Quote from JPeace :

Don't know about you but, they are getting payed millions of pounds to do the thing they love. I would personally give up a life of playboyism and fooling around for that. The two don't mix and match. These guys have it all, they are doing their hobby, the thing they love, and getting payed massivly for it. I don't care about what they do off the track pesonally, but I know that as a fact drivers have sacrifised everything that we can do just to get where they are. To succeed in the world of motorsport, your lifestyle needs to vanish. You no longer have any time for friends, barely time for girlfriends and family. It over takes your life, its not a case of partying 4 days a week, rocking up and driving. If you are not drivng, you are training, you are doing PR stunts. And yes, maybe they are turning into PR robots, but if that means we get to see the very best drivers in the world battle it out, then thats good surley? I think that doing burnouts and getting caught by the police isn't character building, if anything it makes the public think they are spoilt and don't know how hard life really is for some people (which im sure they do). Just saying, they have everything they want, but for that to happen, some things have to be sacrifced.

Nonsense. Even business owners get to act crazy once in a while, let alone racers in their early 20's. Not to mention having a personality goes a long way in doing your PR, it is very important from a team owners point of view to have someone sociable and interesting to the media. Racing is an commercial activity, heavily marketing related, if someone is not able to do anything except racing on track than its sponsor is not getting what its worth translating track success with brand building.

The reality is, except for the 3 or 4 championship challenging teams, race result isn't the definite matter, a mid field team can survive comfortably with occasional point finishes as long as the commercial side is played right, a lot of companies want to associate with formula 1, but not everyone one of them wants the "we are the winner, we are the best" angle, not every sponsor needs a winning driver - good results are welcomed of course, but not mandatory, there are many cases where driving ability isn't the first priority in a driver making into F1.

As fans, some of us like the strong and silent type, however just reading the complaints about faceless corporate drivers in F1 racing fan mails section for so many years, I think the majority of fans like drivers with a life. if the fan wants it, than it is perfect business sense to have it.

Quote from DevilDare :

Yep. Legard and Crofty have confirmed. (Tiwtter)

Team orders rule to be discussed further.

Dont know what to really think of it... IMO the best thing to do, would of been to just give the win to Massa, and remove the rule.

Do not forget that the man behind this judgment was who was leading Ferrari on 2001 and 2002, when eventought the huge points advantage Schumacher had, Barrichello was forced to give up from winning races.

But one point I can't understand. As far as I know, the F1 supporters usually support a driver, and not a team. For the audience, the drivers championship is more important than the constructors championship, but FIA insists on thinking otherwise.

Although F1 is all about business and bring media attention, and points means money for the teams, I believe that this year RedBull got much more attention from media than other teams, and positively eventhough Vettel's mistakes. And also, the money which the sponsors pays the teams comes from the audience.

Quote from JPeace :

"and that the grid will therefore stay at 24 cars" doesn't mean that there will be no definate new team for 2011......

Wonder if any the potential new teams that got knocked back will put in an offer to buy out Torro Rosso?

Quote from sinanju :

Wonder if any the potential new teams that got knocked back will put in an offer to buy out Torro Rosso?

Villeneuve/Durango is considering to take other HRT, rumours say

Quote from JPeace :

Seems to me as if you are suggesting they should be let to get away with speeding just because racing is their profession. And no it didn't harm the F1 industry in the 70s/80s because it was just a sport back then. Nowadays its a business, worth millions and millions of pounds a year through investors and sponsorship. Without that, F1 wouldnt be here. Im not going all harsh bastard dadio on them, Im just saying that a lot lives on reputation, and the world moves onwards and upwards.

And reputation goes both ways.

Would you like to see Button lose his license over a traffic violation?

Quote from DieKolkrabe :

IMO what a driver does off the track is their business

Why should F1 be any different from any other occupation? Most other employees risk disiplinary action at work, (or worse), if they break the law outside work. So why should F1 drivers be any different. The same is definitely true of most other people in the public eye, (with the possible exception of other sports people - though why this is, I'll never understand), so again I say why the exception for F1 drivers.

Even though it makes sense to do it considering they are in the Motorsport business, its just adding to the dullness of F1 drivers these days, with no personal freedom.

Quote from gezmoor :

Why should F1 be any different from any other occupation? Most other employees risk disiplinary action at work, (or worse), if they break the law outside work. So why should F1 drivers be any different. The same is definitely true of most other people in the public eye, (with the possible exception of other sports people - though why this is, I'll never understand), so again I say why the exception for F1 drivers.

Show me a sport where the international governing agency bans a person for something done in the private life. Excluding illegal performance-enhancing stuff of course.

Quote from gezmoor :

Why should F1 be any different from any other occupation? Most other employees risk disiplinary action at work, (or worse), if they break the law outside work. So why should F1 drivers be any different. The same is definitely true of most other people in the public eye, (with the possible exception of other sports people - though why this is, I'll never understand), so again I say why the exception for F1 drivers.

Tell that bolded bit to athletes then, Yes I know you covered it, however......footballers/musicians tend to get away with a lot more than somebody in an office job

Quote from JPeace :

Who gives a crap about footballers? F1 drivers have a hell of a lot more responsability than them.

What does that have to do with what they are doing outside of their "work"?

Quote from Lible :

Show me a sport where the international governing agency bans a person for something done in the private life. Excluding illegal performance-enhancing stuff of course.

That's what I was thinking, if there is anyone qualified to speed on a public road, it's an decent F1 driver IMO.

Nobody is qualified to break the law.

The FIA is deeply involved in road safety and standards.

F1 drivers are role models.

It seems logical that the FIA should hold such role models to account.

It doesn't restrict freedom. They are still free to break the law. The consequences of being a tit on the road are merely increased.

Nobody above age 12 follows role models in reality. Lets not forget that F1 drivers are also human beings like the rest of us and so should be allowed to have some kind of independant life beyond the reaches of political correctness.

Quote from 5haz :

Nobody is qualified to break the law.

No, the police do it for everybody. Speeding with their lights on cos it's dinner time and they want some donuts.

Quote from JPeace :

Was just saying that imo F1 drivers are more professional than footballers, therefore there is less controversy over their outside lives.

Its mainly got to do with the sheer lack of drivers in the top competitions compared to the amount in top football players.

Quote from 5haz :

Nobody above age 12 has follows role models in reality. Lets not forget that F1 drivers are also human beings like the rest of us and so should be allowed to have some kind of independant life beyond the reaches of political correctness.

Rubbish. I'm 36 and I've got some. I think you're confusing "role model" with "imaginary friend".

Say if one of your 'role models' was found to have comitted a heinous crime, would you suddenly feel a burning need to copy that act?

Role models simply don't have that much of a hold over a sane, mature person with half a brain.

Its the same patronising, politically correct attitude that people who think shooters turn kids into murderers have. The general public is pretty stupid on average but not that stupid. Perhaps being smart would become more fashionable if governments didn't treat the people like they're too stupid to work out right from wrong for themselves.

Obviously people can think for themselves given the chance, and a F1 driver comitting a traffic offense as minor as a burnout will only cause empty headed people with no principles of their own to do the same, it is not said F1 driver's fault that these kind of people exist, so why should he or she face any more punishment than any other person would?

[/rant]

Quote from BlueFlame :

No, the police do it for everybody. Speeding with their lights on cos it's dinner time and they want some donuts.

Just because it happens all the time dosent make it right.

I don't get how people can support restricting a stars freedom, because he or she is supposed to be a role model.

How is making "stars" adhere to the law like anyone else restricting their freedom in any way?

Quote from bbman :

How is making "stars" adhere to the law like anyone else restricting their freedom in any way?

Would you lose your job if you got a speeding ticket?

Quote from Mustafur :

Would you lose your job if you got a speeding ticket?

The issue isn't as simple as someone losing their job if they get a speeding ticket.

Many professions require people to be "clean" in their life outside of their jobs. You cannot be a company director if you are bankrupt or have been found guilty of a serious criminal offence, for example (and if it weren't legally prohibited, what board of directors would want to deal with such a person?). You cannot be a legal practitioner if you have a criminal record. I would certainly lose my job if I engaged in fraudulent behaviour, even if it had nothing to do with my job or did not amount to criminal liability. Breaches of law may have nothing to do with one's job specifically, but it still affects employability.

I think it's reasonable to expect an F1 driver to show themselves as responsible drivers. You usually have to do something ridiculous (or a large collection of driver misbehaviour) to lose a license. Copping a ticket for a minor "burn-out" is one thing, but would we be so forgiving of an F1 WDC who makes a habit of running red lights or drives into a car/person while drunk?

Quote from samjh :

Copping a ticket for a minor "burn-out" is one thing, but would we be so forgiving of an F1 WDC who makes a habit of running red lights or drives into a car/person while drunk?

This.

Quote from samjh :

The issue isn't as simple as someone losing their job if they get a speeding ticket.

Many professions require people to be "clean" in their life outside of their jobs. You cannot be a company director if you are bankrupt or have been found guilty of a serious criminal offence, for example (and if it weren't legally prohibited, what board of directors would want to deal with such a person?). You cannot be a legal practitioner if you have a criminal record. I would certainly lose my job if I engaged in fraudulent behaviour, even if it had nothing to do with my job or did not amount to criminal liability. Breaches of law may have nothing to do with one's job specifically, but it still affects employability.

I think it's reasonable to expect an F1 driver to show themselves as responsible drivers. You usually have to do something ridiculous (or a large collection of driver misbehaviour) to lose a license. Copping a ticket for a minor "burn-out" is one thing, but would we be so forgiving of an F1 WDC who makes a habit of running red lights or drives into a car/person while drunk?

There's a history of athletes who do that,and keep their jobs/positions with their sports/teams after being in prison

Say if Button got caught drink driving one time after a Christmas party, IN THE OFFSEASON and served his time during the offseason (say an awareness course), and lost his superlicence, would you support that action? It'd harm F1's ratings for a start

Hahaaha Vettel was ACTUALLY crying there!!


Bye bye Seb.