Good Gesture - But What’s the Point?
(GMM - Jan.5) Swiss Formula One team Sauber has called off the launch of 2005 car ‘C24′ in deference to the Asian tsunami disaster. The Ferrari-powered racer was set to be unveiled in Malaysian sponsor Petronas’ home country, in Kuala-Lumpur on 11 January.
It would have celebrated the oil company’s ten-year stint at the pinnacle of motor sport [And it's perennial place in the 8th row of the grid - ed], but the event was cancelled ‘as a mark of respect to the victims … and their families,’ a team member said on Tuesday.
The spokesman then told us that the new car would simply debut at Valencia (Spain) on January 14, with Brazilian driver Felipe Massa initially at the wheel.
Again I say, what’s the point? How about debuting the car under the Malaysian flag and Petronas banner, along with a check for $10 million US to be used for Tsunami aid? Surely one of the largest petroleum companies in the world can match Michael. Or would it be too much to ask a Malaysian company based in an Islamic country to assist another Islamic country, Indonesia, in its time of need?
