(Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)
Going into the 2009 season all the Formula 1 fans were anticipating the close battle between the Scuderia Ferrari and Team Vodafone McLaren, at no point was there a consideration that a team such as Brawn or Toro Rosso might rule the championship outright by mid season.
The elevation of both previously struggling teams was a fresh sight for the sport, bringing back memories of an era gone by, an era when Lotus challenged the established marquees such as Ferrari or Maseratti.
While several teams begun voicing their objections to the technological modifications made to the Brawn cars, by the fourth race of the season just as many teams begun to consider relocating their resources to the development of the 2010 car.
Going into the 2009 season the fans as well as team owners were looking forward to a sport dominated season. While the Australia-gate or Lewis lie-gate did come up as an issue at the season’s start, it was considered a minor blotch that would soon be forgotten.
Rectified by actions and inactions of team Vodafone McLaren, the matter was quickly dealt with and the sport proceeded into the future, minus Ron Dennis.
The departure of the major figurehead from McLaren was not visible, and had a fan started following the British equippe’s season, following the shocker, he or she would hardly notice that a different individual had held the post that Martin Whitmarsh now occupied just a fortnight ago; nonetheless even the most hardcore of the Tifosi would certainly miss the strong adversary of the Scuderia.
Any F1 fan, whether it was that hardcore Tiffosi, or a supporter of BMW, Honda, Force India, was glad to see this matter resolved quickly and the sport get back to being a sport.
That identity seemed to have been overshadowed in the past by a multitude of lawsuits and disagreements ranging from the Stepney-gate to McLaren-gate to Button-gate.
The one individual looking to minimize further embarrassments was no doubt, Bernie Ecclestone. His divorce made world news quite recently, and each new case involving F1 has made harder his attempt to present the motorsport as a completion with a “golden” image.
The image would be dirtied yet again, not through the breach of rules by any team, or cheating allegations, or contractual matters. The image of F1 has been tarnished by what can be described as Civil War or mutiny.
On one side of the wall stands the FOTA. The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) is a group of Formula One teams that was formed at a meeting in Maranello on 29 July 2008.
The association, directed by the president of Ferrari, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, consists of all teams competing in the 2009 Formula one season.
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