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Formula One back on track
By Don Riddell, CNN World Sport
(CNN) -- "The more things change, the more they remain the same." So said the appropriately named Alphonse Karr, who I suspect never would have imagined his name appearing in an article about racing cars. Yet his 19th century wisdom illustrates the effect of the drastic changes made to save Formula One in the 21st century. This time last year, Michael Schumacher's fifth Grand Prix title was already a distant memory. By the end of the season the German had practically trebled the points tally of the third placed driver -- and nearly doubled the haul of his own Ferrari teammate, Rubens Barichello of Brazil. The problem was, nobody -- apart from shallow Ferrari fanatics -- cared. Sponsors and spectators were leaving the sport in their droves, and the FIA, the governing body, realized that after a third Ferrari procession, something immediate and drastic had to be done. So it introduced new qualifying rules, amended the points system and banned team orders which would influence race results. Nearly a year on, the Grand Prix season is reaching a climax in Japan with the winner to be determined. But as Karr predicted all those years ago, things have remained the same. Schumacher still leads the drivers' championship and is hot favorite to claim a record sixth title. But he knows how hard he has had to work in 2003. The playing field has been leveled and the new crop of young drivers like Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW) and Finland's Kimi Raikonen (McLaren-Mercedes) has been hot on his tail. Montoya dropped out of the title challenge at the U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis on Sunday. But if Schumacher slips up at Suzuka, Raikonen can steal the title. It is hard to see Schumacher letting things go now and he should pass Argentinian Juan Manuel Fangio and become the only driver to win six Grand Prix championships. If so, things will have remained the same. But fans, drivers and administrators know the truth is very different. Their sport is once again competitive, and the champion, whoever he is, will be a credible one. Don Riddell presents World Sport on CNN International at 0930 GMT, 1230 GMT, 1430 GMT, and 2130 GMT daily (also 0030 GMT at weekends and daily in Asia.)
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