Lehto wonders about Brazil GP 'conspiracy theory'
Former F1 driver JJ Lehto has raised a potential "conspiracy theory" in the wake of last Sunday's Brazilian GP.
Although the late-race incidents involving the Ferrari drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Alexander Albon were decisive, Finn Lehto thinks there could be more behind the historic Honda-powered one-two.
"Remember that Mercedes has already won both championships so there's no need for them to win," he told Iltalehti newspaper.
"That could mean they reduced the power and the others then look good.
"I was definitely expecting Hamilton to get a better exit out of the last corner with fresh tyres, take the slipstream and easily pass Gasly."
As it happened, Toro Rosso driver Gasly's Honda power unit even managed to pull away from Hamilton's title-winning car.
"Hamilton's pace was really sluggish at the end. The fact that Toro Rosso was faster was really surprising. Could there be a conspiracy theory in there?" he wondered.
At any rate, Lehto said it is good that the four engine manufacturers in F1 - Ferrari, Mercedes, Honda and Renault - are clearly no longer separated by much.
"It's great that they have all made significant improvements - Honda in particular have made a big leap forward. The situation has levelled out," he said.
"Every manufacturer has found more power, driveability and reliability. That's a good sign for next season."
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conspiracy? The only conspiracy I can think of is the FIA using a safety car (twice) to group cars together to spice things. There'd be uproar if a WDC was decided under those circumstances
Spot on, OK then. These guys are racers..."throwing" a race is not in their genes. BTW, IMO safety is a huge concern and kudos for FIA and F1 focus, but my god there are way too many safety car periods. You want conspiracy theory???...Liberty is promoting BASHCAR type managed finishes.
What they didn't mention is that Lehto was balls deep in a Brazilian escort and rather drunk!
Liberty doesn't care about racing only a "spectacle" for the kids, I wonder if a safety car period is just enough to get an advert or 2 in the TV coverage??
Oldwit, here in the US Liberty doesn't get the tv ad $$$, the broadcaster does. ESPN has the rights and they broadcast the races without any ads. Liberty NEEDS more eyeballs so that they can get more $$$ for the broadcast rights and ESPN can actually sell ads. BASHCAR successfully does this with crashes,yellow flags and conflicts. That is sports marketing in the US and has not much to do with better racing. Sad really, but at least for now we get SKY's race coverage ad free.
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