Every friggin story is going to be about aleged breaching of the new rediculous rules. Ferrari might as well be the first acused.

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I wouldn't go that far. NASCAR itself is tuned for American racing fans but internationally it's dull as American football, that is, it is like Bollywood, tuned locally. For instance, international viewers do not appreciate circles & D-shape tracks.

Montoya himself is well accustomed to the American racing scene & his poor performance in F1 is testament to his inability to make the grade in the only racing series that really counts. No American has excelled in F1 for over a generation. Only Phil Hill & Mario Andretti have won F1, one each.

Thus, every American champion may be a champion in their own events, but there remains that asterix that they haven't competed in F1 or distinguished themselves where it really counts. As such it is no wonder that even on 'Planet America' the ultimate series is not really really telling unless they have been to F1. Americans may try, but they cannot hide from the fact that their best drivers are not the best in the world, & that fact was snubbed when Emerson Fittipaldi & Nigel Mansell clashed for the 1994 CART IndyCar title, both eventually asserting the superiority of non-US drivers.

With so few Americans in F1, let alone sponsors &/or excellence as American racing series do not produce world-class material, interest (by American racers or the media would be next to zero & these 'high strung fragile little toys' are actually faster than anything any American racing series has on offer, & actually less fragile than the American toys as they can last an entire season, where their open-wheel cousins in the USA (IRL or ChampCar) don't.

In terms of over-taking opportunities, it has proven more difficult in the front-row, however, it is increasingly emerging that the problem may have more to do with the pointing system. Originally meant to undermine the dominance of Michael Schumacher & Ferrari, the pointing system has not encouraged drivers to work harder for their points. Hence if eight races into a season a driver is some 16 points behind running 2nd & 3rd, a two point net loss is acceptable, where a four-point net loss is not only harder, but worth attempting to overtake.

Michael Schumacher himself commandeered the 248 (F2006) in 2006 falling back on the grid, but with no less than dozen overtakes in one race (including the three laps on present champion Kimi Räikkönen) demonstrated not a lack of overtaking opportunities, but a general reluctance to do so for reasons best known to teams & drivers. Indeed, the dramatic overtake of Williams-Toyota's Nico Rosberg over BMW Sauber's Nick Hiedfield and Robert Kubica to power his way to 4th place at the 2007 Brazilian GP was testament to that.

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