of credible punishment, at the risk of alienating many fans, or should they up the ante and dock points or disqualify teams that use such orders, running risk of provoking the team's ire?

Thanks,

Pedro Franco

Hi Murray.I want to comment about "team rules". Its a topic that always seems to be raised without a solution from the governing body. The sport is racing and drivers should be in a position to race. Would it not benefit all if formal rules were introduced; e.g. if prior to the start of a race it is still mathematically possible (even though highly unlikely) to win the drivers championship, no team orders can come into play. Therefore at the start of a race, if a driver can not mathematically win the title only then can a team ask him to benefit their first team driver.

Drivers championship after Monza


It seems likely that the drivers championship will end the season in a close points contest...what will happen if two drivers or constructors get the same winning points at the end of the season?

I know they are only allowed 8 engines per year. However if they want to use a new engine at particular tracks and the engine they have just used has not been used fully, are they allowed to refit that earlier used engine provided it has not had any work carried out on it? Also if an engine is damaged as the result of an accident caused by another driver, does the engine replacement count as one of their 8 engines?

Cheers Storming

if you look at the finnish alonso crosses the white line near the pit wall before passing the finnish line

Are team orders a good thing? This just seems to me to be pandering to those drivers who cannot cope with the concept of a race. If a driver is behind his team mate, then there must be a reason for that, bad set-up, to many mistakes, or the one that seems to be the most difficult for many drivers egos to cope with, that the other driver is just better than them this time out. Why do teams have to pander to drivers who throw the toys out of the pram just because they aren't in front of their team mate? Surely, if they are as good as they tell us they are, then the best thing to do would be to prove that with their driving skill rather than their immature childishness. If team orders come in then surely there is no need for a second car as it would be insulting to that driver, and nobody wants to see a second car just there to hold everyone else up while the first car on the team makes a lead. So, get rid of car number two and that will save lots of money. But, that still doesn't protect the driver from the car in front. Who can they cry to now? Even better, lets save even more money and just have the cars on the track for one hour each and the fastest time wins the race,no crashes, no being behind anyone as each driver will be the only one out in front on their allotted hour. Perfect, no egos bruised and then if they don't end up with the fastest time they can blame the team, set-up, tyres, that extra little pebble on the corner of the last bend,anything but themselves. Sorted. There is one other possibility. Maybe, just maybe these people will remember that it is called Grand Prix Racing which means that the best driver on the day wins, not the biggest baby! Everyone should finish in the position that their skill for that day dictates,not by how much they complain about the car in front of them. Wasn't it a surprise that the red team didn't face any further penalties for team orders! It makes you wonder if the mam in charge used to work for them once! Pathetic! F1's credentials drop another 9 million points.
Please BBC will you end this Hamilton bias. There are two great British drivers in this championship, one of them the current World Champion. I for one am just a little sick of everything revolving around Hamilton.Button has just as much right to the coverage as Hamilton, infact probably more as he is World Champion, so please stop acting like we only have one Brit to cheer and act a little more fairly. I realise the little boys like to play together but we have to grow up at some point so, come on, and lets see the two divers treated fairly. The BBC coverage is by far the best and I would have hoped they would have been above being this biased. Please do better.

the monza race 12 sep 2010 alonso crosses the white line near the pit wall check the replay

Hi,
Out of the 5 title contenders, who do you think is the least likely to become world champion this year?
Cheers.

Hi Murray,
Could we seriously see all 5 title contenders still in with a mathematical shot at becoming the World Champion when we arrive in Abu Dhabi?

Hi Murray,

Do you think that it is about time that Red Bull and McLaren nominate their number one driver now - especially after Alonso's win at Monza? If so - Who?

Thanks, Lewis.

Which driver do you think will win the championship, and which team shall win the constructors?

Hello!

Do you think that we will see any female drivers within the next 10 years?

Thanks

Chris, Bromsgrove

Hello Murray,

Do you think the refuelling ban has improved F1 racing?

Hi Murrey
Do you think the new points system is a good thing? If we were using the old system, the positions and points after Monza (provisional results) would be:
1st Alonso 77
2nd Hamilton 72
3rd Vettel 70
4th Webber 67
5th Button 66
Very different positions, but still as close as it really is!
Thanks
Chris, Bury

Did Mclaren make a mistake by not bringing a rear wing to Monza like Ferrari
which was was big enough to run the F duct but small enough not to have to much drag down the striaghts it seems to me they got it all wrong and tried to cover both bases which didn't work.

I would like to know with the sport going back to KERS will the teams that did not use it the previous season be on the back foot in the early stages of next season or will they opt not to have it or is it compulsary to have it from next season on all cars?

Will India embrace F1 or will it be like Turkey, Bahrain, and so on?

Hi Murray,
I was watching the Italian Grand Prix today, and excellent it was too, when I began to think about the damage Jenson Button sustained to his car. In Parc Ferme after the race, how is the weight-loss of damaged cars dealt with? It is easy to imagine that a damaged car could complete the race under weight.

John Neill
Chandler's Ford

Hi Murray,

My question is:

"What do you think of India being added to the calendar for the 2011 season?"

Looking forward to your video blog as usual =)

to what extent do you think michael schumacher's so-so performance this year is down to a ban on testing, and do you agree that we should be giving more credit to rosberg for outperforming his team mate

and out of the new drivers in f1 this year who has impressed you the most?

Do you ever think we might see overtaking on the track in f1 again like the good days of senna mansell???????????????????
I am sorry to say i was crying out to ban refueling as i thought that would help but no i have only seen 1 exciting race this season i am sticking to touring cars proper racing on track not tatical pit stops not what people want to see!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Had Lewis Hamilton not had his incident at Monza, where do you think he would have been likely to finish?

Thanks, Lewis.

Hey Murray

Do you think the team orders ban should be lifted?

Matt

Dear Murray,

Do you think that the 'barn door' rear wing that Button used at Monza could benefit McLaren in any of the remaining races?

Do you think Lewis Hamilton deserves this year's title more than he deserved the one he won on 2008? I remember that year him and Felipe making a lot of mistakes that would've cost them the championship if it wasn't just between them (they made amazing races too, they deserve all the credit), but this year, i mean, wow, he looks so mature, risking everything but smarter than ever; what happened today was just bad luck, because of that horrible chicane in the middle of the circuit. I'm not a Lewis fan (in fact, I used to hate him, not anymore) but I think he's being THE DRIVER OF THE YEAR.

Hi Murray,

Do you think Hülkenberg should have been penalised at Monza for cutting the chicanes three or more times and gaining an advantage from that while Alguersuari did it once and got a drive-through penalty.

Whoops! Post 83 I put in the wrong results thanks to a miscalculation in my really not so clever spreadsheet! Corrected it all and it should have been:
1 Lewis Hamilton 75
2 Mark Webber 74
3 Fernando Alonso 67
4 Jenson Button 67
5 Sebastian Vettel 66

Do you agree that team orders is a philosophy that was right 60 years ago but in the modern world with the emergance of equal opportunities the banning of appartate etc there is no place for such an approach, especially in sport?

Since you've already given your opinion on team orders previously, I really don't quite understand why people are so interested now...

However, I'd like to know if by any chance you reckon this season to be in some way similar to the late 80's and early 90's seasons when there wasn't refueling. Overtaking and excitement has come back to F1!

PS: Wouldn't you be willing to be the commentator alongside Martin Brundle in one of the last races of the championship? It would be fantastic to hear your voice sunday morning once again, a really special moment!

Another thing Murray, what is your view towards the small teams like Lotus, Virgin, Sauber, Hispania and Toro Rosso?

What about Williams?? What happened to this great team??

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