PHOENIX -- Race drivers and teams competing in Sunday's Iceberg U.S.A. Grand Prix have already mostly conceded the race to Marlboro McLaren-Honda teammates Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.
But the success of the McLarens has been anything but good for the sport. And if Senna and Prost continue to destroy the competition the way they have in the last two years, winning 18 of 20 races since the start of the 1988 season, look for some other teams to press for rule changes to try to make the sport more competitive.
Already, Formula One Constructor's Association (FOCA) president Bernie Ecclestone has come out with a proposal to equalize the competition: require the winner of each race to make a mandatory pit stop in the following race. If the driver wins two in a row, he would have to make two stops. The most stops a driver would have to make is three, no matter how many races he wins.
Formula One has always prided itself on being the ultimate in motor spots, with the fewest rules and restrictions and the fastest drivers and cars. For officials to even consider such a proposal is an indication of the seriousness of the problem.
Even Ron Dennis, the team manager of McLaren, admitted that his team's success is bad for the sport. But he obviously is opposed to any restraints being imposed, especially on the Honda V-10 powered McLarens.
'We have to ask ourselves all the time is it good for Formula One and I don't think it is,' Dennis said. 'But we'll welcome solutions to the problem. I don't know that the solution lies with McLaren.'
The Ferrari team, McLaren's main competitor and a team that has also dominated in the past, agrees with Dennis.
'The history of motor sports is that there is always one team that gets better off at certain times,' Ferrari team manager Cesare Fioro said. 'But the history also shows that there are alternative situations that can come very quickly. One day, all of a sudden you find yourself no longer competitive.'
One of the most remarkable stories of the Formula One season is the progress of the English-based Tyrrell-Fords.
The team unveiled its new 018 chassis at San Marino, where Dr. Jonathan Palmer drove the car to a seventh-place finish.
Teammate Michele Alboreto finished fifth in the next race at Monaco, and improved to third place at Mexico City last week. And in the unofficial practice session Saturday morning, Alboreto was fastest for most of the period with a lap of 1:32.069.
Most remarkable is that team owner Ken Tyrrell has no sponsors for his team. His cars are painted a deep blue with the word 'Tyrrell' written in a simple white script.
That is quite a contrast to the rest of the field. Most of the cars look like rolling billboards for clothing, gasoline and, most of all, cigarettes.
Among the entries, McLaren is sponsored by Marlboro, as is the BMS Dallara-Ford. Camel sponsors several teams, most notably Lotus, and the French Ligier team is sponsored by Gitanes.
'I wish my cars looked like bloody packs of cigarettes,' laughed Tyrrell.
On a somewhat more serious note, team driver Alboreto said he expects a sponsorship deal for the team to be completed by the July 9 French Grand Prix.
