Newsgroup: it.sport.formula1.moderato
Titolo: Brundle

ITVF1 commentator Martin Brundle answered your questions in our latest
live chat at Wednesday lunchtime.
Here is a transcript of what he had to say
Lee: I read on the ITV F1 web site that you thought Montoya would win
the championship this year. Having seen Michael's brilliant drive and
Ferrari's brilliant comeback, do you still see Montoya as the favourite
to win the title?
Monza was a setback for Montoya, he should have won the race but failing
to get pole position and then carrying too much downforce into the GP
compromised him. On the other hand, Michael qualified brilliantly and
ran a good strategy. I do think the Ferrari works particularly well in
the low downforce configuration. The final two races are not like this.
However if one of them is wet, for me Michael now has a slight edge.
With a three point deficit and 20 points on the table it could easily go
either way.
brun03: do you think kimi can win the championship?
I think it'll be very hard for Kimi now with the points deficit. Also
quite clearly McLaren is slightly behind Williams and Ferrari on pace
and reliability. He is now surely in a position where he needs others to
have problems to enable him to take the championship.
zippybungle: Hi Martin,i know you're supposed to be unbiased but
truthfully who would you like to win the drivers championship this year?
Truthfully I'd like Montoya to win it. With my ITV cap on, we could do
with a change of world champion and more importantly, watching Michael
in 2004 in his attempt to regain the crown and his sixth world title
would be nothing less than spectacular. It's not a personal issue for or
against either of the drivers.
Hot Space: The thing with the tyres and Ferrari's anger at them seems
very petty - Would 4mm really make that much difference?
Extra tyre on the track unquestionably can help. It's very complex
because there are many other factors. If Ferrari believe Michelin were
outside the rules then they are perfectly entitled to raise the issue.
For sure, Williams and McLaren would have done the same thing. The
timing was unfortunate as it looked like sour grapes after a very poor
Ferrari performance in Hungary. Michelin are also saying that they raced
that type of tyre for 38 races so why now? There's a lot of paranoia
with regard to regulation interpretation which stretches back over many
years.
Nostradamus: Is the grip of Ferrari on Bernie and the FIA so strong?
What's next? Declare schumacher the wc before the start of the year?
There is a camp that suspects the FIA would fall down on the side of
Ferrari. The biggest feeling about that happened after the famous barge
board incident in Malaysia a few years back when Ferrari declared their
cars to be outside the regulation but purely by error and they were
subsequently declared to be inside the regs by the FIA. It is true that
Williams and McLaren tend to have an alliance and there is an enormous
amount of underlying activity going on regarding the future of Formula
1. I honestly feel the FIA play with a straight back but from time to
time would be concerned that personality issues may affect their
judgement.
jody: with all the hype surronding the tyres right now, how do you feel
about Ross Brawn still proposing to take the matter to court should
Ferrari not win the title this year ??
I would be very surprised and disappointed in Ross, Luca Di Montezemolo
and Jean Todt if they followed that course. It would be a disaster for
Formula 1 which is just in my view in the ascendency again and would
lose Ferrari an enormous amount of credibility too.
MarkyB: Do you think the fia should have left the tyre clarification
till next season?
Not sure they would have been able to given that it was officially
raised by another team. They would be duty bound to investigate. Take it
from me, none of the teams in F1 are whiter than white and nor have they
ever been.
princess von Nurburg: I can´t believe that "headheaches" was the real
cause for Ralf to pull out from the Italian Grand Prix. Do you think
something else added to that decision? - Thank you.
Lack of incentive springs to mind. His championship was effectively over
and having to help his team mate become champion, particularly at the
expense of his brother, is not motivational. I don't understand this
philosophy of not wanting to be in the car, if humanly possible.
However, I'm not Ralf and I don't have the medical information so it's
not possible to say he was skiving. It's all just a bit disappointing.
jpm4champ: hi martin, when frentzen was being lapped by michael and
juan, do you think he was told by ferrari to hold juan up, only it
looked very suspicious......... maybe sauber had to consider their
engine deal........
We're getting some political ones today! No, they wouldn't have been
told that, any radio transmission can be heard by the FIA. It would be
easy to be concerned that a German driving a Ferrari powered car may
have preferences but I don't subscribe to that. I think it was luck of
the draw where the traffic was encountered and JPM had slightly lower
top speed compared to Michael, making it more difficult to pass.
Jac: Hi Martin, As a trainee marshall, I am becoming increasing
concerned with the lack of notice the drivers take of double waved
yellow flags. As you pointed out at Monza, the whole field passed de
Matta's car, under double waved yellows, without even slowing down a
faction, never mind preparing to stop as the rules dictate. Is this the
drivers making their own judgement on an incident or simply not being
prepared to slow, regardless of the potential consequences?
It's a perennial problem that starts at grass roots where drivers don't
respect the flags. But sadly in the cold light of day, you will be
heavily disadvantaged should you lift the throttle because it's sure
that some others will not and it's not sure they will be penalised. It
is also a grey area that with data acquisition it can be demonstrated a
driver did fractionally lift or was slower in that sector of the lap and
get away with it. Clearly, as you say, nobody was respecting the double
waved yellows to the letter of the law. I know that race director
Charlie Whiting was in a very difficult position and considering the
safety car. Jarno Trulli's Renault was moderately safe but as we saw
with Da Matta, a car can career out of control even in a straight line.
JR: hi Martin, thanks for the great job you do commentating the F1
races. following the fiasco over Silverstone, and the threat to the
British GP, what is the long term future for this great circuit?
Fundamentally it will be ok but if everybody sits on their hands doing
nothing, it will eventually go. In Monza last weekend there were
entourages from Bahrain, China, Turkey and two from India, working very
hard on their grand prix projects. They are spending hundreds of
millions to attract this race and simply we are not.
Owenw: What's the latest news on Silverstone? Is all the funding in now
in place for the neccesary upgrades? will this include a new pit
complex?
There's a remaining £14 million of the original masterplan which will
include mostly pit and administration areas. However, it's a
never-ending process and some work is being carried out to try to put
the next phases and ideas into place.
Connor: Be honest Mr Brundle when do you think the British public will
next see a British Formula 1 World Champion?
I'd like to think I'm always honest and I am very concerned about this
situation. Jenson has yet to be on the podium and David has limited
years available to him now and I am concerned that Ralph and Justin may
not even be in Formula 1 next year. At the moment there is not the
talent behind them but I see several young skills coming through three
to four years from now.
Bev: do you belive DC really has the skill these days to win the
championship, even if he is given a great car again?
David has the skill, knowledge and experience to win a world
championship but will not do so until he finds a way to deliver his
potential all weekend, every weekend.
pete: When DC finally retires, would you think about taking on another
driver?
Probably not. I hope I'm perceived as impartial and fair but it does
complicate life a bit with my various roles. The upside is that being
very closely involved with a top line driver gives me a tremendous
amount of up to date knowledge, some of which I can pass on to the
viewers. If I found a young Brit that I really liked and believed in, I
would consider it but probably not until David has retired, whenever
that might be.
Anna: Why did you decided not to take the job at Jaguar and stay with
ITV?
I seriously considered the Jaguar job and we had a discreet meeting or
two. I read in a few places some key people saying I was too expensive
but that is absolutely not true in my view. My decision was partly
because I was unhappy with the proposed management structure and
reporting procedure and probably more so that I very much enjoy the
television work and the other opportunities that appear to be heading my
way. In time, I would certainly consider a key management role in
Formula 1 but only if it felt right.
suzee: Who's the most interesting person you have spoken to on your grid
walk?
Ozzy Osbourne springs to mind, more unusual rather than interesting! I
always enjoy talking to Bernie. The King of Spain was good value and on
the technical side, I find Ross very helpful, given that it's just a few
minutes before the start and he can be slightly more open at that time.
snoozi: What do you make of bernie's wish to have more celebrities at
the GPs? Do you think it's a good way of popularising the sport?
Not sure whether that's driven by Bernie or more likely the celebrities.
Formula 1 became very unsexy last year and we saw virtually nobody. All
of a sudden, with a great championship, everybody wants to be seen to be
there. I try to balance the grid walks between Formula 1 and other
celebs to keep it varied but let's face it, the superstars and
politicians are there for their own benefit, not for the good of Formula
1.
tonyk: Hey Martin, What do you make of BAR's 'fame accademy shoot out'?
F1 doesn't need to be turned into a reality TV show, there's no
credibility in that. What a way to top off JV's year - poor guy.
I agree and I just hope it's somebody being misquoted or misunderstood.
I have seen tests before where drivers are measured for their speed,
input, brakewear, tyrewear, and directly compared to make choices but a
man of Villeneuve's callibre should never be subjected to that. It's for
the junior ranks and if it's true, presumably designed to make him
choose the exit route willingly.
Alexwar: Martin have you take a look on the new racetracks for 2004,
Bahrain and China and putting Interlagos as the last race..what is yur
opinion on those changes?
I've got a drivers mentality on this that wherever the races are is
where we go. Races have come and gone over the years and there's no
point putting a lot of thought into something you can't have any
influence on. You score 10 points and you go as fast around them as you
can. With my Silverstone and ITV cap on, you begin to think about
conflicting sports, fixtures, climate, race time when broadcast into
Europe etc. Also you wonder how anybody has been selling tickets for
next year, not fully knowing the dates. It really compromises the
promoters. I know from a few years back at Silverstone, it costs a
quarter of a million pounds to reprint tickets for another date. It
really looks bad for F1 compared to say Wimbledon, which I'm sure has
its dates fixed for several years to come.
max: What do you think Eddie Jordan is going to do to get his team back
in contention for winning races? Do you think he will pull a title
sponsor out of the bag for 04 or will he sell a majority stake to one of
the car manufacturers?
I suspect Eddie will have to sell some or all of the company. It's going
to be a long haul back from here and something will need to be
introduced into the system as a catalyst because the haves and have nots
are now light years apart in Formula 1.
shane: Martin, Who has impressed you most this year Mark Webber or
Fernando Alonso?
Both of them but Alonso the most. I think he's been more spectacular
more of the time in a better car than Mark, but he really has been
sensational on key days.
Qwaar-Jet: Does Michael Schumacher have a massive ego? Or is he down to
earth?
He's very down to earth and a man with good family values in my
experience.
James: Do you agree with Damon Hill, that Schumacher will crack under
the pressure of JPM's chase, and possibly try the same trick as he
pulled in 1994 in Adelaide or failed in 1997 in Jerez?
In the heat of the moment Michael has demonstrated he can cross the line
of reasonableness. During the race in Monza I commented that Michael
looked less flustered than Juan Pablo and he certainly didn't crack in
qualifying or when JPM was closing him down in the middle of the race.
He has five championships in his pocket so he shouldn't be getting too
bent out of shape. However, Michael is massively more affected by the
press than JPM appears to be.
I don't think either of them will crack but it could depend on a
specific event or circumstance making that happen. I was surprised that
JPM appeared to back off towards the end of Monza rather than keeping
Michael under pressure even though a win was unrealistic after the
traffic. It demonstrated a small weakness for me.
-- 
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 of reasonableness.
Questo e' interessante ma c'e' una grossa differenza quest'anno: i primi due
non possono buttarsi fuori perche' vincerebbe il terzo.
Ciao,
Luca

L'avvocato difensore di Luca Varani (
lva...@stanford.edu
) prese la
parola, e recitò in aula la sua inquietante arringa:

E' la stessa cosa che ho pensato anch'io: la presenza del terzo incomodo dà
anche sicurezza su un esito "sportivo" del mondiale (a meno che il terzo
incomodo esca dai giochi prima di Suzuka)
--
P#R
http://digilander.libero.it/Paolinomclaren
Rimuovi FOREVER per rispondere in e-mail

incomodo esca dai giochi prima di Suzuka)
O meno di un bell'incidente a tre: una specie di carambola, Montoya
prima in classifica del mondiale in fondo al rettilineo non frena
centra Michael che va a finire su raikkonen.