Please put the 'f' back in F1

22 April 2016 - 02:20 By Andile Ndlovu

Sebastian Vettel was panned in some quarters - not for the first time - for his entertaining confrontation with Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat following their first corner skirmish at the Chinese GP. Vettel, who drove doggedly to eventually finish second, blamed Kvyat for causing his opening-lap collision with Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who finished fifth.Awaiting the presentation ceremony, the four-time world champion made his feelings known after Kvyat mischievously asked him what happened at the first turn, saying: "You asking what happened at the start? If I don't go left, you crash into us and we all three go out. You are like a torpedo."The Russian, who turns just 22 next week, replied with: "That's racing . we didn't crash."To which Vettel rebuked: "You didn't. You were lucky this time."Some have pointed out, perhaps accurately, that Vettel is feeling the pressure, having already fallen 42 points behind championship leader Nico Rosberg after just three races. Russia's Sochi hosts the fourth round next weekend.It could also be that Raikkonen is finally competitive in the other Ferrari.Vettel's outburst was uncalled for. It was from a man who finished third behind both Mercedes after Ferrari muddled its strategy in Melbourne, didn't start in Bahrain because of technical problems, and could have made life tougher for Rosberg at the Shanghai International Circuit.The Ferrari is a far more competitive car than its iffy brains trust, it appears.But at no point during my viewing of the 56 laps on Sunday morning was I more enthralled than during the minute-long spat between the two drivers.In a sport where press conferences are perfunctory, it was a rare chance to see usually robotic drivers with their guards down.I loved it. I checked Twitter to see if anybody else had caught it and found a mixture of bewilderment and excitement.It was a pro among a long list of cons for pit-to-car radio messages.Indeed, the radio restrictions are meant to ensure that drivers are not coached from the pit wall, but viewers care far more for the entertainment.We are starved of the hilarious telling-off Raikkonen once gave his race engineer. "Just leave me alone. I know what I'm doing," he scolded.The Finn struck twice that day, later telling the same engineer, who decided to remind him to warm up his new set of tyres, by admonishing: "Yes, yes, yes, yes. I'm doing all the tyres. You don't have to remind me every second."Whoever thought it was a good idea for race engineers to start telling Formula 1 drivers, who are used to driving at well over 300km/h every lap, to drive fast, and not see how that kills a viewer's vibe, needs to be fired.Now contrast the Vettel-Kvyat altercation to the sleep-inducing post-race interview of Nico Rosberg in China."I'm happy with today, of course. It was a great weekend for me here in China. It's a special place for me, first pole, first win here. It's great and it really was a pleasure to drive today out there. Seldom had such a great feeling out there. And everything worked out well, the strategy and everything. The tyres held up pretty well, so I'm really pleased."And what he said after Bahrain."Oh, for sure. It's been an awesome weekend. The key was really the start. I got a great getaway and from then on I was trying to control the pace. Very, very happy with today; absolutely awesome to get another win."Those were his alleged comments, of course. I had little desire to listen to the automated responses. Frankly, I'd much rather watch that scuffle over and over than witness Mercedes canter to another double, except I'm a sucker for punishment.Why else would I still spend my weekends like this?Twitter:@Vida15..

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