I love it! Finally the drivers are formally complaining! GPDA calls for reform of 'ill-structured' Formula 1
I know people love him because of his history with Ferrari but Todt has to go. Then the whole FIA needs to be restructured. It really has gotten ridiculous as of late.
This isn't good... If the GPDA felt compelled to write this open letter, then the problems are systemic and deep. Sad days for F1. Let's hope something good comes from this and not the usual Bernie style dismissive rant followed by business as usual...
I don't think we're at risk of strikes just yet, but the GPDA is applying pressure by making it an open letter. All the best, Andrew.
Precisely. They must be reaching breaking point as these discussions always start in private forum. Only if that doesn't work would they resort to an open letter. Things must be pretty bad... Way worse than we at first thiught?
It's not just Todt - Charlie Whiting, unfortunately, has become part of the problem with the FIA in the last year or two. Refusing to hear of any potential issues with his new qualifying format, issuing bizarre last minute revisions to the allowed radio communications rules, are just two examples of a lot of recent poorly-planned or poorly-executed technical directives and decisions.
Time for that break away series to come back up and for manufacturers to have open budgets again. I'll take 12 highly developed and tested to no limits cars against a field of 22 with moderate to minimal chances of effectively competing.
They will be replaced, easily. The drivers have no leverage here other than the money due to them from teams with respect to their contracts. If they strike, they may not even have that.
Drivers are not union workers but independent contractors. If they strike they might lose their contact.
I think it's a very good letter, states they love F1 almost as much as the fans, but that they feel like things could be better. No direct suggestions for change, other than they want all parties to work together to make it better. As anyone who has every had a boss feels, that's all you really want, is to be a part of making it better...but it takes the ruler/leader/boss to allow it to happen.
The senile Pygmy just responded.. F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone writes snarky open letter to drivers | FOX Sports
No doubt about it, he's lost the plot, but Whiting is Bernie's guy. I don't think he'd let that happen.
The problem with this is that Bernie's last "great" move was to disband FOTA. That move is what led to the lopsided Formula One Commission. The FOC is the source of these power grabs that Bernie has been complaining about for the past number of months. Be careful what you wish for, Bernie.
Couple of thoughts: 1. The Drivers letter was poorly written and ill conceived. The "coolest" tracks? seriously - this is from people making Hundreds of Millions of dollars? they could not find an attorney or Publicist to draft a better letter? 2. There are no options, or suggested solutions: if they love the sport so much they need to offer a direction - this is missed opportunity that Bernie will use to disband the GPDA. 3. Urge - the owners? They are talking to the same people that are making the drivers ( the top drivers ) millions per year... where is the Drivers stake in all this? from a Fan who has been following F-1 since I can remember - 1968 or so, I think the drivers need to focus on driving and safety. CVC needs to go... before Bernie dies.
I don't have a great faith in the GPDA making things to change. Apart from a hardcore of top drivers who could have some influence in view of their standing in the sport, most of them don't have that power. Some are highly paid actors, other pay to be in the cast. Also, with such a turnover of drivers, and the "pay drivers" just glad they have a drive, I cannot see a resolute front here. Do you think that Wehrlein, Nasr, Ericson, Stevens, Palmer, Gutierez, or Magnussen's views matter? Here today, gone tomorrow ... As for the top names, it's F1 and mostly their team that made them rich and famous. They may suggest a few tweeks here and there, but they cannot shake the structure of an institution that made them what they are. It would be a case of bitting the hand that feeds them, and they should be very careful doing that! . I mean how Hamilton can criticise F1, when he signed an alleged £60M contract recently (or is it more?) or Alonso reputed to earn £40M a year. "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!", that's what I say.
Hamilton is a lot like many American voters. Complains publicly, but doesn't show up at the meetings to give input. He says Vettel does all the talking and there is no point in going... Yeah, the GPDA is really just as broken as the rest of the structure of the 'sport' and I simply see the (sort of poorly written) letter they wrote as another entity saying "this sucks" without any suggestions as to what the solution may be...other than "restructuring its own governance." I still feel like F1 is 90% of what it needs to be...a few small 'fixes' is all it requires. The fixes will, however, require a bit of forethought. Currently, it seems like the powers-that-be are drunk dialing each other and nobody is checking their messages prior to race day. Then, they stand around and seem surprised that elimination qualifying wasn't the thrill of the century... When they announced the qualifying format, the first thing I did was to run a 'simulation' in my head. The data came back with a very strong chance of the guy with purple first and second sectors being eliminated four feet before crossing the start/finish line. The second brain simulation raised the question: if the slower cars are eliminated, why would the faster cars keep running? It has been conclusively proven over the past few years that there is an advantage in saving tires by not participating in Q3. Many would rather start sixth on the grid...hope for a good start...and, exploit the tire allocation that they saved by not participating in qualifying. IOW, it's not that difficult to imagine some less than desireable scenarios that elimination would produce... Embarrassingly, the FOC seems to be surprised by the obvious. I bet they'll be shocked next year when their ultra-fast cars lead to worse racing because they are leaning on aerodynamics too much and wheel-to-wheel racing will become even more of a distant memory. Just in case one of them is reading this, wheel-to-wheel racing is not the same as passing. I do miss the days when two drivers would swap positions five or six times before either the pass would stick or it ended in tears for one or both drivers.
If Hamilton was more attentive, perhaps he'd have something to contribute. When Lewis Hamilton met Sebastian Vettel: The BBC interview - BBC Sport See 3:39 - 4:36 in the video. Unfortunately, I've not been able to locate the same footage on YouTube - probably the BBC enforcing its copyright. All the best, Andrew.
Spot ON! BTW we are going to London for a family wedding in a couple of weeks ... if you are anywhere close by - love to meet you & talk F-1
This is just a load of twaddle, blather, mooing and not worth a bucket of warm spit. There are way too many "stakeholders" and other sundry interested parties with their finger in F1's plum pie. It is PC to the hilt. By the time everybody is accommodated, everybody is screwed. Most organizations such as F1 operate best under the strict rule of a Czar. The problem is that everybody being asked for their input on how the sport should be run or what changes need to be made, is in competition with every other person being asked for input. Of course they are going to try to put forward rules that favor them. This is why we see domination by single teams whenever a new set of rules in promulgated. The race is no longer won on the track but in the boardroom. What is needed is a strong leader, supported by a governing board and staff, who makes rules isolated from the teams and drivers. And who can stand up to the teams, etc. and tell them to pound sand. In that system this letter, written by a bunch of whining millionaire drivers who are living their dream, would never have been written and everybody would be better off.
Todt has been an utter disaster. Why he wasn't thrown off a cliff long ago is beyond me. F1 has lost 200MM viewers since he was put in charge. 200,000,000 fewer people watching. Also alarming is the dire sponsorship situation most of the teams are in. But! The FIA will content themselves with burning F1 down just like they did with WRC.
Perhaps you're forgetting the spectacular success he has with Formula-E. He may have lost 200M to F1 but he gain nearly 50K watching F-E. If it wasn't so tragic it would be sensationally funny.
I watched the F-E race from Mexico, it was not so bad really. I really wonder if its Todt not caring or if he is allowing F-1 to drive its self into the ground so they can try to get the rights back? I'm sure Ecclestone has put a gun to Todts head before and said stay out of my business... Joe Saward had a blog comment yesterday that was pretty good... basically how F-1 is so corrupt with money hungry people that it cant get out of its own way.
