Ludicrous. Ferrari as a racing team have as much passion as they've ever had. I don't see how you can question this really, nor how you have come to this conclusion.
Yes, they have passion - they're just applying it differently. Wrongly. Ferrari always had a passion for the sport; now they only have a passion for winning.
Yesterday's Pole positions is proof of this, as they continue to display the fighting/never say die spirit which is needed to keep their hopes of winning the title alive.
Pfffft. Sorry, but I didn't see that. If you want the never-say-die spirit, look at the way McLaren ran two casr with two entirely different setups and yet came second and fourth.
Win at all cost? What do you mean? If they wanted to win at all cost they would be doing things of much worse nature (ie. running their competitors off the road like lunatics, ala Senna & Schumacher to win titles. Or purposely staging crashes to effect the ENTIRE outcome of races...like Mr. Sleezatore did in Singapore 08.)
By win at all costs, I mean their use of team orders. None of the other teams were willing to do it (or at least do it so brazenly), but Ferrari obviously felt they could get away with it. The reason why they don't deliberately crash or run others off the road is because they know they'll be disqualified. For the past fifteen years, Ferrari have treated the rules as suggestions - they criticised the FIA for establishing two different rule books last year with the budget cap row, yet they've clearly demonstrated that they think there is a second set of rules for them to play by.
They have a great passion to win, that is no question in my mind...but at all cost? I don't know about that. I'm not one of those who thinks they should be kicked out of Formula 1 for deciding what is in THEIR best interest when they have one driver (who is fortunate enough to get paid millions upon millions of dollars to drive for them
) concede position to another driver in order to maximize their already dwindling chances of winning another title (which they haven't been all that successful at in the past 5 years).
I don't think they should be kicked out, just taken down a peg.
Also, Luca D doesn't = Ferrari so his comments shouldn't be taken with too much meaning. Not to mention that I agree with him to an extent, as HRT has just been filling up the grid this years with no real promise or definite commitment for the future...just a half assed entry to fill up the grid and go with the flow (and get in the way)...which isn't what Formula 1 should be about IMO (nor does it motivate a well established team like Ferrari to continue competing). Then we had entries like USF1 trying to get in which ended up making a complete mockery of the selection process. I will say Lotus in particular have shown good promise and Virgin to a lesser extent...so I for one give credit where credit is due. Although I don't feel Virgin will be much more than back markers unless Mr. Branson decides to take things more seriously and invests more money in his Formula 1 program like he does with his Earthrace boat
IMO, he just doesn't seem that committed to success given his massive reserves of wealth
Luca doesn't equal Ferrari? Then what is he doing there? Why is his title President of Ferrari? Why doesn't Ferrari ever say "No, we don't believe that" every time he opens his mouth?
I hope you are aware plenty of teams have been guilty of dirty tactics (if you want to call team orders that) in the past. What about Mclaren's foul play in recent years...the Spygate and Liargate scandals come to mind (much worse than TEAM orders IMO). I don't see you going out of your way to hate on them. Maybe that's because good old Jenson Button drives for them with Martin Whitmarsh acting as Mr. Goodie-two-Shoes "oh we can't figure out what they are doing (flexiwings), so we claim foul play because we follow the rules and are proper sportsman" nonsense. And omg, we haven't seen teams push the boundaries of the technical regulations each and every year in Formula 1? You mustn't have been a follower of Formula 1 for very long if you want to go out of your way to criticize Ferrari and only Ferrari for such...
I never said the other teams were perfect. Only that Ferrari were the least-perfect of them all. And while McLaren may have been complicit in the Spygate drama, a) it never could have happened without Nigel Stepney, a
Ferrari employee, and b) there is evidence to suggest that neither Stepney nor Coughlan actually intended for the F2007 data to wind up at McLaren, but rather that they were both going to defect to Honda. And at least teams like McLaren and Williams and Mercedes don't go out of their way to try and force their will upon the other teams. Seriously, Ferrari lost a lot of power last year with the manufacurer exodus and the grid expanding. They could have called on McLaren-Mercedes, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Renault and Toro Rosso to support them during political tensions - but with BMW and Toyota exiting, Mercedes establishing their own team and Renault concentrating on overcoming their humiliation last year, Ferrari only have Sauber and Toro Rosso to back them up. And if Ferrari's interests don't align with Red Bull's, Toro Rosso will always support Red Bull. So they've gone from having the support of about 75% of the grid to about 20% in the space of a year. You don't think their attempts to field three-car teams or allow the new teams the use of a Ferrari chassis were anything but a ploy to gain more leverage over the grid. Why else would Martin Whitmarsh say that McLaren are working on becoming the sport's pre-eminent team? The answer is pretty obvious - Ferrari are losing their grip. In Ferrari's perfect work, they would be the ones to set the rules and build their car, and they'd do it before anybody else got to see the rulebook. But you don't see other teams trying to force their will onto the entire grid, do you?
