On tap this week:
- Politics getting in the way of overtaking?
- Power on Power
- Teammates to battle in F1 finale
- Massa wants more digital
- Quote of the Week: Todt dismisses Hamilton's road accident
- Webber can't text and drive
Four-time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel has a novel solution to the sport's increasingly boring races and lack of overtaking: Stop all the paddock infighting and solve the problem.
While he insisted that making it possible to follow more closely and execute passes will come by lowering the cars' reliance on aerodynamics in favour of mechanical grip and better tires, the Ferrari driver thinks there's a slim chance it will happen.
"I think the solution is very simple" Vettel said after Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix.
"Unfortunately, the sport is very political with different interests from different people. I think it's fair enough to give whoever tire manufacturer — in this case Pirelli — the chance to improve their tires, but since the responsible people, the teams, whoever, can't agree on something, it will be difficult to make progress."
To be fair, Pirelli is trying to spice things up with its plan to offer an "ultrasoft" option in 2016. F1's sole tire supplier will also allow teams to choose three different rubber types at each race. In Brazil, Pirelli also indicated it would like to re-introduce the "cliff" where the tires' performance falls off dramatically if used too long. The goal is to discourage one pitstop strategies in grands prix.
While there seems to be agreement among some drivers that a shift to more grip would be a good idea, 2015 champion Lewis Hamilton cautioned those who hope the guys in the cockpits can force change.
"At the end of the day it doesn't really matter what we say," the Mercedes driver said. "The big bosses make the decisions and whether or not they make the right ones for many years, who knows?"
For his part, Vettel insisted something must be done, because the fans ultimately pay the price when there's less action on track.
"I think they (F1 fans) would love us to go quicker and have more excitement," he said.
"But bottom line is, if you look 10 years ago, 20 years ago, it wasn't like there was a lot more overtaking in the race, so it's also not a disaster what we see now."
Random thoughts
2014 IndyCar champion Will Power recently published his autobiography, The Sheer Force of Will Power. It can be purchased as an ebook and will be available in North America in print form in March. It follows Power's career from his start in Australia to winning the IndyCar title. "I never thought that it would be possible that I would have a book written about my career," Power said. "For me, it was very much a roller coaster ride with, at times, thinking I was completely finished with motorsport."
By the numbers
The 2015 Formula One title may already be decided but a few interesting battles will unfold in the season finale at Abu Dhabi on Nov. 29. With one race to go, Toro Rosso needs gain eight points to finish sixth overall, which could mean several million dollars more in payments from the commercial rights holder. Drivers who still have a chance to overtake their teammates in points are Williams' Felipe Massa (-15 to Valtteri Bottas), Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo (-10 to Daniil Kyvat), Force India's Nico Hülkenberg (-16 to Sergio Pérez) and Fernando Alonso of McLaren (-5 to Jenson Button).
Technically speaking
Felipe Massa may be one of the oldest drivers on the Formula One grid, but he certainly understands the modern tech-savvy racing fan. The 34-year-old Williams driver who has more than 766,000 followers on Twitter insisted last week it's time for the sport to start making real efforts to engage fans online with more digital content. "The world is totally geared to the computer and I think F1 doesn't do much to talk to its audience on these platforms," he said.
Quote of the week
"Sometimes you spend time on unnecessary controversies, which have no meaning."
— Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) president Jean Todt reacting to questions about 2015 Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton's Monaco car accident last week. An FIA road safety ambassador, Hamilton said that lack of sleep from celebrating his third world championship played a role in an early morning crash into three parked vehicles in his $3-million Pagani Zonda supercar.
The last word
Porsche released a compelling video last week that underlines the dangers of paying attention to your mobile phone — and not the road — while driving. It features former F1 star turned Porsche factory driver Mark Webber, who takes to the track in a 911 GT3 racer to demonstrate what can happen when you take your eyes off the road to text. Its tag line is: "Even Mark Webber can't do this. That's why you shouldn't."
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Jeff Pappone