To race or not to race

Racing drivers race cars -- a blindingly obvious statement that became a little less clear-cut last weekend.

The world's most highly paid drivers tried on the morning of Sunday's Italian Grand Prix to reach an agreement not to overtake through the first two chicanes.

And several of them also expressed great reluctance to go to Indianapolis for the next race.

The Monza safety move, led by Ferrari's world champion Michael Schumacher after a week overshadowed by death and disaster, effectively went against normal racing instincts.

And it soon collapsed after Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, whose late father Gilles was an out and out racer, refused to go along with the plan while some principals lent on other drivers.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone, whose generation grew up with death and danger on the track, clearly felt the drivers had gone soft.

And, as ever in Formula One, there were those who suspected the motives of all the major players: Schumacher had won the title already, Villeneuve rarely resists a chance to oppose him.

Yet the scenes at Monza, apart from showing how difficult it is for drivers to agree unanimously on anything, raised several important issues.

RISK INVOLVED

Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion, was clear about the main one: You either race or you don't. No half measures.

"If you feel that strongly about safety, then don't race," he said. "It is our job to act as professional racing drivers and not act stupidly."

"We know that there's a risk involved in racing, but we all know that we're going to take these risks when we sign our contracts," he added.

Villeneuve said he acted as he did "because we are race car drivers, because we signed contracts before the season and everyone was happy to be a race car driver and to earn millions of dollars.

"What you have to think about is that there are people in the grandstand who have been saving their money for six months to come to see a race.

"I am a racer at heart and all my life I grew up dreaming of being a race car driver and that's what I am," he added.

"The day I don't feel like that any more I won't stay in it just to make money, I will just quit."

DISTRACTION

Schumacher was clearly distracted, as was his brother Ralf, at the weekend. He finished fourth and some commentators suggested his mistake was to try and race at all.

Grand prix drivers, while no longer the happy death-defying drinkers and smokers of old, are still not like other athletes.

If they are distracted, they can risk lives. A moment's inattention at 200 mph can have lethal consequences.

And there were plenty of sources of distraction last weekend.

The serious injuries suffered by Alex Zanardi, who had his legs amputated after crashing in a CART race on Saturday, and the attacks on America shocked everybody.

Many of the drivers on the grid at Monza, where a marshal died last year, were friends of Zanardi and neighbours of his in Monaco.

Mo Nunn, Zanardi's CART team boss, emphasised the 'do or don't' argument when he announced that the Italian would not be replaced this weekend at Rockingham and his mechanics sent home.

"Some of the guys...are understandably so devastated by what happened that we believe it would be difficult to fully concentrate on the task in hand," he said.

"And that could pose a safety risk."