First off, to all our French friends, HAPPY BASTILLE DAY! And IIRC, Joyeux Quatorze Juillet. Now, on to business, because I have a little rant to get off my chest: WTF is wrong with Max and Bernie? Not one of the three front-running teams even set a time in first Friday practice. Smart on the part of the teams, incredibly stupid of the FIA and FOM. What a joke. [/rant]
The teams are only interested in their competetivity. That's only to be expected and I don't really blame them. Max and Bernie don't care about the fans. All this constant diabtribe about money-saving is always at the expense of the fans. Engine longevity = the teams keep the running down = less laps on the track = less action for the fans. Have you spotted the reduced entry prices as a result? No, I thought not. And before anyone mentions the FIA survey, yes, I have looked at it. Got bored after about 20 questions especially as it is heavily slanted to get the 'right' answers. For example, it asks something like how many GPs you will be watching this year. Doesn't ask how many you've been to in the past (I once went to 7 in one year) and why you might be visiting more or less now (no point in the huge expense when the race will likely be dull and there's no action on the Friday and very little on the Saturday). Jonathan
Looks like they were playing possum a bit. I saw MS and Massa's fast lap runs, and they seemed to slow down a bit more than normal on that final chicane. Both of them lost significan time in the final sector. Not certain if Alonso was trying to send an early message, as he went crashing through the last chicane en route to his fast lap from the session. Whatever the case, Ferrari was on pace out of the box this time, versus middling around after the first practice sessions.
Not even Renault? What about all of this anniversary stuff? You would think they'd be on the track all day.
Case in point - Friday is a wasted day in F1, whereas I'am sure the folks in Salt Lake got their money's worth today with open pits, qualifying (s/b today as race is tomorrow) - they paid a lot less $$ for this too!! Perhaps Flavio is correct in making Friday "fan friendly". Carol
