The normally laid back Sunday afternoon in front of the TV was shattered today as the household was put into mass panic…no I hadn't burnt the dinner, much more serious than that!! The ITV coverage calmly announces that as it is Mother's Day, all the drivers had their mothers present for a photo shoot…except that is for Rubens who had to borrow Massa's mum…if you felt sorry for him at this point…that's nothing compared to how you felt after the race I bet!! But I digress…Mother's Day?? "Oh damn" (or words to that effect) were screamed hysterically as we scurried to gather diaries, calendars…anything that could tell us if we were about to get hung drawn and quartered!! A good ten minutes elapsed before calm was restored…me having an American calendar didn't help in the confusion…I wonder if we were the only ones in such a state!?

Well if I thought we were in crisis, Formula One certainly will be after this fiasco…on the financial side though, Bernie stated that "it's only those teams that don't run their business' properly that are in crisis…we're not communists - if they've got the money we can't stop them spending it"…he above all people should know that it takes money to make money. A pretty vicious circle I'd say, as if you're not performing you have to invest when you're not earning those vital points…and what do points make…no not prizes…money!!

I'm just happy this is an exciting circuit because the commentary (and I never thought I'd miss Martin Brundle) was enough to cure the most severe insomniac…permanently!! They even made the Alex Wurz interview sound interesting…and that takes some doing!!

The anticipation was that there would be mayhem in the first corner but despite the fact that 22 ambitious race drivers…no sorry, 21 and Irvine…going into one turn, usually doesn't go, they all got around cleanly…until turn two, when Villeneuve thought it was time for Frentzen to take to the gravel. Now Jacques was reported as having gone on the missing list straight after qualifying, something that Dave Richards was none too happy about apparently…but in my opinion (not that it counts for much) he must have had a damn good time as he was undoubtedly the driver of the day for me. Despite starting from 17th and getting a drive-thru penalty for the incident with the Arrows, he passed more cars on track than is normally permitted for a whole season…unfortunately his engine had obviously taken quite a pounding in the process and let go on the last lap, while running eighth.

But while Villeneuve was on fire on track, so was Panis but in the more literal sense, bringing out the safety car for the first time…something that was to change the face of the race. On the restart we saw Heidfeld career sideways across the grass into turn one, just missing Monty, and collecting Sato along the way. Heidfeld was badly bruised and shaken but my heart was in my mouth as I watched Sato being resuscitated at the side of the circuit…thankfully he is apparently fine, no broken bones, so maybe he just went into shock…if that is the case then we all just witnessed a miracle as the impact was so violent it made a Stallone film look like Play School!!

Team-mate Fisichella did an outstanding job though, good strategy from the Jordan team and profiting from a mistake by DC to finish fifth…it has been said that finishing seventh in a GP is like climbing Everest to find a tour party already at the summit and today that honour was awarded to Button who really went unnoticed for the majority of the afternoon. Salo finished eighth due to Villeneuve's retirement but considering Mark Weber received a drive-thru penalty for ignoring blue flags just makes me think...if you can't lap a Minardi at this circuit without help then frankly you should be driving one...Mika!!

Unfortunately the whole 'race' was overshadowed by an horrific incident…sorry maybe I shouldn't say horrific…pathetic is probably more appropriate, as today in Austria there was not a goatherd in sight and the hills were alive with the sound of boos!! The crowd were furious as Ruben's once again had to move over to let his team leader through…please note my use of words there, as team-mate suggests equal standing within an outfit!! Myself and probably 90% of the world's population screamed in anguish at the TV screen…the other 10% were either too drunk to notice, not watching or sleeping with a member of the Ferrari team!!

As I have taken the decision to write this stuff, I'm almost (not completely) obligated to watch the races, but I'm sure I'm not the only one that will stop turning on my TV on a Sunday afternoon if this is how it's going to be for the foreseeable future…and it seems it is!! Now I don't know where the decision came from…Luca de Beelzebub or Jean Rot…but it is outrageous and makes a mockery of the sport…now renamed Formula Farce!!

The podium was a sombre affair…only Monty seeming to enjoy the disruption and confusion in the Ferrari camp as Michael donated the top spot to Rubens, handing him the victory trophy!! Some may view this as a nice gesture…personally I think it's pretty shallow…he looked embarrassed as hell but all it would have took to be the bigger man today was for him to touch the brakes and let the better man win, then everyone would have been happy…I mean what would Ferrari do…fire him!? I can't see it somehow!! As an aside, I wonder what Barrichello will do with this bit of silverware, put it in a cabinet marked "Races I should have won"?? If so, he better make sure that it's big enough to hold them all!! Both Schui and Rubens claim there's time for him to get many more wins…but having just signed a new two-year contract with the team, I really doubt that to be the case…

Most new followers of Formula One were no doubt under the impression that the idea was for flashy, fast cars to go out onto the track and race…they have a lot to learn!! Even the most experienced are admitting that is not the case…when Ross Brawn was approached with the statement that Rubens had won that race fair and square, his comments were: "The team controlled the events from start to finish…you can't call that a race!!"…frankly this makes me want to hang up my pen and stick to CART where all drivers are encouraged to race and are allowed to win!!

Now you're all used to me voicing my opinion but it seems for once like Patrick Head has decided to release those cards from his chest and say what he really thinks: "That was the most cynical event I've witnessed in my 27 years of Formula One - when a team like Ferrari produce a car as brilliant as they have then they have an obligation to Formula One and to the fans to provide a motor-race...we did when we were in the same position...that was just a disgusting and cynical act!!" Only one thing to say to that...how refreshing...how Williams!!

I hate Monaco anyway so maybe I'll just give it a miss…one thing's for sure I'm certainly not going to miss the Indy 500 in order to write this drivel…

I better go before I say something I regret…

Reproduced with permission from PenelopeF1.com

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