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Alan Henry: Did he jump, or was he pushed?

Monday, 25th September 2006

And, one might add, does it matter either way? When Michael Schumacher called time on his F1 career at Monza, he genuinely looked to me like a guy who - having thought about it very carefully - was happy to be getting out with his shirt.

But the FIA, in my view, went halfway towards acknowledging that this was a grey area by quickly announcing, in the aftermath of the Italian GP, that instances of 'blocking' would no longer be referred to the stewards unless there was obvious evidence of it being deliberate. It had earlier been acknowledged that Alonso had not deliberately held up Massa but, by then, it was too late for Fernando, who'd thrashed his car and suffered an engine failure as he sought to climb back through the field following that totally unfair penalty. I'm not saying unjust, just unfair. I still think the stewards carefully examined all the details, but then made an error when it came to reaching the appropriate conclusion.

So, to sum up, I hope Alonso wins his second straight title crown. It's hard to think of any mistakes he's made all season. Let alone deliberately sought to disadvantage a rival.

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