Gangsterism and, er, the little matter of a race in Monza
If you took the portrayal of Italians on the large and small screens as being representative of Italy, you would think that the country was heavily in thrall to the mafia. You could be forgiven for imagining that everybody in Italy wears dark glasses, hats and two-tone shoes if all you ever watched were films like Goodfellas or television shows like The Sopranos. While Hollywood Americans glamorise the life of the gangster (“As far back as I can remember I’ve always wanted to be a gangster” – Goodfellas, a film by Martin Scorsese), Italians in “the old country” show it warts-and-all in films like Gomorra, as a vile, dangerous existence to be avoided at all costs.
Formula One, while retaining very close links with Italy (the Italian Grand Prix is, after all, one of the oldest continuous motor racing events in the world), has always kept itself aloof from these seedier aspects of Italian life. Some might argue that all of that has now changed; that the board rooms of the companies running Formula One teams are becoming indistinguishable from Vito Corleone’s office in The Godfather. In a famous scene from The Godfather, a baker whose daughter has suffered abuse at the hands of some American youths goes to see Vito Corleone in search of justice. He does so in a disrespectful manner which irritates the Godfather. Corleone is obliged to steer the man towards an understanding of his surroundings: “What have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? If you'd come to me in friendship, this scum who ruined your daughter would be suffering this very day. And if by some chance an honest man like yourself made enemies they would become my enemies. And then, they would fear you.”
It was circumstances not entirely dissimilar to these which prompted the release of devastating revelations by a sacked Renault driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, a couple of week’s ago. Piquet Jr is a rookie driver who has been anything but exceptional since being employed as a driver for the Renault team and the team-mate of double world-champion, Fernando Alonso. You could, if you were uncharitable, argue that his unremarkable driving ability goes back even further to his karting days; but I won’t. I will, however, admit that Piquet’s success in motor racing – such as it is – has everything to do with the phenomenal wealth and influence of his father, Nelson Piquet Sr. While one can pooh-pooh the abilities of Piquet Jr, the Formula One world is as one in its unstinting admiration of the three time Formula One world champion, Nelson Piquet Sr.
Like any doting father, Piquet Sr has done all he can to guide the career of his son through the maze of Formula One. Sadly, though, the boy’s abilities have not quite matched the wealth or ambition of his father. This has come as a growing – and, doubtless, devastating – realisation to Piquet Sr. The wily old man, therefore, probably sat quietly in his armchair at his palatial beach home in Rio-de-Janeiro a little while ago, glass of red wine in hand, and thought things through.
Nelsinho, his boy, had pissed several million dollars against a wall and there was little hope of anything being recovered from that. Now, with no other team prepared to grant any more favours to a spoiled young brat whose father was exhausting their patience, Falvio Briatore, the Italian boss of Renault, had threatened Piquet Jr with the sack and infuriated Piquet Sr. Things were, surely at rock bottom. What could he, Nelson Piquet Souto Maior, do so as to give his boy a dignified exit from the world of Formula One and, at the same time, settle a very old score with an Italian Formula one veteran who operated much like a mafioso hood? As he sipped away and painted various scenarios in his mind, a wry smile crept from the corners of his mouth and burst into a full blown chuckle which prompted one of the skinny girls lounging in bikinis by the pool to come racing in from her deck chair and inquire imploringly, “are you all right, Nelson darling, do you want anything from me?”
In advance of the first ever Singapore Grand Prix in 2008, a few men carrying briefcases were despatched to Enstone, Oxfordshire, home of Renault F1, to speak to some race engineers. Their instructions were clear. A crash was going to take place in Singapore involving a Renault car. Nothing about the crash was to be said until appropriate instructions were delivered in coded form.
A year later, while Flavio Briatore was in the middle of sensitive negotiations with a very wealthy Italian team over the release of the most outstanding Formula One driver currently available, a young man whom he had long forgotten about made a bizarre press announcement. So bizarre that all discussion about this year’s Italian Grand Prix in the press was pushed aside to make way for some fascinating information: Nelson Piquet Jr had announced that Flavio Briatore had ordered him to crash his Renault during the Singaporean Grand Prix last year. This, Piquet’s statement alleged, was done so as to force a safety car episode which would benefit Fernando Alonso in the other Renault. What made the story at least credible was the fact that Alonso would not have stood a chance of winning that race had there not been a safety car episode. A win by Alonso in a woefully uncompetitive car would have been useful in enhancing his value in Briatore’s negotiations with any team looking to wrest the Spaniard from his control.
It was with all this fizzing away in the background that we arrived at Monza for the Mafia, sorry, Italian Grand Prix earlier this week. The race proved to be a traditional Monza affair: good qualifying and mastery of throttle and brakes, as ever, made for a happy chappie at Monza. Rubens Barrichello, who has won at Monza twice previously in a Ferrari, was that chappie. He got – just – the edge on his team-mate, Jenson Button, during qualifying yesterday and successfully carried it through to a resounding win today. Lewis Hamilton did well by claiming pole position on Saturday but learned to his detriment that strategy mattered more than raw speed. His two pit-stop strategy was impossible for the Brawn cars and he failed to compromise on a safe points scoring third place by going for glory in the last lap and sacrificing his race – and his McLaren – in a bank of tyres.
Where all this leaves us is intriguing. For the championship, it now looks like either Barrichello or Button will be world champion. Their boss, Ross Brawn, cannot dare demonstrably favour either driver if he wants to retain harmony in his team. Given Barrichello’s superior ability in the second half of the season and that there are now 14 points between them with four races still to go, it is too difficult to call it yet.
As far as Formula One is concerned, your guess is as good as mine. As any mafia movie devotee worth his salt will tell you, a war is never far away from the surface. Nelson Piquet Souto Maior may just have lit the blue touch paper...
Gitau
13 March 2009
Formula One, while retaining very close links with Italy (the Italian Grand Prix is, after all, one of the oldest continuous motor racing events in the world), has always kept itself aloof from these seedier aspects of Italian life. Some might argue that all of that has now changed; that the board rooms of the companies running Formula One teams are becoming indistinguishable from Vito Corleone’s office in The Godfather. In a famous scene from The Godfather, a baker whose daughter has suffered abuse at the hands of some American youths goes to see Vito Corleone in search of justice. He does so in a disrespectful manner which irritates the Godfather. Corleone is obliged to steer the man towards an understanding of his surroundings: “What have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? If you'd come to me in friendship, this scum who ruined your daughter would be suffering this very day. And if by some chance an honest man like yourself made enemies they would become my enemies. And then, they would fear you.”
It was circumstances not entirely dissimilar to these which prompted the release of devastating revelations by a sacked Renault driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, a couple of week’s ago. Piquet Jr is a rookie driver who has been anything but exceptional since being employed as a driver for the Renault team and the team-mate of double world-champion, Fernando Alonso. You could, if you were uncharitable, argue that his unremarkable driving ability goes back even further to his karting days; but I won’t. I will, however, admit that Piquet’s success in motor racing – such as it is – has everything to do with the phenomenal wealth and influence of his father, Nelson Piquet Sr. While one can pooh-pooh the abilities of Piquet Jr, the Formula One world is as one in its unstinting admiration of the three time Formula One world champion, Nelson Piquet Sr.
Like any doting father, Piquet Sr has done all he can to guide the career of his son through the maze of Formula One. Sadly, though, the boy’s abilities have not quite matched the wealth or ambition of his father. This has come as a growing – and, doubtless, devastating – realisation to Piquet Sr. The wily old man, therefore, probably sat quietly in his armchair at his palatial beach home in Rio-de-Janeiro a little while ago, glass of red wine in hand, and thought things through.
Nelsinho, his boy, had pissed several million dollars against a wall and there was little hope of anything being recovered from that. Now, with no other team prepared to grant any more favours to a spoiled young brat whose father was exhausting their patience, Falvio Briatore, the Italian boss of Renault, had threatened Piquet Jr with the sack and infuriated Piquet Sr. Things were, surely at rock bottom. What could he, Nelson Piquet Souto Maior, do so as to give his boy a dignified exit from the world of Formula One and, at the same time, settle a very old score with an Italian Formula one veteran who operated much like a mafioso hood? As he sipped away and painted various scenarios in his mind, a wry smile crept from the corners of his mouth and burst into a full blown chuckle which prompted one of the skinny girls lounging in bikinis by the pool to come racing in from her deck chair and inquire imploringly, “are you all right, Nelson darling, do you want anything from me?”
In advance of the first ever Singapore Grand Prix in 2008, a few men carrying briefcases were despatched to Enstone, Oxfordshire, home of Renault F1, to speak to some race engineers. Their instructions were clear. A crash was going to take place in Singapore involving a Renault car. Nothing about the crash was to be said until appropriate instructions were delivered in coded form.
A year later, while Flavio Briatore was in the middle of sensitive negotiations with a very wealthy Italian team over the release of the most outstanding Formula One driver currently available, a young man whom he had long forgotten about made a bizarre press announcement. So bizarre that all discussion about this year’s Italian Grand Prix in the press was pushed aside to make way for some fascinating information: Nelson Piquet Jr had announced that Flavio Briatore had ordered him to crash his Renault during the Singaporean Grand Prix last year. This, Piquet’s statement alleged, was done so as to force a safety car episode which would benefit Fernando Alonso in the other Renault. What made the story at least credible was the fact that Alonso would not have stood a chance of winning that race had there not been a safety car episode. A win by Alonso in a woefully uncompetitive car would have been useful in enhancing his value in Briatore’s negotiations with any team looking to wrest the Spaniard from his control.
It was with all this fizzing away in the background that we arrived at Monza for the Mafia, sorry, Italian Grand Prix earlier this week. The race proved to be a traditional Monza affair: good qualifying and mastery of throttle and brakes, as ever, made for a happy chappie at Monza. Rubens Barrichello, who has won at Monza twice previously in a Ferrari, was that chappie. He got – just – the edge on his team-mate, Jenson Button, during qualifying yesterday and successfully carried it through to a resounding win today. Lewis Hamilton did well by claiming pole position on Saturday but learned to his detriment that strategy mattered more than raw speed. His two pit-stop strategy was impossible for the Brawn cars and he failed to compromise on a safe points scoring third place by going for glory in the last lap and sacrificing his race – and his McLaren – in a bank of tyres.
Where all this leaves us is intriguing. For the championship, it now looks like either Barrichello or Button will be world champion. Their boss, Ross Brawn, cannot dare demonstrably favour either driver if he wants to retain harmony in his team. Given Barrichello’s superior ability in the second half of the season and that there are now 14 points between them with four races still to go, it is too difficult to call it yet.
As far as Formula One is concerned, your guess is as good as mine. As any mafia movie devotee worth his salt will tell you, a war is never far away from the surface. Nelson Piquet Souto Maior may just have lit the blue touch paper...
Gitau
13 March 2009
posted by Gitau at 9:14 pm
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