In the very same race weekend that saw Felipe Massa's nasty accident and the same week that saw the tragic death of Henry Surtees from a wayward wheel, the Renault team made a very big mistake by sending their star driver out from the pits without all four wheels firmly attached to his car. They then didn't call him in or tell him to stop, even though it was blatantly obvious the wheel was going to come off the car.When someone gets hit by a flying racing car wheel, they die. We saw it last week with Surtees in F2, and we saw it in F1 not so long ago when fire marshal Paolo Ghislimberti was killed when a wheel from Jarno Trulli's Jordan hit him at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix.
We all know that motorsport is dangerous - it says so on every Formula One ticket - but Renault's cavalier attitude to safety in this case is unacceptable. Any decent team would accept that the steward's decision to ban the team from the next race is completely justified, and if anything somewhat lenient. But instead Renault have announced they are going to appeal the ban.
My question is, what do they expect to gain from this action? The evidence is clear, so their appeal stands little or no chance of success. Moreover, to attempt to worm their way out of this in the wake of Henry Surtees' death and while Massa was lying unconcious in hospital was hardly sensitive, and is not going to win them any brownie points with F1 fans - quite the opposite. Renault shot themselves in the foot by not stopping Alonso when they could, and have now shot themselves in the other foot by appealing the ban. So now, and here's a lovely mix of metaphors for you, they don't have a leg to stand on.
Photo credit: Vïctor J. Tornet
