Whatever happens, it would be nice to see the
FIA encourage some of the wealth from
F1 to trickle down through the ranks to the grass roots like we’ve seen in NASCAR. As I’ve pointed out many times, NASCAR built not only a superb major league, but also a complete system comprising no fewer than thirteen championships from top the bottom. It’s on this foundation that NASCAR’s success has been built through a longterm nurturing of drivers, teams, racetracks and fans. This is the biggest, most important lesson the FIA could learn from NASCAR, but I very much doubt that’s likely to happen.
Meanwhile, the start of the European season at Imola showed that Schumacher,
Ferrari and
Bridgestone have rebounded strongly with Felipe Massa’s fourth place confirming the team’s strength. But at the same time Alonso,
Renault and Michelin are every bit their match and may be superior at many tracks. More than that, Alonso’s fast start to the year means he will be very difficult to stop from taking a second successive world title. Nor are
McLaren out of the picture with both Raikkonen and Montoya and over the next three or four races it could well develop into a ferocious championship battle.
To read more of Gordon Kirby's 'The Way It Is' columns go to www.kirbywebbsite.com.
