Auto racing has enjoyed growing coverage and popularity over the years – for good and bad.
We, journalists, no longer get compelling, in-depth interviews with the drivers, be it in Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR or some other series. They now field questions from scrums and rely on boring, politically correct answers that were prepared for them by sponsors and PR folks.
While a guy like Gilles Villeneuve often irked team bosses and delighted the media with his truthful and heartful statements, today's drivers don't seem to have anything interesting to say beyond listing their numerous sponsors and acknowledging that their car was ''competitive'' (until the engine broke down and ended their race!).
With the new F1 season approaching, Jarno Trulli kept telling the media that he had a rock solid contract with Caterham – which was all true – yet Vitaly Petrov managed to unseat him. Once again, money prevailed. The Russian sponsors behind Petrov will in effect buy out Trulli's contract, leaving the veteran no choice but to walk away.
Obviously, it's a double win for Caterham: They don't have to pay Trulli and they will cash millions from Petrov's backers.
We, journalists, also hear lots of rumours about a particular team or driver. Unsurprisingly, these people are all quick to deny everything. ''No, no, no. I can assure you that it's not true,'' they say.
On October 7th, 2011, Indian billionaire and Force India majority owner Vijay Mallya released the following statement: ''I was shocked to read a media report that I am selling the Force India Formula One team. This is completely untrue and without any basis whatsoever.'' The man was furious.
Yet, no more than five days later, Mallya held a fancy press conference to announce that he had just sold 42.5% of the team's stock to Sahara Group for $100 million. Amazing that he had been calling journalists a bunch of liars...
Whether you like it or not, a large number of rumours floating around the racing scene carry an ounce of truth – or two. Unless the initiator has a diabolical secret agenda and wants to cause intentional harm, these rumours simply don't come out of thin air.
Enjoy the season!
We, journalists, no longer get compelling, in-depth interviews with the drivers, be it in Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR or some other series. They now field questions from scrums and rely on boring, politically correct answers that were prepared for them by sponsors and PR folks.
While a guy like Gilles Villeneuve often irked team bosses and delighted the media with his truthful and heartful statements, today's drivers don't seem to have anything interesting to say beyond listing their numerous sponsors and acknowledging that their car was ''competitive'' (until the engine broke down and ended their race!).
 |
| Vitaly Petrov (Photo: Caterham) |
With the new F1 season approaching, Jarno Trulli kept telling the media that he had a rock solid contract with Caterham – which was all true – yet Vitaly Petrov managed to unseat him. Once again, money prevailed. The Russian sponsors behind Petrov will in effect buy out Trulli's contract, leaving the veteran no choice but to walk away.
Obviously, it's a double win for Caterham: They don't have to pay Trulli and they will cash millions from Petrov's backers.
We, journalists, also hear lots of rumours about a particular team or driver. Unsurprisingly, these people are all quick to deny everything. ''No, no, no. I can assure you that it's not true,'' they say.
On October 7th, 2011, Indian billionaire and Force India majority owner Vijay Mallya released the following statement: ''I was shocked to read a media report that I am selling the Force India Formula One team. This is completely untrue and without any basis whatsoever.'' The man was furious.
Yet, no more than five days later, Mallya held a fancy press conference to announce that he had just sold 42.5% of the team's stock to Sahara Group for $100 million. Amazing that he had been calling journalists a bunch of liars...
Whether you like it or not, a large number of rumours floating around the racing scene carry an ounce of truth – or two. Unless the initiator has a diabolical secret agenda and wants to cause intentional harm, these rumours simply don't come out of thin air.
Enjoy the season!