Op-Ed: Something more behind Loeb's failed F1 drive?

As we posted yesterday, Sebastian Loeb has announced that he would not be competing at the Abu Dhabi GP.

[As for his day job, Loeb is off to a great start as he attempts to defend his World Rally title. At the end of the first day of the Rally GB, Loeb leads Mikko Hirvonen by 5 seconds.]

Since Loeb released his very measured statement announcing he would not compete at Abu Dhabi, there have been a lot of rumors and Internet back-and-forth about why the five-time WRC winner did not get a chance to get behind the wheel of a Red Bull [probably a Toro Rosso] car.

The focus has been on Loeb’s failure to secure his FIA super license. Here’s the start of Loeb’s “interview” from his official site announcing the news:

"

Rumours, stories spreading, denials, the wagers… For several months, ever since the first time Sebastian tested an F1 car, the rumours were rife. What is more natural than to imagine a five-time World Rally Champion starting a Grand Prix, exciting and simply unique!

All the lights were green, and although nothing official had been communicated, Sebastian was to be present in Abu Dhabi on 1 November. And then the decision of the FIA was made: no super licence for five times World Rally Champion.

"

Now, we always have to be careful about what gets lost in translation, but the lead-up to “no super license for five times World Rally Champion” is — well, I think maybe the best way to describe it is passive aggressive. There is a huge build up, all “exciting and simply unique” and then the blow: The FIA wouldn’t allow it.

The scuttle is about why the FIA would deny the super license. Yesterday, I focused mostly on Loeb’s professional handling of the FIA decision and how he highlighted the physical requirements of driving an F1 car. Today, people are wondering if it wasn’t just, or even, some concern about Loeb’s physical well-being. One person I saw called Loeb’s not getting the license “preposterous.”

So, was it something more?

We can file this away as, most likely, one of those question for which we will never have a satisfactory answer.

I post what amounts to a rumor, though, for two reasons:

1. I agree that it is hard to imagine that Loeb wasn’t physically up to an F1 drive. And I’d like to get more from the FIA about why the license was not granted. [I can't find anything at the FIA's web site.]

2. I think the reaction shows, again, how little faith fans have in the FIA. When nearly every one of its decision is met with skepticism, the FIA has lost the average fan. Yes, there will always be conspiracy theories and there always will be people who disbelieve the FIA [or any government]. But when the sentiment is the norm, there is something seriously wrong with the organization’s transparency and openness, its communications and its interaction with its constituency.

And that in a nutshell is what new FIA president Jean Todt has to fix. Immediately.

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