The Drama We Call Formula One

Hi, everybody—my name is Justin and this is my first article at Bleacher Report. Please bear with my poor writing skills; English is not my mother tongue.

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It is two races into the new F1 season and there is already a lot to talk about! The biggest story of the season so far, or I should say the story that should deserve the most attention is Brawn GP (formerly known as Honda) winning the first two races of the season and looking determined to make it three in a row!

Knowing how badly Honda fared in the last couple seasons, this is certainly something very inspiring to see!

However, there have been a couple stories that are stealing the thunder from Honda GP's success, with one of them being somewhat related to the team itself.

First, the diffuser row. Official hearing is scheduled for April 14, 2009.

Eight teams (other than the diffuser teams) are expected to attend and present their case against the so-called "cheat diffusers" (with McLaren only attending and not presenting).

Personally, I am not a fan of any one of the three teams that are being questioned here, but I think this protest is getting nowhere. I'm willing to bet the hearing will just be the day that those diffusers are officially declared legal.

And it seems to me teams like Red Bull and BMW understand that and the reason they are protesting is to get the official word from FIA that those diffusers are legal so that they can modify their cars to suit without having to worry about having their points or wins taken away afterwards.

The problem that I have with this shenanigan is that it just seems to me if you are a casual fan, and you watch a race, you think you know who the winners are when in fact you really don't.

Teams are protesting the shit out of each other and results of a race could change even long after the race had taken place. I hope the FIA will do what I think they will do and make the results of the last two races stick. That's my two cents on this matter.

Another big story that has been dominating the headlines of most F1 website is what they call "liar-gate/lie-gate."

I know I am talking after the fact, but I swear I saw this shit coming as soon as I found out Hamilton got promoted to the podium for the Aussie GP. I have to confess that I am a big Hamilton fan and he is the reason I started watching F1 (yes its has barely been over two years and I am by no means an expert in the sport). 

I remember reading Hamilton's interview right after the race and I do remember him saying that the team ordered him to pass because they were afraid of getting a penalty. So when he got promoted, I asked myself if Hamilton let Trulli pass, wouldn't that mean that he conceded his position to Trulli hence making Trulli's podium finish legitimate?

Or, if Hamilton let Trulli pass knowing that Trulli would get penalized after, wouldn't it seem to you that Hamilton was letting Trulli pass just to fuck him in the ass afterwards? It just didn't quite add up to me.

So when Hamilton got DQ'ed the Thursday after the race, as much as I was bummed out by the fact that Hamilton's brilliant drive had gone to the shitter, I was also relieved knowing that any point that Hamilton would score this season would be legit (fingers crossed). 

In my eyes, three sides are to blame for this mess: McLaren, Hamilton, and FIA, with McLaren the most to blame, Hamilton second and the FIA third.  McLaren is the most to blame because Hamilton did give an accurate account of the incident immediately after the race.

Something shady must have happened between the team and the driver between the time the post race interview took place and the time they went to see the stewards.  I believe the team misled the driver to lie to the stewards.

Now, my question is, is it really Dave Ryan who instructed Hamilton to lie? If my last 15 years of watching sports has taught me anything, then Dave Ryan is probably the scapegoat in this situation. My guess is, Mr. Dennis was the mastermind behind this debacle (again, just total speculations).

So if Hamilton was instructed to lie, why is he to blame too?  Well, for fuck's sakes, he is the one that controls what comes out of his mouth!! 

Yes, I know its hard to defy your boss especially when he is standing right next to you while you are doing what he is telling you to do. But still, he lied.  If I was in his situation, I probably would have done the same thing.

That still doesn't change the fact that the lie has been told. Now I agree with FIA's comments that "Lewis was put in an impossible situation," and I think he did the best he could when it comes to damage control.

I can imagine it takes a big man to hold a press conference all by yourself when you know all the reporters there are there to break you. He apologized and he said a lot of right things and looked sincere saying them (that's my opinion and people may disagree). So on his part, the damage is done (and it is a huge blow), he did what he was supposed to do, so I think fans and other outsiders should forgive him and move on.

But why is FIA to blame too?  Well, if FIA hadn't been so unfairly harsh on Hamilton in the past (think Spa last year), then McLaren would not have been so overly-sensitive when Hamilton legitimately passed Trulli under the safety car.

Who can confidently tell me that had Hamilton not let Trulli pass, he would not have been penalized?  I think no one can, because the FIA would probably have found an excuse to give him a 25-second penalty anyway. So I say the FIA is on the hook in a very minor way.

What happened had already happened, but we still don't know what the aftermath is going to be. My gut feeling tells me by the midway point of the season, you will see Hamilton racing for a different team, maybe Brawn (as the paper suggests) or Williams (as I think Nakajima is the only driver in a competitive car that can be nixed).

But I really hope I am wrong as I think it's a wonderful thing if a superstar sportsman can stay with the same team all through his career.

As I am writing this article I start to realize why the success of Brawn GP has been so overshadowed by "lie-gate." It is because once you start writing about lie-gate, you seriously can't stop! 

It is like begging you to give your opinion and once you start, you would have a lot to say about this issue. Whereas a story like Brawn GP could pretty much be summed up with "Reborn Honda team surprises everyone with two consecutive wins to open the season." If you are a reporter, which story would you rather cover?

So that's my first article as a writer at Bleacher Report.  Let the bashing begin!

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