Don’t bottle it up, Mark! You’ve got to learn to tell it like it is.
No, but seriously, it’s very refreshing to hear somebody other than Sir Jackie Stewart in the risk-averse, conservative world of F1 actually expressing a worthwhile opinion. It may be that Blundell doesn’t have much to lose at this point in time, but still.
Writing in The Telegraph, the ITV summariser and former McLaren and PacWest driver said that the number of penalties handed out this season was “political correctness gone mad,” and that the stewards had no idea about the actual view from a racing cockpit.
Here’s an excerpt:
Sebastien Bourdais given thumbs down by Formula One stewards not fit to judge
An important point is being missed: these guys are racing tooth and nail. Things happen when racing at 200mph. The drivers are gladiators in cars. It’s what they get paid for, what they enjoy.
I understand the concern about safety but this is getting ridiculous. We might as well dig two grooves around each circuit, put two cars side by side like a Scalextric set and let someone control the action from the pits. The authorities are losing the plot.
It is time for someone with the experience, an ex-driver, to attend stewards’ meetings. He doesn’t have to have a vote on the outcome, but his voice should be heard in the decision-making process.
You can examine pieces of paper, graphs, telemetry, but you don’t know what’s going on in a driver’s brain until you’ve experienced it. Read the full story here…
Well said, that man.