Formula 1 has driven itself into the abyss. The manufacturers are walking away from the sport to set up their own championship. The threat is real and the fight is about more than just salary caps. It is about the fight over control of the sport. Self-interest, delusion and greed look set to kill a once great sport.
The manufacturers (FOTA) are no longer prepared to negotiate with FIA President Max Mosely who has remained resolute in his desire to push through draconian legislation that doesn’t have their full agreement.
In the middle of all this is Bernie Ecclestone’s whose greed has created a sport in which power struggles and money take precedent over matters concerning the actual sporting contest.
As this season has dramatically confirmed, on track performance is so dominated by regulations and technicalities.
Thus a team that was nowhere last year, who committed to developing its car to this seasons regulations early last year and almost didn’t make it on the grid, is now the dominant force.
This season has thus confirmed to the wider sporting public what many hardcore fans already knew; in essence Formula 1 isn’t a true sporting contest between drivers.
It’s the result of poor governance, a lack of awareness of what the public want and a lack of transparency and accountability from Ecclestone, Mosley and even the teams.
Upon hearing the manufacturers breakaway announcement, Mosley claimed the manufacturers were “posturing and posing” in their claims.
If the FIA and Ecclestone don’t take this threat seriously they will force the manufacturers to act and then a split will become inevitable.
Once this happens we may have reached the point of no return.
As this dispute is over the fundamental issues of control, neither party is likely give in easily.
If the FOTA series does materialise with the combined might of the manufacturers and best drivers, the FIA series will be left with little else apart from a group of part timers.
No one will be interested.
The Monaco GP for example has already said it is only interested in staging a race that involves the likes of Ferrari.
Other tracks, sponsors and drivers will feel the same way.
The manufacturers are well within their right to seek greener pastures.
They have been subjected to constant, and sometimes, nonsensical regulation changes that have cost them millions.
They have been robbed of important markets such as North America.
Despite their enormous investment, they have so little say in its direction and they have now lost faith in the FIA’s ability to govern.
Combined with the little share they receive of the total revenue the sport generates, most of which goes directly into the pockets of a select few, breaking away and setting up their own championship makes sense long term, especially given the difficulty in working together with Mosley.
Despite the promise of a utopian series under FOTA, free of the political interference from the FIA and greed of Ecclestone, the damage now being done may be irreversible.
As the Northern American IndyCar split showed, the damage that a breakaway causes is forever.
Some insiders have long predicted Formula 1 would implode under the weight of greed, money and arrogance.
It now seems to be heading that way.
Like no other sport, Formula 1 has mastered the concept of airing its dirty laundry out in public.
But this has gone too far.
Even hardcore fans have now had enough and are tuning out.
Why should fans invest an emotional commitment into a sport that constantly treats them with such utter disrespect and is constantly in a state of flux and chaos?
It’s a question I and many other fans are now asking.
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