Comments on: Where to now for Formula 1 GP?

By: Marlon

Marlon — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:40:29 +0000

You’re right, there is no guarantee this deal is going to last. I don’t think it will. Too many agendas and egos in the sport means they only look out for themselves.

By: Mark Danby

Mark Danby — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 03:06:55 +0000

I totally agree with you point about FOTA! They should be pushing through to make a better F1 for all, esp the fans.. Ticket prices are a joke! But that reflects on the rediculious $$$ Bernie charges each country to hold a race. Max is only part of the problem, Bernie has been “raping” F1 for decades!! Sure he made it what it is today.. But it’s long overdue that he gives something back to the sport and stop charging so much $$$ for host countries with the highest bidder winning. We new new blood to run F1! Briatore is a “people person” and would be perfect for a new age of F1!

By: nytewynd

nytewynd — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:30:06 +0000

Of course, once again we have people wanting to put all the blame on Ferrari. As for manufacturers, I didn’t know RBR and STR were manufacturers. When did that happen? The teams have been allowing things to go on for too long and should have put a stop to it sooner, otherwise we wouldn’t have been in the major crisis that F1 found itself in. Heck, they should have put their feet down when Max first threw out all these rule changes for the 2009 season (and where did it actually cut costs?) that turned the season topsy turvy and without any in season testing to try and right things. Many teams suffered over this and the foolish declaration of Max/FIA and the appeals board insisting that the triple D was legal, even though the teams that drew up the rule for that and knew the spirit of the rule said it wasn’t legal. 7 against 3 and the 7 lose, though they made up the rule. I have always suspected, and won’t believe otherwise, that it played into Max’s hands to try and turn the FOTA teams against each other since they were standing so strong. Max doesn’t want his power weakened by a strong united front by the teams. Even Williams and FI stood with them, but couldn’t stand with them through everything because of contractual obligations and such.

I can’t imagine people watching F1 and wanting a spec series, that’s not what F1 is watched for, but with Max at the head, that is what we were starting to head towards … and as was so rightly pointed out, there are enough of those out there to watch without having to wake up at ungodly hours of the morning/night to watch a spec series. A spec series would run the manufacturers out of F1 too, because as they have pointed out in the past, there is no reason for them to own a team and put out a lot of money (whether limited or unlimited) and not be able to show off their tech stuff and/or work on tech stuff that could be transferred to their road cars. They might as well sell the team off and if they still want to be part, could be a sponsor (like manufacturers do in other motorsports).

As for ferrari needing to be on top, along with mclaren and such, it’s not like those teams haven’t been on the bottom and clawed their way up before. Ferrari has been there since the outset of F1, going through droughts. Having a major one that lasted 20 years. But they stayed and they worked and they turned things around, while other teams have come and gone either because of expenses or because they weren’t winning or a combination. So, you may hate Ferrari, but I think they deserve at least a little respect for being there for 60 years. If the other teams didn’t trust them, to some extent at least, Luca wouldn’t have been put in as the head of FOTA.

By: Adrian Musolino

Adrian Musolino — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:57:58 +0000

autogyro, you make an interesting point. Where I think this crisis is different to other F1 controversies, and why the breakaway threat was so real, is due to the fact that the likes of Ferrari and McLaren are buried down in the pack, unjustly according to them. With a salary cap, how could they use their superior spending power to claw back the advantage they believe they should have?

Martin, fair call. I also agree with the comment re: a spec series. This is what should differentiate F1 from other series. There are so many ways in which F1 can cut costs but the teams and the FIA have been very inactive over the years in this regard and now the FIA, who didn’t seem to mind the huge escalation in costs when the manufacturers were coming into the sport, don’t seem to know how to do it so they are resorting to draconian rules like budget caps.

By: Martin

Martin — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:07:41 +0000

The problem with the “settlement” is that it left Mosley with nothing to lose. He was seen as having had to backtrack on his enforced changes and as having been forced out of his role with F1.

So now he is acting like a man with nothing to lose – and everything to gain. In fact his actions only go to support the term “dictator”. They are similar to the actions we would expect of Robert Mugabe after a similar agreement (vote) requiring he step aside.

Max now has the option of being head-honcho as an F1 comprised of new teams, or a nobody. An easy choice in his mind.

Obviously Luca Di Montezemelo is no more skilled at PR than my 15 year-old daughter as his crowing would best have been left to a post-season review session.

And for people who want a cost-controlled, narrow-spec, standard-part formula – there is no need to wait. There are many such series already. GO AWAY and watch one.

By: autogyro

autogyro — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:09:54 +0000

Strange that you believe that the manufacturers are united under Fota. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Fota is supposed to be the flagship organisation with the interests of both the big teams and the small teams.
Instead it is simply a band wagon for a tiny Italian aristocrat who believes that Ferrari and Fiat should dominate a sport which has had it’s center in England for 60 years.
The only reason for the crisis is that Ferrari and some other big teams cannot win with regulations designed to drag F1 kicking and screaming into the 21st century, without spending huge amounts of money taken from tax payers and bail outs.
The suggested regulations from Luca whatsis name are not only puerile but will not justify F1 in the eyes of the world public into the future. IC engines are all but obsolete and the motoring press should start being responsible and work towards energy efficiency. If it does not F1 will not last for much longer.