Formula One Betting: Big boys cry foul

Formula One / Ralph Ellis / 02 April 2009 / 1 Comments

It's not surprising that those who didn't have the imagination to come up with Brawn GP's clever and controversial piece of technology are complaining, says Ralph Ellis as he considers F1's latest coutroom sideshow.

According to my dictionary, "diffuse" means to "pour out all round, to send out in all directions, to scatter, to circulate, to publish." And oh boy, hasn't the double diffuser fitted to the back of the new Brawn GP car done exactly that - and not only with the exhaust fumes it is meant to disperse. The ingenious little invention that helped Jenson Button win the opening Grand Prix of the season has poured out trouble all round too.

Whenever the lawyers get mixed up in the day to day business of a sport, it only chips away at the credibility of that contest. Just as Formula One's travelling circus was recovering from the rows over the alleged theft of design secrets between Ferrari and McLaren, now comes another sideshow in court.

Button - and his team mate Rubens Barrichello - won't know if their opening day delight will count for anything until April 14 when a legal challenge is being made against the double diffusers which have given their cars crucial extra grip on the road. And until then the British ace can't know whether he's about to drive the fastest car of the season, and thus have a big chance of usurping Lewis Hamilton as world champion, or whether he's back to square one.

It's not surprising that the teams who didn't have the imagination to come up with this clever piece of technology are crying foul. The big boys with the big budgets who have dominated the sport are suddenly struggling to compete and they don't like it. And if their technical teams were off the pace, they at least want to prove that their lawyers can negotiate tricky corners better than anybody.

It's all very murky, and today Fernando Alonso has thrown in his tuppence worth, insisting that the diffusers should be declared illegal. "If the diffusers are legal, the Brawns are going to be nearly unreachable for any other team," says the Renault driver and double world champion. "All the teams will try to copy the idea, but it is difficult because you have to work on the whole car. It's not just a case of adding the diffuser and suddenly the car is a second quicker.

"The diffuser makes you go fast if you also have a new front end, new sidepods and a new engine cover. You have to rebuild the whole car and that would take a lot of months."

Altogether seven teams are joining the protest against the device, which was declared legal by the race stewards before the first race in Melbourne and will still be used in this week's race in Malaysia.

It throws the betting into doubt but leaves the opportunity for a gamble if you choose to take a view on which way the FIA's appeal court will rule. Button is [4.3] favourite to win the Drivers' Championship, but should be more like [10.0] if the diffusers are ruled illegal. Hamilton is [6.8] but would have a much better chance if Button's car is slowed down. Curiously Ferrari are still favourites at [2.88] to win the constructors' championship, but what chance would they have if the lawyers do side with Brawn?

The one thing that is certain is Brawn will be quickest again this weekend - making odds of [2.92] for Button to win again appealing, and around [1.7] a podium finish a safe investment.

Five things you might not know about Rubens Barrichello

1. Born in Sao Paulo in 1972, both his father and grandfather are also named Rubens, which is why he's known as Rubinho

2. His lucky number is 11, the number of the kart he drove winning five junior titles in Brazil before moving to Europe to race in Formula Three

3. His first Formula One win was in the German Grand Prix in 2000 as a Ferrari driver - he started from 18th on the grid

4. He owns his own jet, an Embraer Legacy 600. They cost 27 million dollars to buy new - he bought his second hand!

5. Married to Silvano, his eldest son Eduardo, now aged eight, has won junior karting races

Comments (1)

1. Marcos | 26 April 2009

   Barrichello is married to "Silvana" not Silvano as stated!