By Phil Huff
June 3 2005

So much has happened since the last BAR-Talk.com newsletter that I could spend hours here going on and on about fuel tanks, ballast, the FIA, and much more. However, after having written some 20,000 words on the subject for the main website, I'll move on to other things. All I'll say is that there's a round-up page covering the whole debacle so, on the off chance that you've not heard of BAR's ban, click there and read all about it.

There's a silver lining to every cloud and, in BAR's case, that revolved around not having to develop a high downforce version of the 007 specifically for Monaco. With the resources earmarked for that moved on to development for the teams return at the Nurburgring, a podium finish was the least the team could accept.

Sadly, every silver lining has a cloud, and that was the FIA's insistence that the team had to use the old engines from Imola, a race held some five weeks previous. And the fact the team were running first in qualifying. And that the qualifying system had been changed, leaving only one session for the team to climb the grid.

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The race, as you'll know, didn't go too well for either Jenson or Takuma. The traditional first corner fracas promoted Jenson up the order, but the car simply wasn't good enough to hold it's own against the others and he slipped back to finish 10th, promoted one position on the final lap as Kimi had a meeting with the tyre wall.

He may well have borrowed a tyre while he was there, as there's every possibility that the ones used in the barriers were in far better condition than Kimi's. Perhaps it's time for the FIA to look at the possibility of allowing tyre changes, but getting rid of the ridiculous fuel stops that add nothing but danger and take away everything but predictable sprint racing.

At least we've lost the boring predictability of seeing Michael Schumacher winning, time after time, race after race, with just the odd moment where he may allow others to shine, in a display of monotony that turned many from the sport. Instead we've got the boring predictability of seeing Fernando Alonso winning, time after time, race after race, with just the odd moment where he may allow others to shine, in a display of monotony that has excited the public and got the media talking about F1 again.

What a difference a year makes.

Next year will almost certainly be different for BAR Honda, with Jenson Button leaving to join the Williams team. As the Grove outfit have Mark Webber under contract, it will likely release Nick Heidfeld onto the market. However, with the likelihood that BMW could buy a stake in Sauber, there's every chance Nick could head there, freeing up Jacques Villeneuve at a time when there'll be a seat available at BAR...

So (theoretically) we've got Williams looking weaker, Sauber performing well, Ferrari not winning every race, last years champion struggling and a surprise performance from an independent team. It's not 1998 again, is it?

What a difference seven years makes.

Phil Huff
BAR-Talk.com