I see that the ban on testing helps smaller teams; wait, HRT just checked out....never mind. I've said it before-let testing occur at the circuits the day after races.....
Luca is a fascinating guy. His accomplishments with road car side of things saved Ferrari. He is given to the odd public pronouncement though. It's often unclear what his intent (if any) is. On the face of it there seems no upside to taunting Bernie, but what do I know? I only play an expert on the interweb.
And Bernie's response, my emphasis added as I like that bit!; He's gonna be around forever it seems...... Cheers, Ian http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/104723
Rookie practice one day before with spare tubs. Teams may even find the data useful for the race. Once the race is over the Circus folds up and everyone goes home. Teams are thinking about the next race not testing for the last one. Give the teams something useful to get out of it not for seat time for some guy they might not even hire.
Wow! I simply don't understand how you can say that with a straight face! We may not like the direction he's taken the sport. We may not like him personally. We may not like his business practices and his "extortion" techniques. But to label him a "silly old fool" is not only wrong but shows an almost biblical lack of understanding of how the sport has changed under his watch. FWIW, I was Googling around for some #'s going back over the years to illustrate, but decided I'd be wasting my time. However, I did come across an interesting looking book; http://formulamoney.com/ Only problem is it's UKP 350 a copy! For that you do also get a PDF "ROI Report" after each and every race breaking down all kinds of (to me anyway ) interesting stuff - There's a sample from Australia 2011 on their site that I found very enlightening; http://formulamoney.com/roireview.html Enjoy! Cheers, Ian
Beg to differ for a few reasons; - "Spare tubs" for rookies? That means we're back to spare cars again. Big $. - Why rookies? We've already got 6 (?) rookie test days in two sessions. Which is something. - How much real feedback is gonna come from rooks? - Most tracks are terribly green on Thursday - Many won't bother running and those that do are only doing track cleaning duty. - They'll use any Thursday sessions as extended practice for the upcoming race - Not what testing should be about. - OTOH, as I & many others have said; Do it on the Monday after. There's an argument that the top few finishers should be excluded and hence give the others a chance to catch up. I disagree as it tilts the field, but would be happy either way. -A nicely rubbered in track, lots of data to compare and "gambling" on setup changes that you can't do earlier would be really long term helpful to 'em. Cheers, Ian
Like him or hate him Bernie has influenced F1 more than any person in history. LdM will be remembered as a supporting character.
Yep; the reference to Enzo Ferrari was so obvious that I even found it myself, which says something. So I cannot imagine that Luca, who is smart indeed, did not himself think of it, and that it would be an immediate counter-argument Therefore, I am puzzled by what were his intentions... I'm not worried for the Pygmy; I am quite sure that he found the "secret of eternal life"; he'll be there for another thirty years or so...
FWIW, I do agree with LdM on the no testing thing. I could go with a fixed # of days - I dunno, 10-20 per season. Traditionally, a few teams get together and rent a track for a few days - Exclusives are pretty rare. Even if one or two did want exclusives, policing it wouldn't be hard - There's so many folk involved nobody could keep it "secret". [Even if they used the Viz' front drive ] Cheers, Ian
+1 Understatement of the year right there! Revenue growth remains strong despite the economy. Eyeballs continue to increase across the globe. Projections suggest this isn't going to slow down any time soon. Not a bad showing for a "silly old fool." Cheers, Ian
For an old fool, Bernie seems to regain the upperhand everytime he responds to Luca. Bernie can verbally take just about anyone behind the woodshed, clever little hobbit. I can see why Luca is having trouble in politics, though he may get the last laugh if Bernie's lawyers fail him.
If making money is all that you think F1 is about then I guess he is not a silly old fool. But I beg to differ. F1 should NOT be about just that. Note my use of the world 'just' as that is very important. Bernie does not care what happens to our sport as long as he (in particular) is making money ... I can think of people running banks, and large corporations, that think like that and look at a few of them nowadays; fncked is too nicer word for the bank/company and all those that relied on them. Pete
True. No one is better than Bernie at what he does. A few of us don't think that what he does is good for the sport though
I never meant to suggest that it is just about that..... Sure, the amounts involved (both spent and earned) are huge and hence significant to the sport - Maybe even part of it's appeal to some. But the speed and technology etc remain a huge part of it's success IMO. I beg to differ here. As I've already said, we may not like where he's taken the sport, but I really do believe he cares deeply and passionately about the sport he, basically single handedly, took to where it is today. Very possibly to the detriment of all else in his life. Under his watch there's no question; - It's gone from a minor league sport to one of the most watched on the planet. [Soccer remains bigger of course, but there's *thousands* of pro soccer clubs. We've still "only" got 20 GP's.] - Worldwide interest and viewership is huge. Probably higher than ever. - Many people are gainfully employed and doing very nicely in the sport today. Seems to me these are the exact same traits that the much lauded and admired "captains of industry" are always striving for. No different here and thus far at least he's never been caught with his hand in the cookie jar...... His "employees" (for want of a better term) certainly don't want anything to change. As for whether the sport is "better" now than 20, 30, 40 years back; A different debate I feel and one often influenced by the rose tinteds. I can argue that one both ways! Cheers, Ian
Thanks for this Ian... I could have written the same exact words, except that being French and lazy, it would have taken me more time. But you summed up pretty well the way I see the man. It must also not be forgotten than in the seventies, when he began to take care of all the business side of Formula One, the other "team leaders" were only too happy to let him take care of this. And he did it well. We may have reservations on the evolution of "racing" itself; we may feel some kind of nostalgia; but, even having no illusions about the man himself (he is certainly no Angel...) what he has achevied is considerable, and mostly positive.
+1 Thanks for the support! [BTW, hardly "lazy" - Your English is great! EDIT; Certainly better than most here! ] And yep, many forget his leadership role, particularly in the early days. After he lost interest in being a "simple" team principal and sold Brabham he united a bunch of ego maniacs behind his goals in ways never before imagined. OK, he then went on to divide & conquer, but that's all part of his genius..... Cheers, Ian
Fair enough. Care to offer specific examples of what he does that you think is bad for the sport? I'm prepared to be convinced, but it better be a darn good argument! Cheers, Ian EDIT: This is obviously an open Q, not just for the Viz - Please feel free to offer up your own 02c!
+1000 Ian always tries to put the positive spin on everything and dismisses any yearning for the great elements of the past as "rose tinteds" but the reality is, many things about modern F1 suck. Bad. Off the top of my head: -Over-regulated aerodynamics (all cars looks the same) -Frozen (practically spec) engines -DRS -Parking lot tracks (all concrete runoff AKA fly off the track and WHO CARES?) -Tracks that suck in countries that don't care at the expense of classic tracks and countries that do -Anything innovative gets banned -Gearbox penalites -You can't even test if you want to (this is possibly the most ridiculous) -Attempts at a RRA (LOL) -Ticket prices through the roof and Nazi-esque restrictions about what you can do at the tracks -The cars look like utter **** -Cars keep getting slower and slower -Racing gets closer (some say that's good, I say it's a result of making F1 more and more of a spec series. Of course Force India can run with Ferrari when testing is banned, engines are frozen, no aerodynamic freedom, ETC. I want F1 not NASCAR.) -Oh it's raining mildly hard? SAFETY CAR! -Try pass someone and there's a racing incident? PENALTY! -Tire limits -Being required to use both compounds of tires I could go on. Excuse me, I'll just be polishing my rose tinted glasses...
Again, fair enough. But is that the best you've got? All joking aside, while it's a shame we don't currently have, eg, a French GP, as an armchair fan these days & playing devils advocate, so what? It makes zero difference to me whether the race is in France or Bum **** Nowhere as long as it's on the TV...... We can talk about "history" & "heritage" till the cows come home - Trouble is, neither pays the ferryman. As long as countries are queueing up, why not follow the $? That's what our esteemed leaders of industry do after all. Cheers, Ian
As long as he has to pay shareholders and bankers he must chase new money. In all honesty most of the races are not sustainable without some government money in this day. His business model demands the inflow of new money to even hold the older races. Frankly the series probably has 10 races that matter and make money locally, if that. For the most part he should just go with TV only and forget ticket sales at the track. They wont cover his fee's and most promoters lose money in the long run. The model is not sustainable if the expansion fails. India is only a couple years away from folding, Korea is dead, Turkey is back on for what another year maybe. US is new and no revenue figures, honest ones are available yet. China is a loser and so is Bahrain. One of the Spain races should go. The promoter and country(Spain), have no money for this either. Australia is always a complainer about the cost to the government. Beyond TV money F1 is broke for the most part. How much longer can this go on. You have 4 teams that can pay for themselves. The rest barely at all. Lets be honest if F1 folded the news wouldnt be that shocking. A cursory look is not one that reveals a healthy, growing sport at all. Its on the margins with more than half the grid year to year at best, desperate for money, and needing pay drivers as a MAJOR symptom that real sponsors are just not out there. Those teams are also NOT competitive as well. This off the top of my head just thinking quietly yet out loud. Im sure others can correct my logic and flaws. Just a big picture discussion and please dont think I dont love the sport or anything as such.
