It feels like it’s been an awfully long time since the Brazilian GP back in November, and after that extended break it was good to walk into the Melbourne paddock on Wednesday. Even with 48 hours to go before any cars actually took to the track, there was a buzz about the place.
There’s been much to discuss this winter, and we obviously have an intriguing and unpredictable season in prospect. But this being F1, the positives have already been outweighed by unfortunate off track dramas.
Last week’s saga of the changing points system was not a great advert for F1. The FIA rejected FOTA’s suggestion of 12 points for a win (a slap in the face as it was one of the few concrete things to come out of the farcical Geneva meeting), and instead went with Bernie Ecclestone’s idea of giving the title to the driver with the most wins.
That certainly caught the imagination of the public, even rating a headline on the main BBC TV news in the UK. But just a few days later FOTA pointed out that a change to the Sporting Regulations could not be made at such a late stage without their unanimous consent.
Bernie Ecclestone thought he had it – Max Mosley specifically asked him in the World Motor Sport Council meeting – but apparently he was wrong. Was this FOTA flexing its muscles, and ensuring that a precedent for such a change was not set? Or did some of the senior members of the organisation wake up the fact that Jenson Button might win the first four flyaway races, leaving everybody else struggling to win five of the remaining 13?
That brings us neatly to the subject of the diffuser issue, which is set to blow up in a big way on Thursday as the ‘have nots’ protest the ‘haves,’ namely Brawn, Williams and Toyota.
