What injustice, may I ask? A year after the 1990 GP GP incident, in an interview Senna tried to explain his "move" as a protest for the decision to swap over the pole position location on the track at Suzuka. I cant accept that as a justification to willingly ram another car just after the start. We may disagree here, but to me that shows a dangerous emotional unbalance, the sort that has no place in F1. Now, if you refer to the 1989 Suzuka incident, I think the blame can be attributed 50/50 between Prost and Senna; to me it was a racing incident. Prost was eliminated, and Senna disqualified for some course infringement. It's not like if Senna was the victim of a machiavelic plot: he was the artisan of his own downfall !
Factually, that’s totally true. But Alain knew perfectly well how to worsen a situation inside a team as after the incident of imola 1989 when he had given the information to the press according to which Senna had cried after having been lectured by the team.
Jean-Marie Ballestre became first president of the FFSA (French federation) through karting. Post-war Ballestre introduced and developed karting in France and he was also editor of a popular motoring newspaper L'Auto Journal. His successful activities within the FFSA made him a serious candidate when the post of president of the FIA came to election. You can argue about the man, but his love of motor racing and his dedication were not in doubt. I don't know where that quote comes from, but here it is "In 1940, after the armistice, France had 40 millions de Pétinists*. In 1944, after the liberation, France had 40 millions de Gaullists*." Which sums up perfectly perfectly the change of mood inside the "Hexagone" and may explain Ballestre's troubled past *Petinist: supporter of Marechal Pétain and his collaborator Vichy regime *Gaullist: supporter of Général De Gaulle and his resistance movement.
This cannot be levelled historically, it makes no sense, and it is an insult to those who gave their lives during that period. I have a photo of Jean marie Balestre in 1943 but I will not post it because I will certainly be banished for it. Very explicit.
Referíng to 89 and disqualification for cutting the chicane. Senna was cut throat, ready to win at all costs. Hate it or love it but he is still by far the fastest driver I have ever seen Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The disqualification at Suzuka 89 was maybe too severe; a time penalty would have been enough. As for Senna, he though he had a God-given right to win (he even said he was "chosen" to win in an interview). He took his racing to the extreme, and became dangerous for that. I am not denying his skill, but he was far too emotional for me to like him.
It’s debatable but in any case it was much less bland than the unmistakable thought of our dear Lewis
Being Petinist is one thing. That's not what I had in mind. Volontering for the SS, and enroling into, during the war, is another different matter; the pictures and the story were made public in 1978. But it would be derailing the thread. Rgds
Why would you be banished? It was made public in 1978. That should have prevented him to be the FISA president. Rgds
Prefet Papon ? There comes a time when you have to forgive and forget, or you keep the clivage in society, IMO.
Conversely, some things should not (and to me, cannot) be forgiven, depending where you draw your own « line in the sand ». To me, there is a clear dividing line between being fatalistic and accepting an inevitable situation, something that I can excuse, and selling yourself to the Evil, and actively participating in doing that evil yourself, something he did with abandon : in my opinion, this man deserved a rope, or a least a trial. If he was excusable, or even not guilty, why were the results of the 1982’s official enquiry into his war activities never made public, and even kept hidden from the public ? To sum it up, and again : this is not P & R matters, but the historical FACTS, made public (refer to the french Wikipedia, which includes the references and sources). He voluntereed, and was accepted into, the Waffen SS in april 1943, at a date were no possible illusion remained about the purpose of the organisation. It must be noted that he was, according to François Duprat the very first Frenchman to do so (A few people from Alsace-Moselle were drafted into it earlier, but being drafted, they didn’t volunteer, and, at the time, these wern’t legally French any more, but German). Later, two witnesses accused Balestre of using his uniform to racket Jews. Again, it should be noted that he had already be detained before, in 1940, as a member of a far right organisation (the Parti Français National Collectiviste) for anti-semitic violences, then racketing Jews. After the war, he always maintained that he was some kind of a « double agent », working under cover for the « Resistance », but many Frenchmen refused to even shake hands with him until his death. His supposed activities as a « resistant » were negated many times, and again in 1982 in a sufficiently strong argument that an official enquiry was deemed necessary and entrusted to the « Résistance department of the Defence Ministry », then to the Police Nationale and finally to the Secret Service ; the conclusions were given to the defense Minister Charles Hernu and very probably to the French President at the time, François Mitterrand (whose past during the second World War had been also questioned, as he was decorated by the Vichy Regime, and who had protected Papon). The conclusions of this enquiry were never made public. Furthermore, it should be noted that Balestre carrier in automobile journalism was initially financed and helped by Robert Hersant, a man who himself was a member of a far-right movement, where Balestre met him, and with whom Balestre committed antisemitic violences as soon as 1940. Again : not entering P & R, and back to Formula One : as a Frenchman, I always found rather odd and disproportionate the scandal about Max Mosley donning the SS uniform for one, or a few, night(s) of « personal matters », and the passive acceptance of his predecessor’s past, who wore this very same uniform for more than a year, but not for fun : for all is intended purpose. Of course I keep in mind whose son Max Mosley is, but in Max’s case, there was no harm done ; except to himself. Rgds
I am not defending Ballestre, or the errors made by some French in difficult times, but I guess I am more lenient. It was a clash of ideologies, and some people took the wrong path. I can accept your sensitivity on the subject, but to me bygones be bygones.
I would never consider Senna as "great". Skilled and successful yes, but not great. His appaling behaviour on the track at times disqualified him from that distinction.
Interesting take on Senna; I have no idea how you feel about Michael, he also did some pretty nasty things on track. I would carry that further by saying Vettel has acted very similarly to his hero Schumi, but the differences being that he didn't end up with the same results over the long term and eventually his act wore thin with the stewards and Ferrari. Then there is Hamilton who many consider, along with a former teammate and World Champion Jenson Button, a fair driver on the track (no one is without their faults and mistakes).... https://www.planetf1.com/news/jenson-button-lewis-hamilton-team-mates/ " Jenson Button has labelled Lewis Hamilton “the cleanest guy” he has ever raced against saying he doesn’t “play games” or “play dirty”. The two British Formula 1 World Champions were team-mates together at McLaren from 2010 to 2012 but were not the closest of friends despite their shared nationalities. There is mutual respect between the pair, though, and Button had some high praise for his former team-mates when asked about him in an interview with GQ Magazine. I think he’s quite a shy character,” Button said. “You can probably see that. “I don’t know Lewis now that well. Lewis in 2012 was an extremely talented driver, whose whole life was about racing. “I had to work so hard to beat him, and obviously it didn’t happen all the time. “But it happened enough that I was happy with what I achieved. On balance he out-qualified me, but I could race him, and use my head because it wasn’t all about driving flat-out in a grand prix. It isn’t now. “But Lewis has learnt a lot since then. He’s always looking after the tyres, the fuel, the car… he knows what he’s doing. “He’s in a position now where he can relax and think about other things in addition to driving the car. He can be very outspoken and I think it’s great that he is. It will help the sport and the diversity of the sport. “Whether or not you’re a fan of Lewis as a person, you should definitely be a fan of him as a driver. He is exceptionally talented, and he does not play games. He will never play dirty. In fact, I think he’s the cleanest guy I ever raced against.” "
