Ferrari Technical boss Stefano Domenicali has called the FIA points scoring row “embarrassing” and I couldn’t agree more with him. The entire process, errant of the FIA’s own regulations, is an insult and embarrassing.
“It seems embarrassing to me what has happened in the last few days,” Domenicali told the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper on Monday.
“We wanted a bigger difference between the winner and the others, instead it stays like 2008. Oh well.”
I also agree with Stefano that the FIA should have rendered the diffuser row moot by making a judgment on it when it was originally presented to Max a month or more ago. Look at it this way; Max knew there were concerns and is hanging his hat on the fact that no team has formally protested yet he sent Charlie Whiting to Jerez to inspect Toyota, Williams and Brawn GP specifically. He also released a statement that said he felt the design was clever and legal but suggested that race stewards may not see it that way. He had an opportunity to be proactive, as the regulatory body of F1, but failed to do act. Perhaps the legal actions in Europe take too much of his time as he tries to stamp out lackluster privacy laws around the world? Who knows why Max didn’t act but my guess is to create consternation between the teams, which is the very thing Max and Bernie need right now to reduce FOTA’s political power. All speculation on my part but as the governing body fo F1; I would like to see better performance from this life-long political beast.
“We are convinced that certain interpretations that have been applied do not correspond to the nature of the rules,” he added.
“We expect the federation to clarify as soon as possible its position over the diffuser. If that extractor is illegal then it must not be used, while if it is legal it’s up to the other teams, including us, to try to adapt as soon as possible, because performance is found in that area of the car.
“There needs to be a great sense of responsibility on everyone’s part. I hope this issue can be resolved beforehand.”
