The Gravel Trap

Due to various reasons both the preview and the review of the most exciting Turkish GP ever could not be made but this week’s edition of The Gravel Trap will be loaded.

Red Bull Racing went into the season with the least of the driver friction which was expected to plague the big 4 teams but as of now after Vettel’s crash with Webber, the scenario has changed and the team has do bring the situation back to normal. Vettel and RBR are looking the villains but in reality it was a racing incident and in all fairness Webber failed to give room to Vettel. Webber should realize that Vettel is his teammate not just another driver. While Vettel did have pace on Webber for that lap, the so-called conspiracy theories going around that RBR favours Vettel. Yes Vettel is a product of their racing development program but if they have favoured Vettel, well Webber will be well off pace throughout the season.

Webber has been a journeyman all his life and winning 2 races does not make him a superstar. Had it not been for Red Bull, well Webber may have been stuck with the likes of Force India or Williams or even worse at Lotus! He needs to be grateful for what he has and if he does decides to walk away for the next season well it is his biggest mistake and his options are limited to either Williams or Renault. Williams is living of past glory and on a slow path to its demise while Renault will be build around Kubica. It is a racing incident and the crash should be forgotten as if Webber is going to bring it up again he will be the biggest loser.

Webber and Ferrari will never happen and even if it does happen, well he will be the #2 driver as Ferrari as of now is Team Alonso and even a guy like Massa is struggling. Talking of Massa, all signs point to his contract being renewed for 2011 as it does make sense to continue the line-up rather than bringing up someone like Kubica or even Webber for now. Ferrari should stick with this pairing till Vettel is ready to join the team.

Lotus boss has taunted Ferrari. Not bad, this is the team which has no connection to the original Lotus outfit but still for all marketing reasons is calling themselves Lotus as no one would want o see Team Malaysia or Fernandez F1. He is better off in trying to get his car to Q2 then actually tout the greatest team in F1 history. Ferrari is F1 and there are no more arguments to this. People pay to see Ferrari and not Force India or any other teams like Virgin or HRT!

On talk of a 13th team entering F1, ART GP owned by Nicolas Todt son of FIA president Jean Todt has thrown his hat in the field. ART is the most successful team in both GP2 and Euro F3 series and has had drivers like Hamilton, Rosberg and Vettel drive for them. They have all the pedigree of a good racing team and there are talks of Sauber being merged with the team. This is good for the sport as this will ensure Sauber’s survival in the long run. ART Sauber Ferrari sounds nice with the likes of Massa and Jules Bianchi behind the wheels of this team. ART has good relationship with also Renault and Mercedes and they have the best options entering the grid. Hope ART GP gets in F1.