A glimmer of fun breaks through the soulless enterprise called F1.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Detroit. When 26-year-old Sebastian Vettel clinched his fourth straight Formula One World Driving Championship by winning the Indian Grand Prix last weekend (see more coverage in "The Line" - WG), he promptly did smokey burnouts on the pit straight, sending F1 officials into a complete and utter frenzy. And F1 responded by fining the Infiniti Red Bull Racing team 25,000 Euros for their gross insubordination. After all, this was F1 we're talking about, where everything is regulated, dictated, sanitized, pasteurized and regimented to the very last detail, right down to the size of the hallowed pit garages and the duration of the post-race victory celebrations. Even the driver interviews afterward have a regulated cadence and time limit. 

What once was considered to be a noble quest, F1 has devolved into a managed corporate facsimile of racing, an antiseptic display that travels in rarefied luxurious air, completely devoid of joy of any kind. That's why when Vettel had the temerity to do smokey burnouts after the race, the sheer irrational exuberance and unbridled joy on display brought smiles to the faces of racers and racing enthusiasts around the world. Not that doing burnouts after winning a race hasn't become obligatory and tedious - because it most certainly has - but given the circumstances and the crushing rigidity of F1, it was a sight to behold.

Where did all of this go so wrong? How did we go from the passion and compelling human drama that was rivetingly portrayed in the 1966 film Grand Prix, to the soulless enterprise that F1 has become? The fact that something has been missing from the sport for a long time cannot be denied. When a racing series won't even deign to consider setting foot into a country unless they're assured of a spanking new race track with the requisite garages (according to specification, of course), something is horribly wrong. It's as if F1 has been on a 40-year long quest to rid itself of any compelling stories or personalities, replacing them with coldly robotic cars operated by icily calculated teams and robotic drivers who display all the sheer joy of the winning trivia team at a proctologist convention.

When I wrote that racing was about the money a couple of weeks ago, nowhere is that more evident than the obscenely expensive world of F1, where all rational ideas and perspective were thrown out the window decades ago. F1 has become such a seething cauldron of greed that it isn't even shocking anymore, we're all just numb to the absurdity of it all.

So when Sebastian Vettel dropped the hammer on his RB9 at the end of the Indian Grand Prix, he was making a huge statement. First of all, he let us all know that before we dismiss him as just another contemporary F1 driver who gets paid millions and then goes on to the next race with all the excitement of a computer repair specialist, that here was a budding short track driver just waiting to bust out. Or at least someone capable of a little irrational exuberance in the face of the "1984"-like F1 machine that controls everything to the nth degree.

The other thing Vettel revealed after his win was that he's far from the programmed robot that the powers that be in F1 would like him to be and that some people want to believe that he is, which was good to see.

I don't know where Vettel lies in the pantheon of great Grand Prix drivers because that's an endless argument that this column can't hope to accommodate. But there's no question that he's supremely talented behind the wheel, and maybe - just maybe - we'll get to see him try some other machines in the future. A stock car at Watkins Glen perhaps? A drive in the Indianapolis 500? One can dream.

For now, we can all appreciate Sebastian Vettel for the immense talent that he is. 

Not only a four-time Formula One World Champion, but one who did it in four consecutive years, which is an incredible achievement in any era. 

And only two other drivers - Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher - ever accomplished that feat. 

(RenaultSport)
Sebastian Vettel enjoying the moment at the end of the Indian Grand Prix.

Publisher's Note: As part of our continuing series celebrating the "Glory Days" of racing, we're proud to present another noteworthy image from the Ford Racing Archives. - PMD

(Photo courtesy of the Ford Racing Archives)

Zandvoort, Netherlands, June 4, 1967. Jim Clark and Graham Hill share a moment before the Dutch Grand Prix at Circuit Zandvoort in the the Netherlands. Clark (No. 5 Team Lotus 49 Ford-Cosworth DFV) would set the fastest lap and win the race while pole-sitter Hill (No. 6 Team Lotus 49 Ford-Cosworth DFV) would retire with engine problems. Jack Brabham (No. 1 Brabham-Repco V8) was second and Denny Hulme (No. 2 Brabham-Repco V8) finished third. The race marked the debut of the Maurice Philippe-designed Lotus 49 and the famous and incredibly successful Cosworth DFV V8. Watch a cool video here.

Publisher's Note: Like these Ford racing photos? Check out www.fordimages.com. Be forewarned, however, because you won't be able to go there and not order something. - PMD