Paul DI RESTA could have been forgiven for feeling disorientated by the climax to the Monaco Grand Prix.
It included red flags and yellow flags; trouble around the swimming pool; endless traffic congestion; a series of arguments (requiring the intervention of stewards); the sight of debris scattered all over the place; minor celebrities knocking back the drink as if it was going out of fashion; and a group of police officers being showered with alcohol.
It was bad enough that the, ahem, action was interrupted by regular crashes and spills, that accounted for the likes of Michael Schumacher, Felipe Massa and Timo Glock, while Di Resta incurred a drive-through penalty and was involved in a damage-limitation job, even as Adrian Sutil, his Force India team-mate, trundled along in fourth spot for ages, holding up so many of the other competitors that it eventually precipitated a mass collision, and the subsequent restart of proceedings.
But what was truly bonkers was the fact Vettel, who had made his first pit-stop after 16 laps and had failed to establish any significant advantage over the chasing Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button by the 71st lap, was then allowed to change his tyres while the track was being cleared of the mess that followed Vitaly Petrov’s accident.
Nobody forced him to stay on the circuit that long, and Vettel hardly needed any favours from the officials. Yet just when it seemed he might face a serious challenge in the closing stages, he was gifted another triumph without even having to fight for the 25 points he gained upon passing the chequered flag.
It’s true that some F1 aficionados get excited by such terms as “DRS-enabled”, “Kers”, “tyre degradation”, “telemetry and the invoking of “Rule 41.4”, but, in my opinion, the events in Monaco demonstrated once again that Grand Prix is far more an exercise in technical expertise than a true test of athletic ability or human endeavour.
Over the weekend, in their respective sports, the likes of Lionel Messi and David Villa, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, and Jessica Ennis succeeded through their own brilliance, after starting on a level playing field with their rivals. Vettel, by contrast, despite his undoubted quality and the advantage of being in the best car, and has now profited from a glaring loophole in the regulations. In which circumstances he only stopped once, whereas everyone else did so at least twice. No wonder he won.
And no wonder F1 is, quite literally, in danger of becoming a crashing bore.
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