That was ridiculous!

The time has come for the FIA to realise that the current F1 car has just about eliminated the word "sport" from F1. If they do not change the rules substantially they would be better off making it a three lap race with two compulsory pit stops, because the start and the pit stops are now totally where the race is won or lost. All the other laps can just as well be replaced by a handful of parade laps because that is what they are.

Apart from those in Europe, the rest of the world either gets up early or stays up late to watch most of these races. I for one, did not sit up until the wee hours of the morning to watch Michael Schumacher circulating at some two seconds slower than his normal pace because overtaking is impossible. The only overtaking we saw was by Williams and Benetton who were forced to start on low fuel loads to better their position in the early stages of the race. Sure, Coulthard overtook Barrichello but that was not long before Barrichello retired and if he did not have a problem he could have kept Coulthard behind him for the rest of the day.

Don’t believe me, listen to the teams and drivers:

Mika Salo: "When you start in 18^th in F1, you either get things done in the first lap, or you don’t get it done at all."

Johnny Herbert: "…you just get stuck behind people…..it’s frustrating"

Jean Todt: "The outcome was decided at the start"

Pat Symonds: "…our result was determined on Saturday afternoon"

Mika Hakkinen: "The start really decided the outcome of the race."

Ralf Schumacher overtook his brother Michael on the first lap, but that was a continuation of the start and Jarno Trulli overtook Villeneuve in a brilliant manoeuvre, but that was because Villeneuve was already struggling with his gearbox problem.

Current aerodynamics needs clean air to function properly and, if the first four races of this season are anything to go by, the turbulence behind a F1 car not only eliminates most of the aerodynamic grip of a following car but it also extends some three or four car lengths back so it is impossible to overtake unless you have a tremendous speed advantage. To get that speed advantage one would be forced to be on a much lower fuel load, which in turn means that it would be necessary to stop more often for fuel, and then, where is the advantage?

If the rules are not changed for next year I think it is quite possible that we will see even further development of highly specialised engines. A qualifying engine to get as far forward on the grid as possible and an economic race engine to reduce fuelling and therefore pit stop time. All race strategies will revolve around the start and the pits and we, the spectators, will watch the rest of the race in bored anticipation of a spin or breakdown.

That is not what I believe racing should be about. What happened to the excitement of watching a driver like Keke Rosberg charge through the field after starting from the back? If that happened today he could just as well stay in the pit lane because he will be coming last – unless of course the pit team does something spectacular to move him up a place or two.

Even last year we saw Hakkinen overtaking when he started from the back of the grid. If that happened this year, I do not like his chances of doing it again.

At Silverstone it was obvious that it was hard to get close enough to lap the back markers. In past seasons we saw the leaders sail past and could admire the skill and timing that it took. Now it seems really easy to catch them but as soon as the turbulence is felt overtaking is blatantly difficult, even with the help of blue flags.

But, I am sure that the FIA are acutely aware of it. Here I am demanding that they fix a problem, but if I were asked to help I would not even know where to start.

Formula one racing has become a procession varied only during pit stops or retirements (with a few driver errors thrown in every once in a while). Long straights are far too dangerous, but without them overtaking is a problem. Less rubber on the road has not worked. Controlled tyre compounds and grooves did not work.

In fact everything that was tried was circumvented by technology and I cannot see that stopping.

The FIA could bring in rules similar to those applying to back markers giving a driver say 4 laps to either pull away from the car behind him or move over, but that is not motor racing. Some drivers have the ability to make their cars very wide and I can't see why they should not be allowed to use that.

They could reduce engine capacity in the hope that this will force teams to reduce the amount of drag (and therefore downforce) but that may bring the formula too close to Formula 3000.

I just want it fixed. I do not profess to even begin to know how, but I do know that what I saw in Silverstone did not please me.

I would like to see the fastest driver/car combination win the race. Occasionally I enjoy seeing a pit team make a difference by getting a car out faster. I admire drivers like Mika Hakkinen and the late Ayrton Senna who have a well honed qualifying skill. BUT most of all I want to see a race, not a fast wake.

If you can’t do that for me, just show me the qualifying and I will read about the outcome of the race in the newspaper.

McLaren

I still believe that they have the fastest car on the track today and finishing first and second has certainly convinced me that they have fixed their nagging reliability problems. In the early part of the race it was obvious that Barrichello was holding them up and once they had clear air both cars were very fast.

Coulthard drove very well. He was patient behind Barrichello but was alert enough to take advantage of Barrichello’s apparent mistake (Barrichello was having problems with the hydraulics) to pass and after that he controlled the race from the front.

Hakkinen did not have a good day. For the first half of the race he seemed rather pedestrian and demoralised. It was only after Barrichello’s retirement that he got going, posting some very fast laps far too late in the race to achieve anything.

During the post race press conference Hakkinen said that his car was not set up well, but I find that a little difficult to believe. What happened half way through the race to suddenly make it faster?

Ferrari

Ferrari seem to have reliability problems with only one car. Michael Schumacher’s car was reliable enough to get him on the podium every race this season but Barrichello keeps on breaking down. Strange.

Barrichello was definitely not as fast as the McLarens and may even have had a problem from the start. He did not take advantage of the clear track in front of him at the start and although he kept Coulthard behind him for the first half he never looked as if he could get away from him.

Michael Schumacher proved that starting is critical. He started well but when you are that far back on the grid finding gaps to pass is not easy.

I was surprised to see Schumacher on the podium at the finish. At half distance he was still stuck behind Villeneuve in 8^th place and they were miles behind the leaders. He drove very well in the second half to get third place.

Jordan.

Although Frentzen was doing extremely well before he retired with gearbox problems, I still feel that the Jordan is still too slow to mix it with the leading cars.

A two stop strategy did not work for Jordan, primarily because overtaking is now something of the past. Admittedly it meant that their cars were light enough for Frentzen to stay with the leaders (and even lead the race for a while) but they were not fast enough to compensate for the extra stop.

Jarno Trulli drove one of his best races to finish in 6^th place, which is the best he could expect on a two stop strategy.

Jaguar

Well, both of them finished again, so they have still got the reliability bugs out of the way. Both cars were pedestrian and if that is how much they have to slow the Jaguar down to make it reliable they have a long way to go.

At least they finished in front of the Minardis, but not by much.

Williams

I was very impressed with the cars and both drivers. The BMW motors held out again and although they opted for a two-stop strategy, which I think was a mistake, they were fast.

Ralf was as good as always, but it was Jenson Button that impressed me. For a 20-year-old rookie he was unbelievably in control.

They may not be up to the pace of the Ferrari or McLaren but at this stage they seem to be the only team that may get there before the end of the season.

Benetton

Obviously off the pace, both cars circulated reliably until the end, finishing one lap down in 7^th and 9^th places.

I can’t see this team improving during the season. They may get a few more horsepower from the Supertec motor and they could improve the chassis but not enough to matter. Their day may come but it is a long way into the future.

Prost

Another team that appears to have solved a reliability problem by slowing the cars down.

Alesi finished in 10^th place and Heidfeld retired after 51 laps with oil pressure problems.

Sauber

Mika Salo drove a good race and finished in 8^th place. Diniz came 11^th.

The cars do not look fast and I am not sure that it is due to the engine. After all this is the motor that powered Ferrari last year and that was a lot faster than Benetton, as an example, who are still using the same motor as last year. Sauber are either not getting the best out of the motor or are not getting the chassis or aerodynamics to work.

Arrows

Like always they are very fast in testing again. They always seem to be fast in testing but never bring that pace to race day.

This time both cars broke down before half distance.

Vestappen qualified well, in 8^th place and must have been very disappointed when he retired.

Minardi.

They may have been last but both cars finished.

BAR

I was disappointed in their performance. They opted for one stop but did not have the pace to stay in touch with the leaders.

Villeneuve managed to keep Michael Schumacher behind him until his pit stop, but he was considerably slower than the leaders.

Zonta was doing well just before he spun off on lap 36 and Villeneuve could have finished in the points if his gearbox could have made those last four laps but neither were fast at any stage of the race. The car is still slow and if BAR and/or Honda want to finish on the podium this year they better do something soon.