**SPOILER** PF1 Conclusions Monaco

Sunday 16th May 2010 - PlanetF1.com
PF1's Conclusions From Monaco

Technically, the stewards might have been right to punish Michael Schumacher. Maybe. But sportingly, they were very wrong ...

Schumi Is Still The Competitor
Let's start at the beginning because it's no wonder Michael Schumacher wanted to talk about his driving into the first corner rather than be immediately shoe-horned into commenting on his move past Fernando Alonso into the last.

For this was classic, vintage Schumacher Part One, diving past his team-mate, squeezing Nico Rosberg wide and missing the barriers by a millimetre. The in-house Mercedes civil war has emerged as the most compelling of the season and Schumacher's strong-armed shoving attack on Rosberg must have been particularly satisfying after what occurred twenty-four hours earlier in Qualifying.

Schumi's last-corner mugging of Alonso was the highlight of his afternoon, and the highlight of the afternoon overall, but it was his brutal treatment of Rosberg off the line that made it possible. If Monaco told us anything, it was that while the old boy might have lost a slither of pace and a touch of competitiveness, he still knows all his old tricks and his ruthless competitive spirit is still burning as strong as ever. You may not admire him, but it's impossible not be in awe at his unquenchable hunger.

Schumi Deserved The Benefit Of The Doubt
Plenty has already been said on the technical rights and wrongs of Schumacher's move past Alonso and plenty will be repeated regardless of whatever is added here and the stewards declare. The supporters of Alonso and Schumacher are the most intransient of all of F1's many collectives and their views will not be amended no matter the quality of any counter-arguments presented.

But between the technical rights and wrongs is a neutral middle ground supporting Schumacher on a sporting front (a front, it must be said, that has not always given him the benefit of the doubt during his career). While F1 is maintained as the pursuit of technical excellence, it is also a sport in which opportunism should still have a part to play - especially on a circuit like Monaco where overtaking is close to impossible. With the rules confused, confusing and apparently contradictory, Schumacher, as the instigator of a brilliant act of opportunism, deserves the benefit of the doubt on this occasion. To have punished Schumacher, as the stewards have done, is to also completely disregard the purpose of the viewing public. F1 is supposed to be in the entertainment industry.

It is also supposed to be clearer than this. Both sides of the divide ought to be able to agree that Schumacher's move has revealed a substantive flaw in the regulations that is as long as the piece of road between the Safety Car line and the chequered flag. It's a significant length of tarmac - especially given that every SC deployment inevitably bunches up the field.

According to Article 40.13 of the Sporting Regulations, ''If the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking.'

What Schumacher, under instruction from Mercedes, has done is reveal a clear anomaly. So what happens if the race leader crashes out into the final corner? What happens if 'normal' isn't possible? The intent of the rule is presumably to guarantee that every race finishes in a flourish, with the lead car a race car rather than a Safety Car, but it's a badly conceived and badly written directive that needs substantial rewording.

Alonso Suffers Insult And Injury
After injuring his car on Saturday morning, being mugged into the final corner represented the final insult of an ignominious weekend for Fernando. The Italian press, surprisingly critical of him after his Qualifying exit, will not spare him further rebuke on account of Damon Hill's judgement.

Without the early deployment of the Safety Car, Alonso would have possibly finished out of the points, so all was not lost even if Schumi's mugging was permitted to stand. One way or another, he would have departed Monaco on Sunday night with more points than he would have settled for on Sunday morning.

But all is not well in the Ferrari-Fernando marriage. His car looked a difficult handful throughout Thursday's practice sessions and his crash out on Saturday was no surprise. Being caught asleep on the job by Schumacher amounted to his fourth major mistake in six races. For a driver who prides himself on his consistency - remember how last year he described himself as not the fastest driver on show but the one who made the least number of mistakes? - that frequency is a poor and concerning return. Is he feeling the pressure? Is he trying too hard? Or is he being undermined by a little of both?

Webber Is Number One And We're Eating Humble Pie
The Aussie is in the form of his life at the end of the week of his life. His performances in Spain and Monaco have elevated him to a new level - and level that, to be entirely honest, this column did not believe he was capable of.

Vettel Is Suffering His First Mini-Crisis
Seb Vettel has been thrashed all week. Not once, not twice, and not even three times. In the past week, he has been trumped by his team-mate in all four of the measured sessions that matter - twice in qualifying and twice in the races. Having been outclassed in Spain, his defeat in Monaco was even more comprehensive. Only the four deployments of the Safety Car saved him from a thirty-second humbling. In every one of the mini GPs run during the race, Webber was able to pull away and Vettel was unable to respond. "To be honest I had to look more in my mirrors," he conceded.

In the youngster's mitigation, Webber is, as said, in the form of his life. And the youngster has probably dipped in form. Put the two together and the result is unflattering. Nevertheless, the past week amounts to the first mini-crisis of Vettel's career and the first time that his reputation has come under such sustained and heavy pressure. Vettel is frequently touted as the equal of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, but it is difficult to recall either driver enduring the type of trouncing Vettel is currently suffering during their careers.

More to follow...

 

+1 the last lap is still a race lap. Absurd to say the least. Re-write in the works I would hope.