Unfortunately, as often happens in Formula 1, the on-track events have been overshadowed by the inept management of the sport behind the scenes. The stewarding in Valencia was a complete shambles, making a mockery of the sport.

As if the shambolic nature of the stewarding wasn’t enough, the issue has been compounded by Ferrari’s over-the-top reaction. Yes, they have a point. They were hard done by. The FIA systems should have worked better. But, in the words of a former Scottish First Minister, it was more of a cock-up than a conspiracy.

It is unusual for Ferrari to jump up and down and complain about unfair treatment at the hands of the FIA. This is the team that brought us farcical events like Austria 2002 and the “manufactured dead heat” at Indianapolis the same year — yet now they complain about manipulated race results. Never mind, I suppose eight years have passed…

The stewarding problem wasn’t solved after all

Of course, one of the biggest changes in the way the sport is run this year (apart from the change of FIA President) has been the introduction of an ex-driver to advise the stewards. At first it seemed to be working — the stewards were staying quiet, keeping out of matters they didn’t need to be involved in, and generally doing a good job.

Unfortunately, it must just have been a run of good luck, because the past few races have seen a return to the bad old days of shambolic stewarding and controversial conclusions. They still need to be doing a better job.

Getting the involvement of former drivers is a welcome move. But it is only a sticking plaster when the problems with the way the sport is run are so deep. For the time being, the drivers are a piece of decorative tinsel.

It is unfortunate for them that, due to their high profile, the spotlight is unfairly focussed on the drivers. We have often seen, during the race coverage produced by FOM, pictures of the driver in the stewards’ room. In Valencia it was Heinz-Harald Frentzen. But no-one is interested in the other three stewards.

That is a shame because it would be useful to know more. I happened to recognise the name of one of the other stewards at Valencia. Radovan Novak was the controversial person who, in 2008, claimed that McLaren were “responsible” for the Max Mosley sex scandal.

Mr Novak was also reported to have spoken against the prospect of Jean Todt becoming FIA President. On paper, he doesn’t seem like the sort of person who might like to be part of a Jean Todt-led conspiracy in favour of McLaren. Then again, maybe things change easily when the new boss enters his office.

The real problem: The rules are too complex

Mike Gascoyne hit the nail bang on the head:

I think since we started changing the safety car rules, every time you change something you get all these scenarios thrown up, and I think it is just that.

Charlie [Whiting, FIA race director] is trying to do the job as he sees it, calls it as he sees it, and he has as difficult a job as everyone. I think it is just one of those things.

The real issue is that the rules of Formula 1 are too complex. As such, the regulations are filled with loopholes within grey areas. This makes the sport difficult to follow and impossible to fairly officiate.

In recent years, the Safety Car rules have become particularly complex. The FIA has struggled to get this quite right, with the result being ad-hoc changes tacked on to amendments. It reminds me a lot of the constant tinkering the FIA made to the qualifying format in the mid-noughties until it finally settled on the current knockout system.

Already this year, following the farcical finish to the Monaco Grand Prix, a badly written rule has been hastily re-written. It looks like more clarifications will have to come after nine drivers were ended up unintentionally breaking the letter of the law after the Safety Car was deployed towards the end of the lap for many drivers.

On this week’s Radio 5 Live Chequered Flag podcast, Lewis Hamilton described the confusion that the current Safety Car rules create. You can hear it from around 9:40 in:

When the Safety Car comes out, you get all these beeps in your ear, and you get all this different information on your dashboard and lights flashing at you. And you’ve got to have a certain time between the Safety Car 1 line and the Safety Car 2 line. Then between the two Safety Car lines you can go fast. It’s just all so confusing.

In Valencia, the stewards had to make sure they made the right decision. But this meant taking the time to find the evidence and come to a decision in the proper way, which lessened the impact of the penalty. Exactly the same thing happened quite memorably to Nico Rosberg during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

While it’s understandable that the stewards would want to get their decision right, Formula 1 now needs to look urgently at ways of making these decisions more quickly and more efficiently. Formula 1 is a sport with a lot of technology at its finger tips.

There are lots of cameras (the FIA has access to more than we ever see on television), and GPS data, team radio recordings, telemetry and timing systems. Not all of this can be analysed on the spot, but a lot of it can. This ought to be utilised much more.

The words “will be investigated after the race” — which used to be almost unheard of but is now a regular occurrence — should only be used in extreme circumstances. Television viewers and fans at the racetrack need to have confidence that what they have seen play out on the track is the real result.

Most of all, there needs to be a mass simplification of the F1 rules in order to avoid as much this as much as possible. F1 is a complex sport, and it is clearly not easy to regulate. But action needs to be taken, because right now the FIA rule book is more useful as a doorstop than a way to effectively run a motor race.

I also recommend the following posts on this topic:

• Will Buxton: Is Formula 1 bringing itself into disrepute?
• F1 Fanatic: FIA must learn from Valencia shambles

First of all, the sole tyre supplier, Bridgestone, has announced that it will quit F1 at the end of 2011 when its current contract ends. This came as a shock. With the spotlight on car manufacturers, it doesn’t seem to have entered anyone’s mind that a company such as Bridgestone, which has been so incredibly loyal to the sport, would consider upping sticks.

I can remember a time when Bridgestone were not in F1, but only just. When I started watching Formula 1 in the mid-1990s, Goodyear was the sole tyre supplier. But Bridgestone entered in 1997, beginning the “tyre war”. When Goodyear left soon afterwards, it was not long until Michelin came in to begin an even fiercer tyre war.

I wasn’t a big fan of the tyre war. Mostly, one tyre was a major advantage over the other, so we were essentially left with two championships — a Bridgestone championship and a Michelin championship. Considering Bridgestone practically tailor-made their tyres to suit Ferrari, this essentially made Ferrari a shoo-in for the championship every year. That was until the 2005 regulations — which banned mid-race tyre changes — handed the advantage to Michelin in a big way.

2005 was the year when the tyre war well and truly jumped the shark. In the quest for the competitive edge, both companies had made their tyres softer and softer. The resurfaced banking at Indianapolis bit, Michelins exploded all over the shop and we were left with a farcical race in which only the six Bridgestone-shod cars competed.

On the back of the problems, the FIA decided that a sole company should supply the tyres for all the teams. The problem with this was that it had the potential to severely reduce the amount of exposure that tyre company got. With no tyre war to talk about, people might not talk about tyres. For this reason, Michelin refused to have any further part in F1.

The upshot was that Bridgestone and the FIA colluded to concoct the maddest new rules and gimmicks in order to contrive some interest in the tyres. One has to paint green lines all over the tyre in a crass attempt to pretend they care about the environment. Of course, the green on the tyres clashes with teams’ liveries, making the scheme not only nonsensical, but also damn ugly.

Teams are also forced to use a sub-optimal tyre compound at some point during the race. While this may have superficially “spiced up” the action, it is artificial. Drivers are critical of it, and Fernando Alonso even said that he would rather race with wet tyres on a dry circuit.

Moreover, there is a sense that Bridgestone may have deliberately made their tyres behave strangely in an attempt to get drivers and teams discussing tyres with the media. Nick Heidfeld has said that the tyres could be “ten times better”. Joe Saward expanded:

The Bridgestones react differently on each car and finding the tricks that make them work is not easy. Some drivers can do it at some tracks and not at others. Even World Championship challenger Jenson Button has struggled with this…

Bridgestone seems to have concluded that it is better to have people talking about the tyres rather than not talking about them – even if a lot of the references are negative.

I rejoiced when it was announced that a “control” tyre was to be brought in. But it has brought the wrong sort of control. I am not too sure that the current dark behaviour is an improvement over the honest competition of the tyre war.

If you have reached the stage where your marketing strategy is to have people make negative comments about your product, it probably is time to call it a day.

In many ways, Bridgestone get a huge amount of brand exposure through their involvement in F1. As noted in this week’s Formula1Blog.com podcast, you simply cannot watch a Grand Prix without learning that Bridgestone supply the tyres. Yet, after thirteen seasons (fifteen by the time they leave), the marginal returns to their investment must surely have diminished to almost zero. And As Keith at F1 Fanatic has pointed out, their costs are set to soar as they now have to supply twelve or thirteen teams rather than ten.

Nonetheless, it is a shock and a surprise that Bridgestone, a company that has stuck with F1 through thick and thin since 1997, has so abruptly pulled the plug. Now the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone will have a big headache trying to find someone to take Bridgestone’s place. With bridges burned with Goodyear and Michelin, and Pirelli uninterested, options seem thin on the ground.

Sebastian Vettel has become the youngest ever Grand Prix winner at a scandalously young 21 years and 74 days. He is so young, he is the first person younger than me to ever win a grand prix. He becomes the sixth race winner of the season, and the third new winner. It’s a rich year for new talent.

What’s more, unlike the other first-time winners this year, Vettel did it on sheer skill. There was not a hint of a fluke about this. The normal front-runners were out of contention after they messed up in qualifying while Vettel sat his Toro Rosso on pole.

Heikki Kovalainen should have been able to challenge from second place in the vastly superior McLaren. As it was, the Finn never came close to challenging for the lead. On the podium, Kovalainen had a face like he was chewing a wasp, and quite rightly. He’s got a lot to be ashamed about. He was trounced today on merit.

But it wasn’t other people’s mistakes that allowed Vettel to win. The young German was simply mesmerising on the challenging Monza circuit, the fastest circuit on the calendar. In treacherously wet conditions where most other drivers slipped up, Vettel only deviated from the circuit once as far as I could tell, and it was just a harmless little trip across the chicane.

Vettel was absolutely in the groove. His composure just astounds me. When you think about his age, so many other people would have chucked it in the wall. But Vettel maintained a laser-like focus on the racing line and never looked in danger of losing this race.

Without a doubt, this has been one of the most impressive drives I have ever seen since I started watching Formula 1 almost a decade and a half ago. The magnitude of what we have seen at Monza can scarcely be described. It is a true giant-killing in every sense.

Toro Rosso are not supposed to win races. They are supposed to be the second string team. They are subsidised by the Red Bull team that is supposed to be further up the grid. They get Ferrari engines that are supposed to win races when they are placed in red cars.

Today Toro Rosso leapfrogged Red Bull in the Constructors Championship. And Sebastian Vettel comprehensively outperformed the Ferrari team whose cars could only finish 6th and 9th.

I am actually struggling to comprehend quite how Toro Rosso have pulled this off. Red Bull driver Mark Webber has talked about how they have the “new big red engine”. But Force India have a big red engine too. Heck, Ferrari have a big red engine. And Sebastian Vettel and his Toro Rosso team were the only people able to do anything with it in Monza.

The Toro Rosso team has been steadily improving as the season has continued. It has been slow but steady progress. Vettel’s team mate Sébastien Bourdais has also been performing well. He finished 1st in Q2 in Belgium and was on for a podium finish there until a disastrous final lap when he fell back through the field as conditions worsened while he was on the dry tyres. I felt very sorry for the Frenchman who struggled to hold back the tears when he was being interviewed about it.

I felt sorry for him today too as he stalled it on the grid having qualified 4th. He could only sit back and watch as Sebastian Vettel gave the world a demonstration of what the future of Formula 1 looks like. This man — who only has 22 grand prix starts to his name — has today shown the old hats and the young pretenders how it’s done.

The combination of national anthems that were played out on the podium today were familiar. The German national anthem followed by the Italian national anthem. That is the combination that greeted dozens of Schumacher victories for Ferrari. What an omen.

What is great, though, is the fact that Vettel is not a Schumacher. On the face of it, Sebastian Vettel is an unlikely grand prix hero. He’s not a bulky Webber or a square-jawed Coulthard or a 16-hours-per-day-in-the-gym Schumacher. Nor can I remember him playing one single dirty trick in his F1 career.

He is a lanky, gangly, goofy-looking kid. And despite his obvious raw talent, he doesn’t display a hint of arrogance. Of course he believes in himself. But he is polite and funny when being interviewed. Apparently he is very friendly in person. Unlike your Kubicas or your Räikkönens, charisma drips off this star. These people are not supposed to be so talented, they’re not supposed to have that drive to win.

In a lot of ways, it’s zero to hero in less than a year. In one of his first races he impressively ran in 3rd place before infamously crashing into his Red Bull team mate Mark Webber, prompting the Australian to launch into a foul-mouthed tirade on live British breakfast television.

Today, Webber and Vettel appear to get on very well. They will be team mates next year as Vettel is all set to move to the proper Red Bull team (whether this is the right choice for his career just now is debatable). And now Vettel is a race winner. An incredible rate of maturity.

Let us not forget the role of Mario Theissen in Sebastian Vettel’s career. The BMW boss gave the then-19-year-old his first shot in an F1 race in Indianapolis last year. Vettel ran across the chicane at the first corner, but otherwise stayed out of trouble and scored a point in his début.

Following today’s performance though, that other BMW protégé Robert Kubica now feels like old news. This even puts anything Hamilton has done over the past two years firmly in the shade. To win a race for a tiny team as Vettel has done is very different to winning a race in the fastest car as Hamilton has done.

Let us not forget that the Toro Rosso team is essentially the old Minardi team. They may be bankrolled by big Red Bull cash these days. But most of the team is still the same and it is still based at the same Faenza location. Every fan of F1 has a soft spot for these guys. They are an Italian F1 team that you can actually like.

You would dream of a Minardi win, but you would never believe it would happen. But today it has happened. Moreover, they did it in their home grand prix, the Italian Grand Prix, at that most historic of circuits, Monza. They’ll be dancing in the streets of Faenza tonight.

There is a lesson in there. Minardi were the bravest of the backmarkers. They have lasted for decades without winning a race. They could go for years on end without ever scoring a point. Yet they stuck at it and survived as a thousand and one other backmarkers came and went. And today, the years of hardship have paid off.

This is why we watch motor racing. These people do it for the love of the sport. Instead of dreaming of working for Ferrari, these guys dreamt of becoming Ferrari. And they were never deterred.

Thank you Giancarlo Minardi. Thank you Paul Stoddart. Thank you Dietrich Mateschitz. Thank you Gerhard Berger. And most of all, thank you Sebastian Vettel! Thanks for reminding us why we watch grand prix motor racing. Forza Minardi!

We tried our best, but in the end it just wouldn’t work out.

Formula 1′s relationship with Indianapolis is about as rocky as it gets — and that really is saying something in F1. In a way, it is amazing to think that, had Indianapolis been a venue next year, it would have been its tenth Formula 1 race. When people look back on the period, some might wonder if it was just a silly experiment that was doomed from the start.

On paper, it was a fantastic idea. One of the world’s most prestigious racing circuits (indeed, the self-styled “Racing Capital of the World”) plays host to the world’s greatest motor racing series.

Unfortunately, there was an elephant in the room. In fact, there wasn’t just one elephant in the room. There were several.

First of all, despite all of its chest-beating, and the reverential treatment which American motor racing fans give it, Indianapolis Motor Speedway is not a great circuit. I was in the room with my father when I heard the news about Indy being dropped. The radio reporter was waxing lyrical about how special the circuit is. My dad instantly spluttered, “No it’s not! It’s an oval!”

So a plan had to be hatched in order to stop Formula 1′s broadly European fan base from being sent into a coma by the prospect of F1 races happening on the oval. They also had to accommodate the fact that F1 drivers are used to racing through corners and, moreover, corners that go both left and right. So an actual circuit that had to be designed by means other than drawing around a protractor was built on the inside of the oval.

The circuit has broadly met with disapproval from those who dislike its ‘stop-start’ nature and “Mickey Mouse” corners. In sum, it was a botch job. You could never escape the fact that it was really an almost unwanted appendage to the oval.

This all stems from the fact that American motor racing culture is so different to European motor racing culture. So while Indianapolis is a Mecca for American petrolheads, Europeans are much more likely to worship the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

I have written about this in the past. In a nutshell, while we Europeans don’t “get” oval racing, Nascar and the like, Americans don’t “get” Formula 1.

It is quite appropriate that I should write about this in the week that David Beckham has moved LA Galaxy. At the moment, commentators are predicting that Americans will be attracted by the glamour, but they probably won’t understand why he is a good footballer. It is said that Americans will be expecting Beckham to score five or six goals a match, without even realising that he isn’t a forward.

Exactly the same is true of F1. I sense that Americans have a sneaking suspicion that Formula 1 is great. But they just don’t understand why it’s great. They expect lots of overtaking! They expect big crashes! But Formula 1 does not supply this enough, instead emphasising aspects like great driving, technical excellence and, er, turning right.

I remember reading an amusing comparison a few years ago. I think it was made by David Richards (correct me if I’m wrong). He said that Nascar is like a cheeseburger, while Formula 1 is like caviare. That sounds like a snobby thing to say, but it has a ring of truth to it.

In this sense, selling F1 to Americans is a little bit like flogging a dead horse.

The next problem was television. In one sense, the US Grand Prix was a dream for Formula 1, because it took place during prime time for Europe. It was a double-edged sword though (in the UK at least) as it meant that ITV had better things to do in prime time than watching cars going round and round on an oval a Mickey Mouse track. So the programme was shortened, with little post-race analysis.

Moreover, viewers had to endure for what felt like half the race a ticker that helpfully informed us that “Coronation Street follows the race”. This was despite the fact that the race was not eating into Coronation Street’s scheduled slot, which was exactly the same slot that it occupies every other Sunday.

Don’t forget that the race was coming from America, which meant that for a couple of years viewers had to endure pictures broadcast in the blurrier, fuzzier NTSC standard rather than the PAL standard which Europeans are used to. Not very good, particularly when we are trying to watch fast-moving cars. A bit more blur is the last thing we need.

The situation was so bad that Bernie Ecclestone, for the only time ever, allowed terrestrial broadcasters to transmit the superior F1 Digital + pictures (shot using FOM’s own equipment) in 2002. Following the closure of F1 Digital + at the end of that season, FOM has thankfully remained as the “host broadcaster” of the US Grand Prix in every subsequent year.

As the icing on the cake, it looked quite bad on the television because there were so many empty seats despite the fact that the US Grand Prix is one of the most highly attended of the year. But whenever the camera had a surplus grandstand situated on a part of the oval that is not used by F1 in the background of the shot, it looked pretty bad.

Then there is a matter of what actually happened on the race track. It is highly unfortunate that some of Formula 1′s very darkest moments have happened at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Canspice puts it succinctly: Formula 1 has consistently shat on Indianapolis.

First of all, there was the manufactured dead heat controversy of 2002. Michael Schumacher slowed down before the finishing line in what was perceived to be a return of the favour that Rubens Barrichello gave him at the Austrian Grand Prix of earlier that year.

What Schumacher forgot while he was cocooned in his cockpit and helmet was that two wrongs do not make a right. And while Barrichello was stripped of his deserved victory in Austria, the American fans were denied the right to see the rightful victor crossing the finish line first. In short, the whole race was pointless.

Amid a cacophony of boos and jeers, Michael Schumacher made up a lame excuse. He was bored of all that winning malarkey and had taken every record in the book. In search for a new challenge, he wanted to manufacture the closest finish to a race ever.

Nice try, Schumi. I know the stereotype is that Americans are not quite as intelligent as some on this side of the pond. But they are not, in fact, stupid. American race fans were taken for mugs that day.

But that was nothing compared to what was to come in 2005. Due in part to the unusual banked Turn 13 (unlucky for everyone in F1 — especially Ralf Schumacher), Michelin tyres were failing. And Turn 13 is one place were you do not want to be driving an unsafe racing car. It was yet another example of why the circuit was just not suitable for Formula 1.

But it was too late to do anything about the layout of the circuit now. At least, it was if your name is Jean Todt or Max Mosley — whose stance on making last-minute alterations to a circuit had completely changed since Barcelona 1994.

There was plenty of buck-passing, finger pointing and blame gaming. Everyone had their opinion as to who was at fault (you can see what I thought at the time by browsing through the archives of this blog). The problem was that all of the extended arms pointing fingers tangled up to make a massive web that the whole of F1 got stuck in.

As such, only six cars took to the grid and American fans were deprived of a proper race. It was hilarious in a sense — partly because it was a farce, and partly because it showed that even with only six cars on the entire track, Michael Schumacher still managed to crash into his team mate. But beyond that, it was more offensive than doing a poo on the dinner table.

Since then, F1 has been on its best behaviour — particularly in America. Almost. Because, despite all of the crap that Formula 1 has flung at Indianapolis, IMS boss Tony George seemed fairly keen to keep the race.

More keen than Bernie Ecclestone was at least. Over the past couple of years, Ecclestone has been lobbing several insults at America, along the lines that Formula 1 doesn’t need America (probably true, as it survived without for most of the 1990s, and never had the full attention of America before and after then either) and that F1 gets more viewers in Malta than in America (demonstrably false).

It is as though, having explosively crapped on the dinner table, Bernie Ecclestone wanted to do a little wee on the carpet just to top it off. Yet, Tony George wanted F1 to keep on visiting Indianapolis. Is he a masochist?

Not really. Because, despite all of the above (and there is a lot of it, as you can see!), Formula 1 had the potential to work at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway — particularly in recent years.

In fairness to the track, it is not actually all that bad. It had grown on me, particularly this year. This year’s race had some interesting overtaking battles on the infield, and this was improved by the tight “left–right–left” switchbacks. These corners do not look attractive and are apparently not fun to drive.

But they ensured that overtaking manoeuvres were prolonged. It was no longer a matter of sticking your car on the inside and breaking later — because your opponent has the inside line to the next corner.

Even though Americans just don’t “get” F1, it is still massively important to them. There were even hints last year that the state could subsidise the Grand Prix!

Also, the businesses of Indianapolis also love the Grand Prix. In fact, it is often their biggest weekend of the year. Amazing when you consider that it is the home of the Indianapolis 500, but there you go. Seemingly, F1 fans are big spenders. But that’s what happens when you’re used to caviare.

I was absolutely shocked when I saw Kubica’s car flying in the air before hitting a safety barrier, careering back onto the track in front of oncoming traffic, barrel-rolling a couple of times, then hitting a concrete wall before ending up on its side. I can’t recall seeing many worse accidents since I started watching F1 and it was sickening to view.

BlogF1 has a picture of Kubica’s car mid-accident — and that is before it hit the wall.

Although I am no medical expert, I was most concerned about the possibility of head injury or concussion as Kubica’s helmet bobbed around in that cockpit quite horrendously. It reminded me a little bit of Mika Häkkinen’s accident at Adelaide in 1995, although Häkkinen’s was much worse because it was just one, hard impact.

The fact that Kubica has apparently escaped with nothing more than a broken leg uninjured is a testament to the relative safety of F1 cars. But the shocking violence of his accident is a reminder of why safety is, rightly, such a major concern to F1.

Kubica’s accident brought about the second of four safety car periods. It was also the first outing of the safety car this year, which meant it was the first time the new rules got an airing. And boy, did it turn out to be a confusing situation.

The pitlane is now closed for a certain period once the safety car has been deployed. Two drivers — Alonso and Rosberg — were unfairly punished by this rule as they would have run out of fuel if they hadn’t pitted. They both had to serve 10 second stop–go penalties.

I cannot for the life of me understand why Mark Webber and Rubens Barrichello did not make their pitstops while the safety car was out. The only reason I can think was that they were banking on the safety car staying out longer so that they could conserve more fuel — but Webber obviously did not have much fuel left anyway, as he pitted as soon as the safety car period finished!

Finally, I do not like the rule about lapped cars being allowed to overtake the safety car after a certain period of time has elapsed. It is like Nascar’s “competition yellows” — contriving a race where there shouldn’t be one. As a result, the entire field of cars was covered by little more than thirty seconds at the chequered flag. It just doesn’t seem right.

Massa and Fisichella were both disqualified for making silly mistakes. The pitlane exit was closed as the queue behind the safety car was seemingly still on turn 2. Kubica saw the red light and waited patiently, but Massa and Fisichella made mistakes that earned them both disqualification. These are not new rules, so these experienced drivers really should have known better, particularly when Kubica has less than a season under his belt.

Hats off to Lewis Hamilton though. While he might not have had a lot of racing to do, he effectively had five race starts to lead away from. He carried them all off immaculately.

Hamilton is gaining a reputation for having a cool head while cars are flying off all around him. Today Alonso panicked at the start and tried to catch him on the outside. Alonso ended up braking way too late and running onto the grass. Hamilton, meanwhile, kept his head and stayed on the racing line as though he was driving a Scalextric car.

Alonso’s car must have been damaged, and he fell off the track a few times. But nothing must have beaten the embarrassment of being overtaken by Takuma Sato in the Super Aguri. I genuinely laughed out loud. I take back every negative thing I’ve ever said about Sato. That move made my day, particularly following the sombre note struck by Kubica’s accident.

Alonso had a torrid time, but Räikkönen’s race was equally awful. Seemingly, Räikkönen is not the driver we all thought he was. He had better shape up quickly, because the reputation he has built up over the past five years is diminishing like air rushing out of a balloon, complete with comedy “pffffrrrrttt” noise.

Someone else whose reputation has taken a bit of a battering so far this season is Ralf Schumacher. Apparently the sword of Damocles dangles above his head, but he scored a point today. Even though being overtaken by Sato was embarrassing, he can console himself with the fact that the same happened to double World Champion Alonso.

Meanwhile, the fact that Kovalainen managed to finish 4^th is proof that no matter how dreadful Friday and Saturday are, it is what happens on Sunday that matters. He started from the back of the grid, and while he was helped by the large number of retirements, eight cars were behind him — including some big names.

It is great to see Nick Heidfeld finishing 2^nd. The BMW was obviously quick, particularly one circuits with lots of straights like Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Heidfeld is looking forward to Indianapolis next week and Monza, where BMW also excelled last year. BMW are probably not in much of a mood to celebrate, given Kubica’s accident.

It was also fantastic to see Alexander Wurz on the podium — with a broken rear wing, no less! The safety car periods allowed Wurz to cleverly save fuel and adopt a one-stop strategy. He was the only driver to do so. It was a risk that paid off big time.

The bottom line of the race

Hamilton was superb. While the hype surrounding him is often unbearable, there is no doubt that Lewis Hamilton is a highly exciting talent. Today he showed precisely why.

Ferrari must be really worried though. Most people thought that McLaren’s dominance at Monaco was a one-off. Apparently it wasn’t, and Ferrari must work out how to make up time quickly, before the Championship becomes a two-horse race between Alonso and Hamilton.

Hamilton has an eight point cushion over Alonso, and a fifteen point cushion over Massa! (A 21-point cushion over Räikkönen — but can he really be considered a title contender any more?)

Bring on Indy! But no scary accidents please.

Update: According to Pitpass, Kubica didn’t even break his leg and he will be released from hospital tomorrow. Incredible! Great news.

I don’t think I can recall there ever being a good F1 race at the ridiculous Indianapolis circuit. In a way it is offensive to both US open-wheel racing and European-based Grand Prix racing. The authorities hang on to it because of some kind of romantic notion that it would be really great to have the world’s greatest motor racing series taking place at the so-called world US capital of motor sport. But it really is like bashing a square peg into a round hole.

The circuit, with its ‘Micky Mouse’ twisty infield section which looks as though it was made up as they went along, is unpopular. The racing has not set the world alight. And the safety problems have at times been too much, what with the tyre issues last year and Ralf Schumacher’s huge shunt in 2004.

By all means, a Formula 1 race should take place in the USA. But at the end of the contract with Indianapolis, it is time for everybody to stand back and really ask themselves how much of a success the past seven years have been. Any level-headed person will say that it has not been a success. It is time to move the US Grand Prix elsewhere.

At least the fans weren’t booing today. They were happy with Michael Schumacher’s win, even if the race itself was coma-inducing. And at least the championship is that little bit closer now.

Well, that was … comical, embarassing, farcical, suicidal. There are any number of words you could use, but none of them refer to the racing because there wasn’t any. It’s difficult to know what to say.

We knew it wouldn’t be good. It was hilarious how ITV’s commentator James Allen tried to do his usual crescendo at the start, with only six cars on the grid. It was comical to see so few cars battle it out for turn one — but nobody was laughing after that, as the race was effectively over, bar a toy split-second scrap at the pits between the Ferraris.

The United States Grand Prix is so important for Formula 1. For starters, it’s in the United States ferchrissake. The big market that Formula 1 has always been chasing. And don’t forget that races in North and South America reach so many more people anyway because it’s on prime time television in Europe.

It’s difficult to imagine how many people will have been disappointed in so many ways. The broadcasters will obviously be fuming — how many viewers will they have lost? ITV paid extra so that they could bring the viewers more of the US Grand Prix this year aswell. All of ITV’s sponsors and advertisers will be furious, as will the sponsors who pay top dollar for their logos to appear on cars and trackside.

But of course there are the fans themselves. The official Formula 1 website was down for most of the grand prix, and several other websites are down right now, no doubt due to thousands firing off emails with their two cents. Not to forget those who actually paid to watch an F1 race. People around the world will have seen the pictures of fans — some of whom had travelled thousands of miles — sticking their thumbs down, exiting the racetrack and chanting for a refund. It’s difficult to see how they can get a refund. Technically, a race did go ahead — just a very bad one.

It was very difficult to see a solution to the problem though. None of them were perfect. Of course the Michelin runners could have gone slowly, but that would have been more dangerous (with cars going at vastly different speeds on the track), and would have ended in the same result anyway — effectively a one-(prancing) horse race. The sensible compromise, in my eyes, was to build the chicane which Michelin thought would have solved the problem. That would be unfair for those who didn’t have a problem. But it is not unusual for a track to be changed in such a way. In the interests of safety, common sense, good racing, the fans and the future of Formula 1, there was nothing wrong with just building a chicane. Instead, petty politics once again prevailed, and Formula 1 found itself in a farcial situation in the USA once again.

It might well be the death of Formula 1 in the USA. The motor racing fans who visited Indianapolis Motor Speedway today certainly won’t be too enthusiastic from now on. I think Formula 1 should just cut its losses and get out of there. F1 isn’t really compatible with the US. Indeed, America is out of phase with the rest of the world in almost every sport you can think of.

It might be a generalisation, but the majority of American motor racing fans, it is probably fair to say, are often people who just want to see the biggest crash. Formula 1, on the other hand is for geeks. Formula 1 tries to avoid crashes as much as possible, to the extent that seven tenths of the drivers pulled out of today’s grand prix for safety reasons. Americans can stick to their ovals. It’s their loss.

By the same token, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is not a Formula 1 circuit. Bernie Ecclestone and Tony George met one day, saw the biggest form of motorsport and the self-styled “motor racing capital of the world” and put two and two together. But a four doesn’t just pop up by magic. Formula 1 isn’t Tony George’s priority. He makes enough business out of the Indianapolis 500 and other American motorsport. Indianapolis is not a Formula 1 circuit. It is an oval with a bloody stupid, ill-conceived, slow, twisty section laid over the top.

When the new surface at Indianapolis was laid it wasn’t with Formula 1 cars in mind — it was to help IndyCars go faster. Now people are saying that the Michelins were exploding because of the abrasive and rough new surface, combined with the banking that you just don’t get in F1. Some people say that the only reason Bridgestone got away with it was because their parent company Firestone have already run cars there — so Bridgestone had insider information that Michelin didn’t have access to.

It’s not the first time Formula 1 has faced a situation like this. Since the tyre rules started getting tinkered problems have just been waiting to happen. I remember the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix almost didn’t start because nobody had the right tyres for the heavy rain conditions. That should have been the wake-up call. Instead, F1′s politicians just sat on it and hoped it would just go away. Well it didn’t.

I’m beginning to think that GPWC is the way to go. Everywhere you turn Ferrari just seem to get in the way of progress — all in their own self-interest. Now is the time for Formula 1 to take a good, long, hard look at itself. Well, that time was a very long time ago actually, but nobody ever got off their arse to do anything about it. Well, they did, but the FIArrari axis of evil wouldn’t budge. Either all the Formula 1 teams and the FIA can sit down and have a serious think about how they can take things forward, or they can watch Formula 1 die on its feet.

The Formula 1 season — up until today — has been absolutely fantastic. But every now and again it makes a massive cock-up — and this is the biggest one yet — and it’s because of rotten elements deep within the political labyrinth. There are a lot of agendas around in Formula 1 these days. Superficially, today’s goings-on were about safety. But an awful lot of it is down to politics aswell. All of the GPWC teams are also Michelin teams. Minardi say they only raced because Jordan did. This shows just how petty things are.

If F1 were to end I wouldn’t be unhappy. There will always be a pinaccle of grand prix motor racing. There’ll always be a way for the Schumachers, the Alonsos and the Räikkönens of this world to entertain us. Whether it’s called Formula 1, GPWC, or anything else is entirely irrelevant. A fresh start would be a breath of fresh air.

Update: A wee mention for Tiago Monteiro. He did get lapped, but he finished on the podium. It is a hollow podium finish, but Jordan always luck into their good results these days. He was trying to celebrate on the podium, but they other drivers didn’t feel it appropriate. Tiago Monteiro has a great record now though — he was the only driver ever to finish his first eight races; now he’s the first ever to finish his first nine!

Update: Having a look at what other blogs are saying, with the help of Technorati.

A Big Stick and a Small Carrot:

I’ve never seen anything quite so ridiculous. F1 has just self destructed in the US. The fans at the circuit are demanding a refund. Quite right too.

Evolusion:

So the answer, to me anyway is unbelievably clear, come 2007 the 8 [non-FIArrari and Jordan] teams must go it alone. It’s better for them: they get control of the rules, they get control of the money and they get to go racing for the fans. It’s better for the fans: we get racing with more than 6 cars, we get racing with rules written by humans, by the people that know the sport, by people who are themselves racing fans, not by lawyers, not by businessmen.

Adi’s weblog:

It’s kind of sad if this is the future of Formula 1. I hope that Mr. Bernie Ecclestone will think about his long debated mistakes and the next season Formula 1 will have much normal rules.

Brian A. Jenkins:

Where this all breaks down into stupidity is with those running the sport. Why they cannot be flexible in the face of hazardous conditions and allow Michelin to replace the “unsafe” tires with “safe” tires that they believe will last the entire race is beyond me.

If F1 is to generate a fan base in the USA that goes beyond what there is now, those who run F1 should definitely consider flexibility in the face of 70-90% refusal to race.

Out of 10 teams 7 use Michelin, and 2 others (using Bridgestone) are also backing them and threatening not to drive. Ferrari is the only team to not stand with them all.

…The FIA is FOOLISH to allow this to happen in what they say is “the largest economic market” in the world for F1 racing…

From this point on, I’m going to devote my attention to the best racing spectacle I’ve ever seen – World Rally Championship!

leyton.org:

Obviously safety must come first, but there’s a consensus that it could all be solved by placing a chicane on the circuit, which most teams agree with. But politics gets in the way, and the people that lose out are the 120,000 fans at the circuit (Who don’t even know of the machinations occurring, and are likely to go ballistic when most cars peel off), and the millions of people around the world tuning in to perhaps the biggest sporting none-event in memory (Think the Grand National cancellation but with a global audience).

Update: canspice.org:

The FIA really shit the bed this time with their rigid adherence to rules and regulations. Michelin had no choice but to recommend the teams not race; had they not they would have been held liable had any accident involving their tires occurred…

The FIA really should have allowed the modification of the track to slow the cars before Turn 13. Instead they suggested that the Michelin teams slow down going around that corner and come in to change tires every ten laps. These suggestions clearly show that the FIA had their heads full up their asses and that they don’t understand racing in the slightest. They didn’t just shoot themselves in the foot, they done blown their whole leg off.

And the FIA has severely crippled their chances of ever getting Formula One to catch on in any sort of way in the United States. Everything was looking promising — the attendance at Indy this year was the highest ever. Scott Speed was the first American since Michael Andretti to drive an F1 car during a weekend.

People are angry all right.