Contrast this with the lack of support he has had from his bosses. Even before the season began, Berger was jerking him around over contracts and complaining to the press about his drivers. This didn’t stop when the the season began; we have heard nothing from the STR management but whining about the drivers needing to improve. Apart from being crassly bad management, this is disloyal and destructive to team spirit. Any manager worth his salt works with what he’s got and gets the best from his drivers without ridiculing them in the media.

Both Scott and Tonio have put up with this situation without a word of complaint to the press and done their best with a car that was every bit as difficult as the Red Bull has proved (not surprising really, since it’s essentially the same chassis). Taking into account the fact that RBR has a lot more money and reputedly better engineers than STR does, we should not be surprised if the STRs were way behind the parent company’s cars in the races.

But a quick study of Speed’s races shows that this has not been the case. He has consistently raced with DC and put in similar lap times, occasionally even getting ahead of him. If Speed is crap, DC must be even worse (yet he’s won several GPs in his career and is enjoying an Indian summer of form).

The facts just don’t support the theory that the STR drivers are useless; they may well be a lot better than anyone has guessed. But what has become clear without doubt is that the real problem at STR is bad management. I see today that Bourdais is having second thoughts about driving for the team and one can understand why.

Speed’s account of Tost’s assault on him is supported by eye witnesses. The story first got out because reporters were told of the incident by persons other than Scott, who remained silent on the matter because Tost and Berger came to him and apologised after the race.

What really made him mad and caused his statement to Adam Cooper, however, was the fact that Tost promptly went to the press and denied that he had done anything more than touch Speed on the shoulder. This was a clear demonstration that the apology had meant nothing and that things were going to continue in the same way, with the drivers getting the blame for STR’s failures. Scott finally broke his silence and told us a little about what life has been like in the team.

And it may be good for the team that he did. STR have had to go crawling back to him after discovering that Vettel was not immediately available (it is also likely that Mateschitz had a word in Tost’s ear, since RBR’s statement on the matter gave support to the drivers and implied disapproval of the managers). And you can bet that Scott did not agree to return to the team without some conditions being set, amongst which would have been that the whingeing statements to the press stop immediately.

Tost and Berger might now have to get on with their real job, that of encouraging the whole team to work together in pursuit of better performance, and STR might become a much better place to work as a result.

I have no doubt that STR will have different drivers next year (another bad decision, as Toyota have proved – you should keep one for continuity and for comparison of the new with what you know), probably Bourdais and Vettel. Scott will have difficulty in finding a seat in F1 for 2008, thanks to the damage to his reputation done by a couple of incompetent jerks, and most likely will end up back in America driving Champ Cars or something similar. And the most likely outcome from all that will be that Scott proves the find of the century in America while Bourdais looks pretty useless in an STR. After all, it won’t be the first time that an open-wheel champ from the States has failed miserably when tried in F1…

Sorry to rant, but I do get tired of the constant criticism levelled at Speed by people who obviously haven’t studied his record.

Sometimes, you just want to throw something at the management…

Not to defend Speed, especially if he is a whingey little brat, but is it just possible that STR’s problems could be related to something other than it’s drivers? I’m just not sure I ever heard of anyone grabbing Sato’s suit collar or thumping Webber on the back in anything other than a good natured way.

Yet another embarrassment to the American racing community.

To be honest, I am a little surprised that even Speed has come out with these words. You just don’t say these things to the international media unless you already know the truth and it won’t hurt you to say them.

Suffice to say, Speed won’t be in a Toro Rosso next year. Maybe a Spyker, but certainly not a Red Bull owned car…
…Not now anyway.