Reader Rights: Hoisted by his own petard

Until now I wasn't really sure what 'hoisted by his own petard' meant but that's exactly what happened to Lewis Hamilton at the Monaco Grand Prix i.e. a bit of previous for complaining about bad pit calls supplemented by an audacious $150 million deal.

That is just too much to pay one man and results in creating doubt, and a lack of confidence, within the minds of lessor mortals, even those with plenty of nous and earning a good whack.

In life it's always best to rely on "gut feeling" but when that feeling has been superficially preordained, by a corporate pyramid of control, things can go wrong.

I doubt a similar outcome would have ensued if a certain Mr R.Brawn had been on the pit wall and you can certainly see why Mr E says democracy in F1 doesn't work.

Opinion piece by Howard Jackson