Q: Having just watched Alex Palou win his second championship in three years, Aston Martin should poach Palou and say bye to Stroll’s son Lance, who has done next to nothing in an identical car to the one Alonso has used to score many podiums. Contracts can always be broken, and what a couple of matadors this pair of Spaniards could bring to F1 in 2024!
Yanie
CHRIS MEDLAND: Before I shoot this down, I want to make it clear that I’d love to see Palou get a chance to show what he can do in F1. Maybe he’d struggle to adapt, maybe not, but either way if a driver with his record at his age doesn’t get a shot in F1 then I wonder if anyone from IndyCar ever will.
But I really don’t see Aston Martin ever getting rid of Stroll unless it’s the driver’s choice, and as tough as this year has been for Lance I think he’ll point to the pre-season injuries and some bad luck as putting him on the back foot, so that he’d hope to perform much better next season. Whether he actually manages to do that is another matter, but I certainly don’t see him being replaced against his will.
Q: What do you make of Felipe Massa’s legal moves, years after the fact, to overturn a world championship result? It seems absurd, and absurdly late. What honor is to be gained? I’d say it is all to be lost, and my opinion of him has nosedived.
Anthony Jenkins, Canada
CHRIS MEDLAND: It’s an interesting one, because Felipe has clearly been informed that certain comments made by Bernie Ecclestone about the Crashgate scandal earlier this year could help him earn damages. Massa’s not trying to overturn the 2008 championship, but to have the FIA and F1 admit he should have been champion, and pay him huge amounts of compensation for lost earnings and opportunities he’d have received as a title winner.
Massa and his legal team know that the result won’t be changed, but it would be as good as if he’s awarded compensation.
It’s the quotes attributed to Bernie that are key here and are what triggered the legal action, because Ecclestone said the FIA and F1 knew about Crashgate during the 2008 season, but did nothing about until it was too late to overturn anything in order to prevent it from becoming a massive scandal. However, he also now says he doesn’t remember giving that interview…
I don’t see Felipe succeeding, as one key figure in his case disputes making the comments and another — former FIA president Max Mosley — is no longer with us.
THE FINAL WORD
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, September 4, 2014
Q: I’ve been watching IndyCar for 20 years, but just recently started to make it my primary venue for motorsport after attending my first Indy 500 this past May (which was as epic a race as I’ve ever seen in my life). That said, whenever someone brings up doing the double on Memorial Day, it’s always about what NASCAR driver will run an IndyCar, but never the other way around.
Has anyone on the IndyCar side of things tried looking for a NASCAR ride so they can attempt it, thus bringing some more eyes on the open-wheel side? I know sponsorship is the driving factor, but why not have an IndyCar guy run a couple of Nationwide races to get a license for a Cup car and try it one day?
Alex Martinez
ROBIN MILLER: Well, A.J., Rutherford, Mario, Parnelli, Gurney, Hurtubise, Bettenhausen, Johncock, Sneva and the Unsers all competed in the Daytona 500 and Cale Yarborough, Lee Roy Yarbrough, Bobby Johns and the Allison brothers came to the Indy 500 back in the ’60s. But I guess it’s a lot more prestigious to come try Indy than it would be to go run nine hours at Charlotte. But my vote for the double in 2014 is KYLE LARSON!