FanHouse Formula One

It's been nearly 14 years now since a major auto racing division decided to split and implode itself.

Naturally, that just means it's time for another series -- this time it's Formula One -- to set itself back 20, 30 or maybe 60 years.

Reading, however, the summary released Thursday night by the Formula 1 Teams Association, one could probably argue that FOTA is trying to avoid such a relapse thanks to new rules for the 2010 championship that F1 czars Bernie Eccelstone and Max Mosley have presented.

Need a quick tour of the racing world? Strap in today and come back later this week as FH takes a lap around Formula One, NASCAR and the NHRA. IndyCar fans, you'll have to wait until 2009 truly gets moving.

In two races so far in 2009, one team has won, a dominant team has struggled, the defending champion faces a possible season-long suspension and the results of the first two races might be completely tossed out in the near future.

No, it's not the constant source of American race fan complaints -- NASCAR -- but instead, those issues are today's everyday life of the 2009 Formula One season.

The world's most popular form of racing -- in terms of global fans and ratings -- announced this week a new system to crown its champion in 2009 that certainly leaves a lot to desire.

That series, the FIA Formula One World Championship won last year by British driver Lewis Hamilton, officially adopted a new drivers championship rulebook that gives the season-ending trophy to the driver with the most race wins.

Sure, it looks like a system that will make racing exciting, but I can't help but look at all of the competition problems it will expose.

Rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton has stolen plenty of limelight from his fellow teammate and defending F1 champ Fernando Alonso this season, and Saturday, Formula One's sanctioning gave him the pole for Sunday morning's (in the States, 7:30am/ET) Hungarian Grand Prix.

Alonso will be moved from his starting spot on the point to 6th on the grid, slotting Hamilton into the pole, due to FIA saying Alonso and his team were involved in actions "considered prejudicial to the interests of the competition and to the interests of motor sport generally."

Wait, FIA has rules against that?

The penalty in starting position is huge in F1 and Alonso will only be scored for driver points, with none applied to the constructor's championship.

No race winner at Infineon Raceway has ever started deeper than 13th in the field, but Juan Pablo Montoya changed that today.

After a disappointing qualifying run, Montoya climbed his way from 32nd and got to the front when it mattered. He called his first Nextel Cup win the "biggest thing he's ever done," but he's still not satisfied:

"To get our first win in our first year is huge. We know we're a little behind at some of the ovals, and we still need to work hard, but I think this is a big boost for everybody working in the shop."

At least he's got some bragging rights, now. Montoya joins Mario Andretti and Dan Gurney as the only drivers to win in Formula One, IndyCar and NASCAR Nextel Cup.

And he did it without wrecking anyone despite making a driver or two nervous along the way, like Dale Earnhardt Jr. who said as much on his in-car radio when the Comobian was on his tail. I suspect Montoya's Busch road course win was fresh on his mind.

Montoya's win was the first of the season for his owner, Chip Ganassi Racing, and his manufacturer. The Dodge win is also the first COT win by a non-Chevrolet.

The Chevys of Richard Childress Racing all stretched fuel mileage and Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer claim 2nd through fourth respectively.

Toyota/Save Mart 350 Results | Standings

Add Forbes magazine to the list of those who don't count NASCAR drivers as athletes. Or celebrities.

On Friday, the business magazine released The World's Most Powerful Celebrities, its annual list of the world's most powerful--and best-paid--celebrities.

While former Formula One champion Michael Schumacher and his successor Kimi Raikkonen made the list, there's not a single NASCAR driver on the list. Granted, they have higher incomes, but ...

To generate the list, Forbes "analyzes celebrity earnings, plus media metrics like Google hits, press mentions as compiled by Lexis/Nexis, TV/radio mentions from Factiva and the number of times an A-lister appears on the cover of 32 major consumer magazines."

I find it extremely difficult to believe that Dale Earnhardt Jr. was not among the celebrities topping the media metrics.

He made one of the biggest announcements in the sport's history this year and was reported in more mainstream news outlets than probably any NASCAR story since his father's death in 2001. There has been no shortage of media coverage.

There was also the little matter of him announcing that he had this girl he was seeing back in January, which I can personally attest led to thousands of searches for "dale earnahrdt jr. girlfriend" that led inquirers to the Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Girlfriend category on Answer this...

Not to mention Junior's estimated $20M annual income, which dwarfs several celeb on the list, including IRL driver Danica Patrick, whose annual income Forbes reports as $4M. Is it even comprehensible that she's on the list and Junior is not?

And the Food Network's "queen of southern cuisine and home-cooking" is on the list at #99. Cooking with Paua Deen. Hmmmph. How about Hallucinating with Forbes? I want some of what they're on.

What up, Forbes?

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Formula One driver Robert Kubica has been released from the hospital after what the attending doctor, Dr. Ronald Denis, the head of the trauma unit at Sacre-Coeur Hospital in Montreal, witnessed what he thought was a fatal head-on collision with the wall during the Canadian Gran Prix:

"I was at the tower and to be honest with you, when I saw the accident I thought we were going to arrive there and he would be dead."

Pretty unbelievable that he only suffered a minor concussion and sprained ankle. What a wild wreck.

When Ferrari told Rubens Barichello to dump the 2002 Austrian Gran Prix to allow teammate Michael Schumacher to take the win, the Formula One team was fined $1 million.

Is McLaren Motorsports next?

The team is being investigated by the governing body for possible rule breach of the International Sporting Code, which states it will "never be enforced so as to prevent or impede a competition or the participation of a competitor, save where the FIA concludes that this is necessary for the safe, fair or orderly conduct of motor sport.''

Monaco Gran Prix winner Fernando Alonso's McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton told the press after Sunday's race that he was told to "take it easy."

"He was obviously close to me, and I was told to take it easy. At the end of the day, I am a rookie. I am in my first season in Formula One and I have finished second in only my first Monaco Grand Prix, so I really can't complain. I've got No. 2 on my car. I am the No. 2 driver."

Can't complain? You just said your team gave you an "order" to let your teammate win. Is there a better time to complain? Or ... maybe you just should have IGNORED it, fool. Wouldn't you rather be the rookie who won his first Monaco Gran Prix than the one who gave it away?

Apparently, this is standard practice in Formula One.

What about NASCAR? Is this addressed in its illustrious rulebook? Is it even needed? I can't even ... Can you even imagine Rick Hendrick or Richard Childress or Jack Roush pulling this kind of crap? Or Joe Gibbs? Or any driver putting up with it? What about Penske or Ganassi--in NASCAR or IRL? I can't even ... Why is this tolerated in F1?