Having listened to a number of opinions on this matter here’s a thought or two.
Is Vettel’s cussin’ and swearin’ the worst thing an F1 driver has ever done and still received no ban? Probably not, but then again it could be the most lengthy aggressive vehement public outburst by an F1 driver yet heard – so trying to defend Sebastian from the charge of ‘bringing F1 into disrepute’ might be like trying to become president of the USA with a name that means fart.
As a racing spectacle, Formula One leaves a lot to be desired. And let’s be clear, this is nothing new. One team dominating the sport and hardly any proper racing on track has been an F1 issue for more than a decade. And the worst thing about F1 tedium, is that it takes hours to consume. A dull soccer or football game is done in 90 minutes with just enough time to grab a beer after the first half, but F1 takes all weekend – on and off – and for what? Nico/Lewis first or second and a ‘Buller’ in third – maybe a Ferrari here and there.
The result? F1 fans have for decades resorted to sub-plot intrigue for the majority of their F1 fix.
Back in the day, we had FIA President Jean-Marie (why all the men with girl’s names?) Balestre vs Senna; Prost v Senna, in fact the rest of the world v Senna was how it felt at times during the career of the Brazilian triple World Champion.
Once the Frenchie was dispatched from the Place de Concorde we had Bernie v Max and Max v Bernie who kept us entertained whilst at the same time Mosely ‘beasted’ the whinging F1 teams with his cost cutting innovations such as parc ferme.
Up came the ‘millenium’ and ‘cheating Ba>@%rds’ Ferrari and Michael Schumcher’s domination of F1 intrigued us for a while as we pondered how an Italian auto company with a reputation for building crappy unreliable cars could dominate our beloved sport for so long.
Then the answer became clear, when the smart Englishman left the Italian team, the Scuderia quickly fell into decline and so it behoved Big Ron Dennis and Fernando Alonso to entertain the public – hammer and tongues they were at it – FIA observers were even sent in to ensure fair play. The result = a $100m dollar fine for McLaren for spying on the Red Team and stealing their world beating technology (PMSL) and ideas. Bernie mischievously suggested at the time that $5m of the fine was for cheating and $95m was because Ron was in general – a ‘twat’.
Compelling stuff indeed – meanwhile there was the usual on track ‘racing’ in the background but the sport quickly needed a new fix. Up stepped the flamboyant, big haired, fake sun tanned businessman (no his name didn’t mean fart) – Senior Briatore. This Italian Stallion created a crash in Singapore to favour the newly ‘released’ Alonso from McLaren. This turn of events bizarrely resulted in Lewis Hamilton stealing his first world championship from a worthy Brazilian named Felipe Massa.
4 years of Red Bull/Seb Vettel dominance was soon to follow. This was then superseded by at least 3 years of Mercedes dominance… yawn… yawn – and apart from some mad ideas from Charlie Whiting eg New Qualifying format’s, Virtual Safety Cars, Standing Restarts following a safety car, Wet Race standing starts etc etc etc……. F1 has again begun to lose its mass appeal. Attendances are mostly down, TV audiences are collapsing and F1’s money launderers CVC are finally heading for the hills.
Hence…… when a driver like Sir Vettel presents in an apoplectic state and/or we see Lewis doing his bi-polar paranoia type rants quickly followed by #Blessed #Peace #Love…. these gentlemen are throwing themselves in front of the PR bus just to take us beyond the mundane. Ban them? Shouldn’t they be applauded?
However, in the soap opera of F1-land this does not mean drivers should be indulged. Allowing cussin’ at their masters and ‘betters’ will only lead to revolt. Like the gladiators of old, we cheer them for their heroics in the amphiteatre of their sport and then whimsically dismiss them to from whence they came. The heavy thump of the gavel must come down hard to enforce law, order and an impression of gentlemanly civility.
Sadly, for this reason Sebastian Vettel must be banned from racing for telling F1’s white haired gin swilling old doddery referee to ‘eff off’.
Some say, this measure must be enforced – even if only as revenge for the years of 1 finger salutes we were all forced to endure.
Should some of the stewards be banned?
Vettel’s rant on the radio is nothing new. They all do it an they all did it in the past.
The difference of course is that everyone hears now what they say. We can only imagine the likes of Senna, Berger, Piquet, Mansell etc, what they must have said in the heat of the moment.
This does not excuse Vetttel for being disrespectful towards Whiting and he has apologized for it, but instead of asking if Vettel should be banned i think the question should be if some of the stewards should be banned instead, for the inconsistencies of their decisions.
How on earth does Whiting defend the stewards decision not to penalize Hamilton in today’s driver’s press conference illustrates exactly what is wrong with F1 today.
This is why I follow. +2
PS: *Inequality Alert*
With respect to the picture for this article, how Sebastian can get away with spraying champagne all over a girl’s face during podium celebrations, and yet Lewis gets roundly condemned, is beyond me! Another example of the double standards endemic in Formula One where Lewis is concerned.
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Just had a thought. Can female racing drivers who make the podium (not that it’ll ever happen) partake in the celebrations and have their faces, either deliberately or inadvertently, sprayed with bubbly?
It’s these questions that trouble me. Perhaps Twitter’s experts can figure it out and hashtag the collective answer. Thank you in advance.
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#ArmisticeDay
Who also scrolled back to see the picture again?
I did scroll back…ha ha! Nice one.
As to females being sprayed with bubbly, i guess James Hunt did it a few times back in the day even just a few minutes before the races.
But i guess you would have to ask the ladies if they considered what he sprayed them with being bubbly or not.
I am deeply offended and shocked that you, as a man, clearly only have one thing on your mind. You represent all that is wrong with the generation of overly pompous and thick headed people. You, sir, are a clear example of how good manners go to wasted! That is, if someone even took the time to educate you on how to behave correctly. Never ever have I let someone take a stab, at something I hold so dear, like you just did without raising my fist in anger towards them. I will not stand here and let such a crime go by! You sir, are a swine, a baboon, and I consider you to be the scum of the earth! How dare you belittle and humiliate such a large portion of all what is good in this world?
I will not stand by to let you talk this disrespectful of something that clearly is better than you…
Never ever call champagne bubbly again!
😀
It should’ve been like football. He should’ve gotten the black flag immediately.
That would’ve been entertaining!
I’d like to propose ‘flip’, ‘sugar’ and ‘bother’ as suitable alternatives to the more colourful profanities we have become accustomed to hearing (from many drivers) over the airwaves during races. It’s a sad reflection on the quality of racing that the focus is on radio messages rather than the racing itself. Vettel was out of order with his language (and he knows it.) He”s been punished for it, apologised, (both verbally and in writing) and the apology has been accepted. Time to move on. There is one very pressing question that does need to be asked though…………(is that the murmourings of an article about to be written?)
Seb and whiners like him should get on with racing. Seb is like a football player whinging his *ss off for a red card after his own schwalbe. Stewards this, stewards that, cutting of his engineers. F you Seb. Just race for f sake or have you forgotten how to fight. A 4 time champion swearing at a newbie instead of giving some driving lessons. Go cry at a beauty contest you godd*mn sissy. You are not worthy a Ferrari. The old man would spit in your face.
HaHa – Priceless
Had nearly given up on this site!!
Never give up
I like Vettel, but he has been useless this season. His main thing this season seems to be blue flags, even though he hasn’t looked like winning a race. He hasn’t done well this season at all, some of it may not be his fault but that’s still his job and I can see how Ferrari are concerned.
I also thought his rant was inexcusable, yes, he said it in the heat of the moment, but you can’t tell Whiting to f off in front of the whole world just because the guy in front of you hasn’t been told to move yet. He may have been under pressure but it’s still not the thing to do. And who loses most out of this? Vettel’s public image and Whiting, for letting Seb speak to him on live TV like that, and get away with it. Means anyone can do it if you apologise immidiately afterwards
Seb has form on just doing what he likes with impunity – witness the stuff he got away with at Red Bull. He needs to get chipped to show him who’s boss.
Seb’s just another entitled brat in need of a referral to a good procto-neurologist to deal with what is clearly a raging case of cranial-rectal inversion.