Nigel Roebuck: How F1 has lost its way
As F1 gears up to mark its 1000th world championship race in China, NIGEL ROEBUCK reflects on how he feels the series has lost its way - and why he sees little cause for celebration
As race time nears in Peter Ustinov's Grand Prix of Gibraltar, Schnorcedes team manager Altbauer instructs his driver it's time to blow his nose: "A handkerchief would have to be carried in either the left pocket or the right - which would completely destroy the balance of our revolutionary new car!"
Life imitates art, they say. Sixty years on from Ustinov's glorious pastiche, Ferrari, aping Red Bull, goes into 2019 with matte paintwork, rather than gloss. "The reason is not aesthetic," explains Mattia Binotto (and he can say that again), "but exclusively technical. Eliminating the shiny element gives us a few hundred grams, which may not sound much, but when you push everything to the limit even this has an effect..."
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