Team.
Something I've never quite understood is there are people that buy a Ferrari and suddenly take an interest in F1 (these are normally the chaps that also turn it off as soon as both cars are out or not in a winning/podium position). When they sell their F car, for whatever reason, they stop watching F1. When you buy a Ferrari, you're not contractually obliged to watch F1...!
Actually to me it is the opposite: I never understood Ferrari owners who didn't follow F1. And that's probably the majority. I prefer owning a car of a manufacturer which has a stake in F1. Whether that's a Ferrari (ideally) or a MB or a Lotus
Some people are just not racing fans regardless if they own a Ferrari or not. Too each their own and...."Judge not, that ye be not judged." LMAO!
The dash plaque on my car commemorates the run of constructor's titles from '99-'04 and for me is symbolic of my preference for rooting for the team first. The fact that MSC is at the top of my drivers list is in no small part due to his and the team he is associated with "rebuilding" Ferrari into a powerhouse after he left Benetton. To each their own, but for me being an owner gives me a sense, however small it may be, of being part of the Scuderia's F1 heritage.
The F1 heritage is a lure to Ferrari ownership. Even if I never manage to get my long awaited 348 I'd still follow Scuderia Ferrari. All the best, Andrew.
Personally, I blame the FIA for that debacle. Granted, Michelin's tyres were not up to the task - due to a faulty batch apparently, but the FIA absolutely refused to put up a chicane before the main straight to reduce the speed in this critical section of the track. The Michelin teams withdrew after one lap on the ground of safety. That was 3/4 of the field. I have great suspicion that Bridgestone-shod Ferrari leaned heavily on the FIA to stop the chicane being erected. Nothing new ...
100% FIAs fault for not giving in. Bridgestone brought a special tire because they knew of the new grip levels thanks to their Indycar data
+1 Personally for me, foremost I support whom I consider the best racers and most entertaining drivers to watch race. Yes the car I drive and following my country men/women, has a bearing on my allegiances to whom I give support to, but it's not a deciding factor. I also like to see and I support underdogs. ^Oh and the more folk hate on a driver for reasons unknown either that be personality ect, the more I like um.
I disagree, putting a chicane in penalized all of the teams that ran Bridgestone through no fault of their own. If your car's strong suit was being very good through the banking and in the high speed straight and all of a sudden your advantage was taken away and replaced with a low speed chicane the day before the race, wouldn't you be crying foul? The Michelin teams could have slowed down on the banking on their own if their tires weren't up to it. Instead they pulled out of the race.
I always cheerded for ferrari the last 10+ years but when Schumacher went to MB I found myself cheeting for him even more. Before the golden F years I cheered for Mansell, no matter where he drove.
My point is that by allowing a chicane, the FIA would have ensured continued participation of all the Michelin-shod team, instead of forcing them to withdraw after the warm up lap. If a chicane had been put as an emergency measure, the paying public would not have been deprived of a race, instead of watching a 6-car procession. The FIA turned a technical failure into an insult for the spectators. My opinion is that it was a disastrous PR exercise, and certainly one that lost many fan to GP in the US.
+1 Michelin teams could have received no points to make it fair to Bridgestone teams. But the fans and sponsors still would have had a good show
Driver 1st, Team 2nd. When I was a kid and only had a superficial knowledge of F1, I definitely rooted for the team. But once I came to understand the complexities and the sport and more about the personalities behind it, the drivers became the stars. The "teams" are inherently divided in two, with two competing drivers on two sides of the garage, and this division is hyped up and drawn out by the media each season where there is a dominant team. The only team where this hasn't been apparent (at least over the past decades) has been Ferrari, who traditionally features a #1 driver and a #2 pawn, which very much diminishes my enthusiasm for their program. IMO the teams lack any real identity in the sport, save for a few. Ferrari, McLaren, arguably Williams and possibly now Mercedes as a legitimate works team are the only ones worth rooting for (and even then it's often heartbreak to watch them flounder on off seasons). Teams like "Lotus" or "Caterham" are completely an artifice and undercut true brand identity. "Red Bull" and "Toro Rosso" are literally drinks companies with no particularly endearing qualities or history. That said I definitely wanted Brawn to win, and that spirit rolled into Mercedes for me, especially when they picked up Schumacher and now Hamilton, even though Brawn has left. Even in the heyday of CART, for me it was all about Mario, Michael, Rahal, a love/hate relationship with Al Unser Jr., Emmo, making fun of AJ Foyt, and hating on Paul Tracy, Nigel Mansell, etc. The teams were just seats.
Yes, and if a Michelin shod car gets into an accident with a car on Bridgestones, what then? Yeah, the Michelin team doesn't get any points anyway but the Bridgestone car gets punished by a team that had nothing to lose. With the financial implications of points, it doesn't make sense to have them race for no points. The Michelin teams could have run by slowing down on the banking or run through the pits every lap. Nobody forced them to withdraw, least of all the FIA. This was squarely on Michelin and the teams. You can't punish the teams that brought the right equipment because others didn't, doesn't make sense.
That solution would have put the Michelin team in a ridiculous situation and made a mockery of the race. Putting a chicane would have been a good COMPROMISE (I know this is a dirty word in F1), where nobody would have been loosing. A case of FORCE MAJEURE. The FIA stuck to its gun and punished the US spectators as well. I smile at your idea of "slowing down"! I don't think the drivers would have listened to that for long; that goes against everything they thrive for. We could have ended with mayhem. Withdrawing was a sensible choice. I don't think that race is remembered as an outstanding victory for Ferrari. The Scuderia should have supported its competitors, instead of scoring cheap points. It certainly alienated many US fans, and it's probably the reason why Indy isn't visited anymore by the F1 circus.
I cheer driver first then team. So, things being the way they are this year. I'm cheering Alonso and Ferrari separately. I will be sporting an alonso ferrari cap, not a maclaren-honda cap.
