Feedback on Simona’s move to F1

Oddly, I received a fair amount of feedback regarding my recent IndyCar article, in which I covered a myriad of topics, one them being Simona de Silvestro’s move to Sauber F1. I essentially stated that I didn’t see the logic in the move for de Silvestro, due to the simple fact the odds of her earning an F1 race seat, much less ever being relevant on the Grand Prix circuit, are in my opinion, incredibly long. Others argued that F1 was her dream, and that she should pursue that, in part because her options in IndyCar were limited second-tier rides such as Dale Coyne Racing and Panther.

Now, I should add that the details of this matter are still not entirely known. For example, what role did de Silvestro’s management, sponsorship, etc., play in this decision is at this point at least, pure conjecture. Also, let me point out that I am rooting for the likable, classy, and talented de Silvestro to succeed, and not the “hater," some suggested. Rather, my skepticism surrounds the wisdom of the move, from the perspective of de Silvestro’s driving career.

And with that in mind, this notion of F1 being de Silvestro’s dream, was something I learned of through Friday’s press release, not something that to my knowledge was part of the plan all along. As for teams like Panther and DCR being somehow beneath de Silvestro, I’ll agree those would have been less-than-optimal situations. However, for a driver with 1 podium finish in four seasons, I’m sorry but there is no such thing as an IndyCar ride currently unworthy of de Silvestro.

So, despite my opinion seemingly being in the minority, I’ve yet to see anything really compelling to change it. In IndyCar, de Silvestro was a potential race winner, and a relevant part of the sport’s potential revival and growth. She has traded that for a role in 2014 as the third test-driver for a mid-pack F1 team with no guarantees beyond this year.

Doesn’t make much sense to me.

Sports Cars:

Personally, I’d argue that a paid drive in Tudor United Sports Cars would have been a better option for de Silvestro than F1, or possibly even a lower-tier-rent-a-ride deal in IndyCar. But that’s probably a different subject for a different day.

But speaking of sports cars, three weeks ago the American sports car scene began a new era as one united series at The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. The debut wasn’t perfect with arguing over the balance of power technical rules, questionable officiating, and griping by hard core sports car fans that the sport has been “NASCARized."

Generally speaking, this was always going to be something of a difficult year for the sports car set, as the transition to a unified series inevitably presents challenges. And the things mentioned above, are the type of details that can and most likely will be sorted out over time.

One thing I will say that can and needs to be changed next season is this two-and-a-half month gap between the Rolex 24 in late February and the 12 Hours of Sebring the second weekend of March. The sports car set did an excellent job in January promoting their unified series, and drumming up interest for the Rolex. However, Daytona already seems like it was forever ago, and a race between Daytona and Sebring would go a long way to keeping that momentum we saw in January.

Now, it should be noted that conspiracy theorists might argue this gap is somewhat intentional. After all, would NASCAR want anything to take away from its marquee event the Daytona 500, and beginning of the Sprint Cup season next weekend? And if that is the case, is this new united sports car series simply another moat around NASCAR’s castle as king of American racing? Brian C. reporting for AR1.com