Motors - Jaguar's Model Line Up

Jaguar’s Model Line Up

With Tata seemingly turning the fortunes of JLR totally around, they have started thinking how they can boost the fortunes of both Jaguar and Land Rover.

With Land Rover, a new Defender is the main requirement, a long with the Range-Rover coupe Evoque plus a larger amount of chassis sharing within Land Rover and engine sharing with Jaguar.

Jaguar, however is a more complicated animal to tackle. Land Rover uses Jaguar engines, with both companies benefiting hugely from an excellent range of petrol and diesel motors.

Jaguar is only recovering from Its huge down turn in fortunes under Ford and the whole JLR group is only just becoming profitable. Land Rover is a well respected brand, with the Discovery, Freelander, Range-Rover and Defender all selling well in the various guises these cars have appeared under and so Land Rover has a good base from which to create more challenging models, such as the Evoque. Add in the plan for Land Rover to use two maybe even one chassis design for Its range and you can see the healthy future for Land Rover.

Jaguar on the other hand has endured some serious failures in its past models and is up against stiff German opposition in its various markets.

 

Currently Jaguar has 4 models: The XF, the company’s smallest car, a four door saloon with a range-topping ‘XF-R’ performance version, which has been, arguably, the key to Jaguar’s revival.

This car is a genuine competitor in the large saloon market, with some seriously good looks as a major plus to add to its very German talents.

The new XJ has some huge boots to fill, the XJ has been a long term success for Jaguar, selling well during its life with very little variation on design since the 1970’s. 

The new car is competing in the Mercedes S-Class, Audi S8, BMW 7 Series market. However the XJ, so far has shown the same modern qualities and talents that allowed the XF to make its mark and early signs are promising. 

Finally, the XK, both convertible and coupe versions, as well as limited edition versions was the start of Jaguar’s modernisation before the XF and XJ arrived. The XK’s modern looks, fantastic handling and lovely engines mean the XK is able to compete well and the sales figures speak for themselves.

Tata however, and rightly, are far from satisfied. JLR is only just back in profit and needs to expand itself much further to remain stable and become truly self-sustaining. So, firstly, Jaguar is starting with improvements to current models, particularly the XF.

An estate version of the XF is almost certain, Tata itself has said that this is a necessary car and makes more sense than anything else. A minor extension to the chassis and a tweak to the suspension set-up to account for the body, at most is required and an estate body is needed.

No new engines are needed and interior trim levels can be applied to the estate. The only potential stumbling block is getting the rear light cluster right as Jaguar has cashed in on its current ability to produce a competent and wonderful looking car.

This has been given a green like by Tata, probably due in 2012 when the whole XF range is given a mid-life face lift.

The next alteration Jaguar can produce from the XF is even easier, and would allow Jaguar to follow in the modern trends, and that is an XF coupe.

A body work modification would be all that is needed and Jaguar then have three models from one base. The coupe could also benefit from the XF-R engine and suspension to create another top end car for them.

 It isn’t that simple though. Jaguar can ill afford to have one of its cars competing with another one of its own cars. In this case, the XF coupe could steal sales from the XK, a very real potential as the XF and XK share engines.

The next thing Jaguar must do, and in my opinion, is crucial. And that is replace the defunct X-Type. The only problem the X-Type has, was it was a Ford Mondeo chassis, engines and suspension with a Jaguar badge and interior.

But it wasn’t that simple, the X-Type estate had Four Wheel Drive, and so the car could have had rear wheel drive. The Estate was also a great utilitarian car, huge boot, beautiful interior and lovely ride and again, great looks.

Tata have realised this and have told Jaguar it must produce a car that can slot in below the XF, as with the XF estate, Tata has given Jaguar permission to get to work on this properly. Name wise I’d be surprise if it was called ‘X-Type’, partly to avoid reviving memories of the old, failed, X-Type, but also to include it in the modern Jaguar naming scheme.

It would sit below the XF in the range, and with an ‘XE’ forthcoming, it would be logical to call it the ‘XD’ or ‘XC’. I’d tip for XC personally. 

I think this car is probably the most important Jaguar since the XF. When it was announced, Jaguar was in serious trouble with the word ‘bankruptcy’ becoming quite loud, so the XF had to succeed.

The XC would be going up against the Mondeo, 3-Series and A4, all seriously good cars and if it is a success then Jaguar will be truly back, but if it fails, it could end up costing a lot, both in financial and reputation terms.

Not only would Jaguar need to produce a new base, they would need a new set of engines as Jaguar has no four cylinders or small capacity diesels. They can pinch engines from Land-Rover, as well as the rumoured options on Ford engine, but this is all extra development costs.

The next car, which has also received approval from Tata, is a ‘baby roadster’, almost certainly going to be called the ‘XE’, invoking memories of the E-Type.

Again, this car could prove a stumbling block. The modern roadster is not the same as it used to be. Ok, the MX-5 soldiers on bravely, but it’s a dying breed.

However, in theory, place this in front of the Mercedes SLK with some good engines, either from the XF or ‘XC’ and you end up with a car that could bring Tata the levels of sales figures that it feels JLR should be achieving.

Again this car could prove crucial in determining Jaguar's fortunes; if it has the right balance of handling, luxury, price, performance and economy that  buyers look for in this segment, then it could take Jaguar into new realms of success. 

The potential here is for the XE and 'XC' to share the same chassis, suspension and engines, helping to cut development costs of both cars. To my mind, this is almost a certainty as Jaguar will want to produce good cars for the least expense.

This and the replacement to the X-Type are critical to the future of Jaguar and most come soon to build on the success that the current models have created.

Tata is also demanding that Jaguar develop 'alternate' propulsion systems, and this has seen Jaguar partner up with several British companies, such as MIRA, Lotus Engineering and Caparo, and has recently been confirmed to receive UK government funding to create micro range extenders, beginning with the prototype XJ 'Green-Limo' and a recently revealed XF that utilises a flywheel to provide 'free' drive, similar to the mechanical KERS system from Formula 1.

  

The final thing I want to mention is the concept that is due at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, a few weeks away at the time of writing. This is a concept that is much in line with what Mazda likes to do; showcase a car that hints at the direction the company’s design language is going to go, revealed by Autocar India, with this rendering based on the information they obtained..

In this case, it will be an XK based car showcasing what could end up as the next XK

It signals the end of the Ian Callum era, an era that probably saved Jaguar, and the start of a new one which also signals the end of the oval grille of Jaguar sports cars, with Callum himself saying that shape won’t suit wide-mouth cars.

Imagine this rendering with a slightly narrower grille, less pronounced flanks and the ever-popular LED day-time running lights and I can see this on sale in 2014 no problem.

Jaguar sighted Porsche’s 918 as inspiration, so a V6 rear-wheel drive power train with electric motors on the front wheels or electric/petrol hybrid drive to the rear wheels are two very likely configurations.

Expect any Jaguar hybrid to be one of their own as Tata is keen for JLR to delve into alternative drive technologies, with micro petrol charging combined with all-electric drives fairly high up and big improvements in the range/performance returns in electric-only drive returns.

When Tata bought JLR, I despaired for the fates of both companies, but Tata have taken the beginnings of turn around for both companies and fashioned a group with a much rosier future than could have been imagined under Ford.

As with Aston Martin, these two British companies now have the potential to go on and truly leave a mark on modern motoring.

MD

Motors - Cars That Came Before Their Time

Cars That Came Before Their Time

Ok, this is my last publication for the day. At the moment I’m waiting for the Paris Motor Show to start on October 2^nd and eager to see what new stuff comes along, anticipating a lot of niche coupe models of MPVs, SUVs, saloons and everything else, and with all these niche models it got me thinking about cars that have come before their time because of their futuristic styling or body shapes. Here’s a selection of modern cars that I think are the biggest:

Renault Avantime V6

The Renault Avantime is the very definition of ahead of its time. In fact the name means just that. The word ‘Avan’ in French means ‘Ahead’ and the English word ‘time’ explains it all.

The styling too, was WAY ahead of 2001, that coupe; B-Pillar-less body shell is absolute 2010 design.

Based on the Renault Espace chassis, the panoramic windscreen, huge dual sunroof and uber spacious interior with all the modern toys and gadgets you can name along with the very stylised front, two-tone paint and the signature ‘bum’ of Renault’s at that time screams ‘Modern’ to anyone.

However, the Avantime came nearly ten years too soon. Launch in 2011 rather than 2001, it would sell like crazy, however, from 2001 to 2003, the Avantime sold just over 8,000 units, and inevitably got canned.

This is a seriously cool car that is comfy, good looking, loaded with kit and safety gear with plenty of innovations we now think as standard fare.

Jaguar X-Type 3.0 Estate

The failing of the entire X-Type range boils down to this: it was just a Ford Mondeo wearing a Jaguar badge. Hang on, you what? The Mondeo has long been one of the best cars of its type, able to keep up with Mercedes, BMW and Audi in sales despite being the butt of many ‘poor man’ jokes.

Jaguar needed to sell more cars, so Ford, who owned Jaguar then, giving it a quality car to sell under a quality brand should work a treat.

The interiors were excellent, the ride was fantastic, and the engines were the pick of the range from Ford and Land-Rover, including the 3.0 litre V6 that was put in the Mondeo ST220, one of the best performance saloons around. And no-one got it?

Today, platform sharing is one of the simplest ways to save money, Fiat plans to put its entire range, plus Alfa Romeo and Lancia on TWO platforms!

And then the X-Type estate, which could out-Volvo the Volvo V50, was arguably the pick of the range. The 220 odd bhp V6 from the ST220 plus Four-Wheel-Drive and those rather dashing looks meant this car was serious luxury and practicality, plus a Jaguar badge for less than £30k, and yet no-one got it at all.

This car was an early lesson in how to diversify a brand using quality cars to do it, and I’m certain, today it would lauded as a ingenious way for Jaguar to spread itself and Ford to demonstrate the quality of its stock.

Ford Focus RS Mk I

Everyone today knows all about Civic Type-R’s, Ford Focus ST’s, VW Golf GTi’s as really fast, really fun, really practical hot hatches, but back in 2001, the Mk IV Golf GTi was slower than a diesel Skoda and Civic’s were still a car for your Gran. Ford had LONG since forgotten Hot Hatches when it stopped making Cosworth tuned cars.

Then this popped up, almost out of the blue. It was a concept to show Ford remembered what the old ‘RS’ brand was about, such as the Escort and Sierra RS Cosworth’s from the 80’s & 90’s that were so fast and powerful you couldn’t actually insure one!

It isn’t so much a car ahead of its time, but a car that was akin to the second coming. Of the Hot Hatch anyway. The RS showed us that you could have real performance, great looks and decent practicality instead of the salesman’s Mk IV Golf GTi. It spawned two Focus ST’s and a second Focus RS that has ended up with 350bhp, nearly 150 more than the 212bhp this car had, it lead to the mental Civic Type-R’s and that crazy beast the Astra VXR. However, released at around the same time, even the much celebrated MINI Cooper S only had 163bhp and the RS whooped its backside, and was the first to prove that a Front-Wheel-Drive Hot-Hatch could put more than 200bhp down without under steering into every tree, wall and house in sight.

It wasn’t perfect, in fact it torque steered dangerously, but it reminded us so much of the nut-mobiles that had last worn RS badges and showed what a true Hot Hatch is that it pretty much single handed revived the Hot Hatch.

Dodge Caliber

This next car will probably get me yelled at, but whatever, I’m entitled to my humble opinion.

The Dodge Caliber in fact arrived three to four years too early. I hear you all ask why, well to answer that, look at the picture and tell me what you see.

 Let me guess, a big, five door, five to seven seat American SUV, yes? WRONG! It is in fact a hatch back, about the size of a BMW 3-Series or Ford Focus. Yes, without realising it, Dodge produced one of the first true cross-over cars that are filling up every single showroom of every single manufacturer in the world, especially BMW, who now sell two different crossover SUV-Coupe things.

It was a well thought out car, with a Diesel option for Europe, sourced from VW, who make some cracking engines, the chassis has that raised up stance that all markets have a thing for in 2010, and could be purchased as a Front or Four-Wheel-Drive car, just like the ‘new’ MINI Countryman, mini SUV/hatchback...

Personally I think it looks great too, no over the top bulges or bumps, just a good looking face that gives ‘big car’ presence, some lovely, subtle wheel arch flaring and a sloping rear and big rear bumper to boost its appearance as an SUV.

This is a car that came WAY too early to be liked and, like many American offerings, lacked the interior quality that was required to make it a success, struggling to make decent UK sales, but it can be genuinely described as a cross-over/soft-roader hatchback, the very thing that BMW claims it ‘invented’ with its X1, X6 and MINI Countryman models.

Mercedes Benz CLS Coupe

Time for a car that came well before its time AND has actually been a success, the Mercedes Benz CLS Coupe.

You may think 2010 is the year of the coupe-saloon/hatchback/SUV/MPV models, but this in fact an idea that comes from way back in 2004. Six years ago Mercedes wanted to stand out from the crowd in the large executive four-door saloon market and create an indirect rival for the BMW 6-Series.

It used an extended C-Class chassis and had access to a wide range of Mercedes petrol and Diesel engines, with the bottom versions featuring a 224bhp, 3.0l Turbo Diesel V6 and a 272bhp, 3.5l petrol V6 going up to two AMG versions, one featuring a Super-charged, 469bhp, 5.5l V8 and the top model had a 6.2l, 507bhp V8.

Despite its rather niche market and appearance, the CLS Coupe has sold fantastically, with worldwide sales of 170,000 plus in its 6 year life and Mercedes is fully intended to continue making the car that lead the way for saloon coupes, despite the fact its rear accommodation was rather cramped and boot space being at a premium. In fact as a four-door saloon, this is a car that was not as practical as it appeared, it was more a 2+2 coupe that just happened to have four doors instead of two.

This really was a car that came along early and has caught on in spectacular fashion, leading Audi to develop coupe versions of its entire saloon range, and BMW to create its SUV coupes. Don’t ever be fooled be either company; Mercedes did that trick first, and by some margin.

Fiat Multipla

Yes, obviously this list would include probably the greatest odd-ball car of all time: the Fiat Multipla, a car which could arguably be described as the best designed car of all time.

Based on the Brava, the Multipla was at least a big challenge on looks, but it belied what is actually an incredibly well designed car. It was a very early example of the compact MPV, think Honda Jazz, Vauxhall Meriva and you get what it’s about. Yet the Multipla was a seriously well packaged car.

Despite being shorter than the car on which it was based, the Multipla could carry six people in comfort and their luggage as well, where the three door Brava could fit five at a crush, or on the case of many seven seat MPV’s which sacrifice luggage space for the two extra seats, the Multipla showed itself as an amazingly practical car whose looks were a product of its very 2010 packaging, despite the fact it was released in 1998!

Even its engine were good, particularly the 1.9 Diesel which was the star of the Fiat stable at the time, but also had access to most of the four cylinder ‘JTD’ Diesel engines which have, rightly, received a huge amount of praise.

It has since been face-lifted, with a less challenging look that followed the styling language of the current Fiat Panda, but the design of the car, with its huge 430 litre carrying and six seat capacity, or three front seats and a massive 1,900 litre boot load, more than many big estate cars, demonstrate the quality of the cars design despite celebrating its 12^th birthday.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about these wonderful failures, and next time you’re told by the salesman that the cross-over SUV, coupe body shape or compact MPV you’re looking at is the first car of its kind, just remember these rare beasts that ACTUALLY did things first.

MD

Motors - Toyota's FT-86

Toyota FT-86

I've been hearing recently about Toyota's ‘insurance policy' for the FT-86 project and I have this sudden but very certain fear that the car will never make production, no matter what the economic conditions.

When the original concept came out and Toyota proudly announced that they would make it, they promised several things. Firstly they promised that it would be out by 2012 at the latest, maybe sooner. Secondly they promised it would be under £20k because they wanted to take it right to the heart of MX-5 territory. 

Finally, the biggest promise was that this would be a proper sports car, no half baked efforts, oh no this would be a car worth of the term ‘sports car’.

To show they were serious they decided not to use an engine of their own, no they popped down the road to Subaru and offered them a slice of the project if they would stump up the engine. Oh and the cars base. And the rear suspension. But seeing as Toyota were happy to fund the project, Subaru said ‘why not’.

The cars very low slung nose needs to be raised by about 50mm according to Toyota’s chief designer Jaromir Cech, to allow the car to meet pedestrian impact regulations but seeing as it’s about 100mm lower than it would be with a conventional four cylinder engine anyway, I’d offer no complaints. Concepts like this always lose something in the transition to production.

The base is the current Subaru Legacy with the Impreza’s rear multi-link suspension and the 6 speed gearbox normally attached to the Impreza’s four cylinder Boxer engine, in this car it is naturally aspirated, developing around 200bhp. With a rumoured 1250kg weight, the FT-86 was shaping up to be the first proper sports car from mainstream manufacturers since the Honda S2000 and look set to give BMW’s Z4 and Audi’s TT rather bloody noses.

Things were going wonderfully; Toyota was looking like it still knew what a sports car was and how to make one, and what ingredients were the right ones.

Then the blatantly inevitable happened: Despite the fact the boss of Toyota said he liked the car, especially the rear end, and despite the fact that Toyota engineers had been working on this for two years, someone in Toyota piped up and said ‘it should be more efficient.’

Next thing: delayed. The FT-86 would not be out before 2012 because they were fiddling with the engine to make it more efficient.

Well fair enough, 2011 was ambitious.

Then: Delayed again. Now it wouldn’t be out before 2013, despite the fact the car has been signed off for production.

This was followed swiftly by a rather quiet, bashful announcement that it wouldn’t be under £20k. What? One of the promises Toyota made was this would be a cheap car!

But £25-£30k is a far more realistic price for a car like this, and if it’s really as good as Toyota (and Subaru by this point) promise, then all could be forgiven.

Besides, Toyota had just promised us a tribute to their test driver, Hiromu Naruse, who was killed at the Nordschleife Nurburgring. This would be a Yaris  based, 1.5 litre engined rear wheel drive hot hatch that would come in under the FT-86, possibly as low as £10k, so think £15,000 odd and £20k for the FT-86 becomes a bit daft, move them apart slightly. Fair enough, I could accept and forgive all of that too.

Obviously this little car will change a huge amount but if this and the FT-86 arrived, maybe, just maybe all this hybrid-ness was getting Toyota’s engineers all hot for some rather special sports cars.

Then we hear the announcement I feared the most: the engine still isn’t efficient enough, we may have to consider making it a hybrid. I almost wept.

This announcement was made around the time Honda released the God-awful CR-Z hybrid ‘sports’ car, which is heavy, slow and not very good handling. Lovely little car but in no way is it even remotely sporty; a hybrid drive-train with 106bhp is not going to set anything on fire.

However I was finally given hope, by Subaru, who told everyone that they were going to produce their own version of the FT-86, which would be released after the FT-86 comes out. They said, because it uses the Impreza engine, Impreza gearbox and Impreza rear end, they could create an STI version, sticking the turbo back on, giving the engine something in the region of 260 bhp.

Rejoice! The current Impreza may lack something compared to its predecessors but Subaru were still prepared to go nuts.

They also suggested that their car may be cheaper... The £20k FT-86 was back on!

So that’s where we are. Toyota keep delaying their FT-86, with Subaru promising to wait for the Toyota to come out before they release their version, and with a good chunk of Toyota’s engineers working on the tribute to their test driver, the FT-86 was starting to look like it was being neglected slightly.

That brings us to the announcement made in the last week; Toyota’s ‘insurance policy’ for the FT-86. What they’ve said, is that with the coupe delayed until 2013, mostly due to the recession and the need to improve the engine’s efficiency, they are worried the project may not sell as well as anticipated.

In non-marketing speak, they mean that they’re taking too long and the people who expressed the interest that persuaded Toyota to produce the car may not be interested when they eventually release the car.

So, to calm the company’s accountants, they’ve decided to expand the range to include a sports saloon. It would be based on the Legacy platform, use the same engine, 6 speed manual gearbox or CVT auto that the Legacy uses and remain rear wheel drive. They also mentioned that apparently they have an option on using the 3.6 litre six cylinder Boxer engine that slots into the Subaru Outback, an off-roader based on the Legacy platform.

This sounds great, Toyota M3 anyone? I’m going to stick my neck out right here and now, in 2010 and tell you no.

I’ll now explain why. The hushed noises from Toyota a few months ago was that the Boxer four would never be as efficient as they’d like, Toyota is about clean cars and hybrids, not sports cars, which is what initially lead me to despair.

What has made me declare there won’t be an equivalent to a Toyota M3 is this: Firstly, Toyota wants to create Hybrid versions of all its cars, with the Auris now having a version of the Prius drive-train and the Yaris and Verso due to get it during the next round of respective face-lifts.

This isn’t a problem, Toyota’s hybrid system is starting to earn my respect, mainly because it is starting to become worthy of the extra cost; it is starting to return real improvements over conventional engines (and not before time too...!), no the problem with this is the convenient timing of the ‘delay’ to the FT-86 project.

Like everyone else, Subaru is working on a hybrid system for its Boxer engines, starting with the four cylinder versions that form the mainstay of the Legacy range. Can you guess when this system might be ready? Yep 2013.

Call me a conspiracy theorist if you like but look at the logic:

1.       Toyota wants to make sure that its reputation as a leader in Hybrid technology is preserved, which means getting its entire range onto some sort of hybrid drive-train.

2.       Subaru needs to produce a Hybrid system to ensure it doesn’t fall behind everyone else in that market, the demand for Hybrid cars is becoming very strong, but they want theirs to be better than a mere token gesture.

3.       Subaru and Toyota have partnered up for the FT-86 project, but it’s Subaru who stumped up the mechanicals, who are doing the testing at the Nurburgring and who are developing the car, with Toyota just stumping up the cash.

The conclusion I reached: Subaru and Toyota have done a deal; Toyota gets the FT-86 with half an Impreza underpinning it, including Boxer engines and the Hybrid gubbings for said Boxer engine so Toyota can have their Hybrid sports car and Subaru get the Hybrid technology from Toyota which carries an excellent reputation within the industry.

I don’t think the FT-86 is doomed yet, Toyota have probably put far too much into the project to simply kill it dead, but those who were hoping for a new Supra; forget it, that IS dead. I predict it’ll end up as a Hybrid sports car, and probably a decent one, with a saloon version, again it’ll be good but no M3.

That leaves Subaru the space to go nuts, create the car we first saw from Toyota and an STI version while both companies improve their standing in the Hybrid club.

Frankly if Subaru don’t get the Boxer hybrid system out on time, I think Toyota will call time on the FT-86 and put its money somewhere else.

My reasoning for this is simple; Toyota have gone back on all their promises to us so far relating to this car, is it so hard to see them just giving in and saying ‘sod it, we can’t be arsed, we prefer Hybrid’s anyway’? No it isn’t hard to see at all.

As for the Subaru version, at this moment, I hold little more hope for that as well to be honest, if Toyota pull out, I seriously doubt Subaru have the cash to buy and finish the whole project on its own.

This means, one of the most anticipated, beautiful and well designed & conceived cars of the last decade may end up a still born failure despite the fact it was to be made with two different badges and even with a saloon version banded around. Sorry people, drool while you can, you may never actually see one.

Formula 1 - Ferrari Team Orders

Ferrari F1 Team Orders

We all know this story, at the 2010 Hockenheim Grand Prix, Felipe Massa lead from his teammate Fernando Alonso. Radio messages went to Massa on a regular basis about Alonso being quicker and catching him. I originally wrote this just a few days before the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.

 I was watching and wondering why there was so much traffic about how Massa’s teammate was faster. Ok, inside teams I’m sure rivalries are intense and with the Red Bull precedent of teammates wiping each other out, I guessed Ferrari wanted both drivers to be super careful.

Then, on lap 49, as Alonso cruised up to the back of Massa, there was a message from Massa’s race engineer, Rob Smedley saying “...Alonso is faster than you, can you confirm you understand this message?” At the time, I imagine everyone watching the race and listening to that must have wondered, like I did, what on earth THAT was supposed to mean.

At the next corner, Massa is slow out of the corner and Alonso steams past.

Smedley then gets on the radio and delivers the message “Good lad — just stick with it now, sorry”. Now before I throw my two pence into the mix let me be clear I’m not a Ferrari fan. I find Ferrari as a team and company rather arrogant, and this travesty just shows an example of my reasoning. Who did Ferrari really think they were going to fool?

ALL the radio traffic from ALL of the teams is broadcast and can be heard by the stewards and the TV crews. And the build up to it, the constant information about how far behind Alonso was gives away Ferrari’s intentions in the event Alonso caught his teammate.

Secondly the engine telemetry, again broadcast so everyone can look at it CLEARLY shows Massa at half throttle from the corner apex till Alonso has swept past before getting on full throttle, not making a mess of his exit, just on a steady half throttle making early change-ups.

And then, most annoyingly to me, the Ferrari team principle, Stefano Domenicali has the gall to make Massa’s engineer deliver the message. I’ve not spent any time in an F1 garage or any race team garage but even I realise that a drivers’ pit team, the mechanics, their guys on the pit wall and all the other guys in the drivers’ garage will race every inch of the track with their driver and I felt just as sorry for Rob Smedley as I did Massa.

The other thing to remember was on race day for Hockenheim, was exactly a year to the day that Massa suffered his horrific injuries and the Hungaroring.

If Domenicali wanted to tell Massa to shove over then he should get on the radio and do it himself, not hide behind Smedley. It’s not only unsporting, unfair and down right harsh, it’s cowardly!

To make it worse, Ferrari have made yet more guarded remarks about how team orders are a good thing!!?

Now hang on a moment. Ok, I’m sure some teams have it written in contracts that one driver is considered the ‘Senior’ driver or will receive favour during a season in terms of parts and upgrades to maximise the teams championship potential and while I don’t totally subscribe to that mentality, I can see why that might be the case, particularly in teams where the ‘No 2’ seat is handed to a rookie driver, but at Hockenheim, Ferrari knowingly and intentionally manipulated the race order to influence the race result to favour their championship standings. In laments terms, they cheated and they bloody well know it!

And lets remember that this isn’t the first time Ferrari have done this. Anyone remember Austria 2002? Barrichello is forced to move over to allow Schumacher to win.

The problem for Schumacher then and Alonso in 2010 is the fact they did nothing wrong, they didn’t ask for their teammate to be ordered to move over, and yet they get demonised.

Again, I’d like to point out I dislike Alonso. He expects to be given preferential treatment no matter how well his teammate is driving or how poorly his own efforts have been, but I felt sorry for Alonso, as a racing driver he would have wanted to pass Massa on his own merits, proving his ‘No 1’ status and because this whole ‘PassGate’ saga if you will, is seen as Alonso’s fault.

The thing that makes me laugh, is not only how poorly Ferrari disguised the messages, it’s the fact the rule they broke, Article 39.1 is so clear and simple. It states “Team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited.”

And that is literally it, those 10 words. You can’t argue the rule is confusing or misleading, because it simply says the team manager can’t cheat. And yet Ferrari still did it.

Thankfully my rant is only for the sake of ranting. The stewards are not stupid and have punished Ferrari and referred them to the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) for a hearing on potential further punishment, although at the time of writing, that is still to happen, set for the 8^th September 2010.

But the debate is what extra punishment should Ferrari get?

Some suggest Ferrari should be thrown out of the Championship, others say nothing should happen.

My opinion is that the WMSC should be consistent and measured. In 2007, the WMSC threw McLaren out of that years Constructors Championship because their car had Ferrari technical information and data available during its development. 

So  based on this, and the fact in both occurrences the evidence is clear, I feel the WMSC should strip Ferrari of the points it gained for the Constructors Championship.

Why this punishment specifically? Well the drivers didn’t influence or make these decisions, it was the team management, and so it would be slightly unfair to punish the drivers, exactly the same punishment that the WMSC imposed on McLaren in 2007, punishing the team for the team cheating, not the drivers who were innocent of involvement.

My final gripe is, as it always is, with Bernie Ecclestone. Particularly his suggestion that this rule should be abolished and team orders are ok.

I consider Ecclestone to be a blood sucking vampire who has been raping F1 of all it’s status and heritage for a long time, and now he has basically suggested that its ok for teams to cheat by forcing drivers to swap places and so cheating PAYING fans out of proper racing, something F1 is only just rediscovering.

I have faith that the WMSC will reach the right decision. Recent history shows that It can reach the right conclusions and can issue punishments that fit the crime. My next hope is that the FIA keeps Article 39.1 and reaffirms its commitment to the abolition of cheating and unsporting behavior.

Ferrari F1 Team Orders - Aftermath

The Italian Grand Prix has finished about an hour or two ago at the time of writing, and Formula 1 continues to impress me endlessly on-track. The racing is exciting, drivers will happily go wheel-to-wheel and accept responsibility for their own mistakes.

With Hamilton crashing out, Webber and Vettel struggling to get big points, Ferrari moved their drivers into a better position with a win for Alonso and third for Massa, with Button doing himself a few favours also with second place.

A few days before, the WMSC met to decide the fate of Ferrari’s Hockenheim win. The attitude, body language and telemetry all showed clearly that Ferrari were issuing veiled instructions to Massa to let Alonso past to go on and win the race.

Now I have no issue with Ferrari favouring Alonso in the championship, he has the superior points to Massa and seems to be a better championship prospect. So I’d expect new parts to be earmarked for Alonso before Massa, Pit-stops being timed to favour Alonso, etc. But manipulating the race result with blatant team orders breaks two very clear, very simple rules. 

The fans, media, and most importantly, the Stewards were not fooled.

Now in the first part of this blog a few weeks ago I said I hoped the WMSC wouldn’t be fooled either and would issue a fair and measured punishment. I said

“I have faith that the WMSC will reach the right decision. Recent history shows that It can reach the right conclusions and can issue punishments that fit the crime. My next hope is that the FIA keeps Article 39.1 and reaffirms its commitment to the abolition of cheating and unsporting behavior.”

And yet, on Wednesday afternoon, we heard the WMSC were going to take no further action against Ferrari because the rule was unenforceable.

Now I can see the point, but then they should have overturned the Stewards decision. But they didn’t, they upheld it, so I’m going to have a rant!

My anger is not that they feel the rule is difficult to enforce, I agree totally that proving a team has enforced illegal team orders is rather difficult, and my anger isn’t even that because of this, the WMSC decided not to punish Ferrari further.

No my anger is the fact that the WMSC didn’t overturn the Stewards decision. Either Ferrari did cheat and break the rules and should be punished, or they didn’t. They can’t have broken the rules and not get punished.

My anger is that they have been inconsistent, the one thing I begged them not to be. And then all it does is set the precedent for any team to blatantly enforce team orders and simply turn around and say “Prove it!”, safe in the knowledge the WMSC can’t.

The excuse that the rule is unclear is absolute rubbish! The rule is 10 words long and, if Ferrari didn’t order Massa to move, then they made it clear they wanted Massa to move over and so either way were attempting to manipulate the race result, which can be proved and does break a rule within the sporting regulations and so Ferrari would need to be punished, either that or Massa for breaking that rule.

I like Massa, and I felt horrid for him, a year to the day after his Hungary accident. But if the option is he get punished or reveal the truth? Self-preservation could win out.

Either way I’m angry at the WMSC for wimping out and letting cheating go unpunished, be it Ferrari or McLaren or Lotus, a cheat is a cheat and cheating must NEVER be tolerated within any sport.

It means all the efforts of this season to restore the reputation of the sport have been damaged because of this scandal.

MD