LVGP: F1 craps out in Vegas

[ZoWie]

OK... It's happened again. Another season decided in the stewards' room rather than on the track.

Now this time, it appears that McLaren had bad luck, but still, their sudden post-race disqualification means that this race rolled a crapout. It was probably honest, but it still has all the appearance of a tank job to reward the well-connected Red Bull team in its attempt to win the umpteenth world championship for an abusive ugly Dutchman named Max Verstappen.

Now, I'm not saying that the FIA was in the tank, since McLaren did have a rule violation caused by the design of the car being suited for 110 degree F summer day time temperatures in the Middle East rather than 39 degree night time temperatures in the Nevada desert a week before Thanksgiving. I am saying that it still looks very, very bad. It brings up memories of the bad old days at Indy, when "If you can't beat 'em, ban 'em" was clearly a policy.

The F1 action wasn't as blatant as Indy's short-lived ban on all designs newer than 1958, but it looks just as bad. It largely invalidates a whole season that started sometime last March. Something similar happened a few years back in F1 when a driver was instructed by a team to crash to change the outcome of a race. That decided a championship too. It's still winding its way through the legal system. (Google "crashgate.")

It's obvious that a lot of people are going to be left thinking that money and connections determine the championship, not the world's best race drivers risking death for 8 months a year. Wouldn't be the first time in car racing.

Very sad. Norris may yet win the championship, but if not it's another asterisk decision. Another season of 20 of the world's best race drivers risking their lives for 8 months, that will always be suspected as a bunch of rich oil sheiks and media moguls deciding who gets the trophy.