http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/09/12/f1...ture/index.html

In english

For those who want to keep up their Dutch, a nice intervieuw with Juan Pablo Montoya here:

http://www.sportwereld.nl/formule1/2603010..._te_bellen.html

For those who dont want to crash course the language, in short:

- He says hell never return to F1, Ferrari doesnt have to try call him

- Likes his family life better in the states

- Is beeing booed and jeered at somenascar tracks and says its better than that they ignore him

- Was fed up with corporate life at mclaren, saying he wasnt allowed to sit outside the motorhome in the sun

- Thinks in Nascar the drivers role is way more important as there is no telemetry devices unlike F1, where computers dictate setups.

Shame he doesnt return. I thought he was a great driver.

Basically for Mr briatore you have two kind of enthusiasts in F1:

-Average fans that want to see overtakings all the race long
-engineers.


Great view of the F1 world!

If you're in between, please leave the F1 enthusiasts world. Mr Briatore said you're not interested in Suspensions or gearboxes.

Probably wasn't allowed to chew gum, either.

Slightly depressing reading, depending on your point of view.

Seeing how Alonso changed his haircut and helmet design at McLaren, I tend to believe all this corporate shit.

Why be surprised by it? It's part of the way they operate and he would have known that when he signed. If he didnt like it he shouldnt have gone there, not as if anyone held a gun to his head.

I think briatore is right in a lot of ways but still should see F1 also appeals because of technology. I think a lot of fans still have wet dreams about hearing V12 engines. I think many of the new rules also dont appeal to fans. Everey year it takes me a few races to understand what they did to the qualifying format. If he wants to aprove racing he should talk to tilke and ecclestone to not throw in places like magny cours, hungaroring or monaco. Or agree to race there and flag everybody after 6 laps. Nothing changes after 78 laps and no matter how you juggle rules and cartechnology, there will never be any racing there. Big wide tracks like malaysia have proved even modern race cars can provide nice racing.

My 2 cents.

Roger Penske was like that... I recall when (the bearded) John Watson drove for him, Penske told him that if he wins, the beard has to come off... Well, he did and it did...

Facial hair doesn't fit Penske's corporate image.

If they remove the engineering/technical side of the sport they will lose probably 1/3 of the fan base in one fell swoop. Sure, being a spec-series would mean it was entirely down to drivers but I wouldn't watch it. I would just move on to the next best sport for technical advancement - MotoGP or Le Mans.

And Montoya doesnt have to wait for that or it will be a long time wait....

Always something to laugh about with juan.

I've never met anyone who watched F1 for the technology. If it went spec tomorrow, you wouldn't know it.

Are you suggesting McLaren drivers have to have their turds approved by Ron for "corporate faecal compliancy" or some such, and stamped with the McLaren and Santander logos before they are released for flushing?

But it is a big part of what makes F1 different otherwise we would all be watching the spec series.

its what makes F1, its not a spec series, and that there should be compertion on every level, on every single piece of the car

otherwise we would watch GP2, same tracks had the same drivers in the past, cars look good, not much slower, fraction of the cost too

i quite like IRL tho, thats semi spec

You're too young for that, son.

Yeah but we're also in 2008. J-Dampers are the new developments and while it is an interesting solution to an age old problem, have any of us even seen one?