Can We Trust Charlie Whiting?

First of all I would like to thank everyone that has read my first F1 article and put in their comments.  I will watch my language from now on!

Now let me begin by sharing a story with you.  It is a true story.  I work in an office in BC Canada.  A few months ago I had to phone a person (let just call this person D for this article's purposes) from a different firm to obtain some information. 

When I called, it was their receptionist who answered the telephone, and here's the dialogue that we had:

J: me      R: receptionist

R: Good morning, XXX Consultants.

J: Hi there, my name is J, I work with a consultant in Vancouver and I would like to speak with D from your office.

R: I am sorry, SHE is having a meeting right now.

J: Oh, do you know when SHE will be done?

R: D is a GUY (in the most contemptuous tone I have heard from a receptionist).

J: Oops, I am sorry, do you know when he will be done?

R: Try closer to noon.

J: Thanks. Have a good day.

R: Bye.

What does that story have to do with Charlie Whiting?  Well, I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me the receptionist was a relative of Whiting's.

Why?  Because they both like to give out misleading information, with the only difference being that my dialogue with that particular receptionist only resulted in a few awkward moments on the telephone and a few laughs when I spoke to my boss afterwards; whereas the words that came out of Whiting's mouth resulted in F1 teams spending an extra few millions just to get themselves on a level playing field (well maybe not even that). 

I am talking about the diffuser row here in case you are wondering.  First, I am not saying that it is Charlie Whiting's fault.  Maybe he interpreted the rules the same way as all the other teams that haven't produced a double decker diffuser. 

Nonetheless, his answer to Red Bull when Red Bull approached him earlier for clarification misled Red Bull to not produce the double decker diffuser that is being enjoyed by Brawn, Toyota and Williams.

It's one thing that you didn't produce a trick diffuser because you simply didn't think of that idea, but it is a totally different issue when you thought of the idea and you had approached the authority about it, and had been told that your idea was not feasible, only to see your competition taking advantage of the very same idea few months later and not getting penalized for taking advantage. 

And now you have to have your employees work double or triple shifts and pay millions of dollars that you didn't have to pay had you not been working on a totally different design for the last few months.

Some people might say, "who cares if Red Bull is getting screwed?"  Well, I personally don't care for that Team either, but what's alarming was the fact that they were screwed by the authorities that regulate the sport. 

If teams were told that Charlie Whiting is the guy you go to when you have questions or need clarifications on certain issues, then whatever good'ol Charlie tells you should be the right thing.

This is not the first time that a team had gone to Charlie for answers and had been misled.  Think Spa 2008, Lewis passed Kimi by cutting through the chicane which was against the rule.

Then Lewis conceded the position back to Kimi and that's when his team contacted Whiting to ask if the position had been given back in a satisfactory way.  If I remember correctly, Whiting's answer at the time was "I think so".  I think most of you know what happened afterwards. 

So in my eyes, Massa didn't win six races last season because he didn't win Spa, therefore, any argument that he deserved the championship more than Lewis does not make any sense to me. 

Sorry, got distracted there.  But my point is, Whiting's response had misled McLaren to think that it was okay to repass Kimi right away and the stewards disagreed.

What these two instances proved is that you can't trust Whiting's opinion.  It doesn't make him wrong.  It just proves that the governing body of the sport doesn't respect his opinion and that makes him look like an idiot sometimes. 

Well, maybe he is an idiot, but I am not trying to bash anyone.  The only solution to this problem is for FIA to somehow ensure that whoever they appoint as the F1 race director is someone that can provide accurate information that is consistent with the thinking of the governing body that employs him. 

If he has to go back to Mosley or Ecclestone or the stewards every time a team approaches him with a question, then anybody can take his job as a race director, they might as well hire me! 

But I must admit he did an absolutely stunning job in Malaysia as a safety delegate by stopping the race at exactly the right time.  That says to me that Whiting is not stupid.

I just think the problem lies in the communication, or the lack thereof, within the FIA itself.

Please leave a comment and provide your opinion on how to make the sport better in this regard.