Despite the brilliance of Rosberg’s performance, the chatter before and after
qualifying was not of tyres and tarmac but of conspiracies and boycotts. On
Friday night, it emerged that Force India, Lotus and Sauber, the sport’s
three smallest remaining teams, were discussing plans to launch a
spectacular protest in one of Formula One’s flagship races.
Their potential act of defiance was an attempt to fire a warning shot to
Bernie Ecclestone, F1’s ringmaster, over the deepening financial crisis in
the sport, after both Marussia and Caterham went into administration. The
three teams seemed keen for a confrontation and made their views clear in an
hour-long press conference on Friday night.
Although Lotus – who originally came up with the idea – denied any
involvement, the chance of a boycott gained legs throughout the day. There
is considerable anger that their pleas for change have gone unheard, as well
as the lack of contact or a rapprochement from Ecclestone or CVC Capital
Partners, the owners of the sport. The safe bet remains that they will not
boycott, but there was palpable anger and frustration in the paddock last
night.
Bob Fearnley, the Force India deputy team principal, said: “Nothing is
off the table at this point. Everything and anything is possible. The
silence is deafening from people reaching out to help. It would be good for
dialogue to start, for somebody to actually talk to us.”
The three all met on Saturday to decide on next steps, although they are eager
not to financially harm themselves even further, given the dire straits they
are in. Force India and Sauber have plenty of Mexican sponsors on their
cars, who will be livid to see business lost not far from the border in
Texas. Some of the sport’s American shareholders – including investors
Waddell Reed – are also said to be nervous at the prospect of a
massive PR disaster on home soil.
The rebels are doing their best to force the issue with the FIA, motorsport’s
governing body, as well as Ecclestone, who arrived yesterday to get a hold
of the febrile situation. Their room for manoeuvre appears slim, given the
sport’s biggest squads do not seem willing to concede to any of their
demands.
Qualifying highlighted the state of the divide, in performance terms at least,
with Mercedes clear of the rest. At 13:00 local time in Austin, 18 cars did
emerge from the pit lane, and for qualifying we were spared a repeat of the
disastrous 2005 race at Indianapolis when just six cars competed. It was
still the lowest number of participants since the event that year in Monaco.
As had been anticipated, Sebastian Vettel took part in the first segment but
no more. An engine change meant he would be starting from the pit lane, so
the enthusiastic crowd in Austin were denied seeing the reigning four-time
champion at the sharp end.
It seemed appropriate given the prevailing mood that a Force India – Sergio
Perez – was the first car to set a time. In Q1, the Mexican was soon
eclipsed by Rosberg, and then Bottas, with the Williams looking quick all
weekend. Hamilton’s first lap was only 16 thousands of a second faster.
Towards the end of the first session, which saw just four cars depart due to
the demise of Marussia and Caterham, the Mercedes began to assert
themselves.
Hamilton finished two-thirds of a second clear, while Vettel, one Toro Rosso,
one Sauber and One Lotus went out. Amazingly, Pastor Maldonado, also of
Lotus, made it through. Clearly he has no interest in boycotting the race.
In Q2, it was a similar story. Rosberg led the way from Hamilton, nearly a
second clear of the field. By the time of the shoot-out for pole position,
two Lotuses, two Force Indias and one Sauber were out of contention. You can
see why they feel so aggrieved.
In the final shoot-out, it was Rosberg who landed the first blow. His first
lap was one-tenth quicker, and the second time around, he extended the lead.
Hamilton had no answer. Thoughts again turned away from racing and back to
the ruckus off track.