Rumor has it Lotus has big money problems, too. Lots of debt, no title sponsor, struggling to pay Kimi. Says a LOT about the state of the sport when a great team and championship front runner can't get a big sponsor. Kimi is 2nd in the WDC and their main sponsors are Total, an energy drink I've never seen in a store, and anti-dandruff shampoo. Whoa. Let's look at these wonderful financial situations: 1.) Sauber - (money issues, have run without major sponsors for years and years) 2.) Lotus - (money issues, title sponsor is the owner of the team) 3.) Williams (no title sponsor, need government pay driver money to make it) 4.) Force India (money issues, title sponsor is the owner of the team) 5.) Hispania (Gone) 6.) Marussia - (Minimal sponsorship, who knows how long they can last) Even McLaren has Vodafone leaving and probably took Perez on in large part due to the money he brings. Very scary times for F1 - yet we have the powers at be, in their infinite wisdom, imposing an engine change that is going to cost teams a fortune.
"The problem is that some teams - like Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes - can still afford the old way and can spend a lot on the car; we can't," Boullier told AUTOSPORT. "To keep teams competitive, we need to keep a minimum budget with our resources, but this limit is above the revenue stream so we need our shareholders to bridge the gap. "Don't forget that in the beginning of the 90s, a top team was spending maybe £40 million; by 2008, a top team was spending £100 million. "We have to put that cost down. "The problem today is 80 per cent of the teams are in favour of this but 20 per cent are not. "I don't think it's fair if only three teams can afford F1, so we should find a way to bring the cost down." Lotus boss Eric Boullier says F1 costs must come down - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com
The danger is that when you artificially limit a sport, particularly F1 whose raisin d'être is technical excellence, you risk losing what makes it great. What makes it work.
I don't think they cared whilst the money was rolling in. Maybe they will start as we begin to see a great deal of that money leave? I would love it to get to the point whereby all teams sat down with the intension to begin talks to return the sport to valuing what made it great. I just hope those talks don't start when Red Bull, Merc and Ferrari finally have enough of costs too, whilst everyone else has already left.
"And the money kept rolling in" Evita Those who run F1 have been very sort sighted. Blinded by the bling. They fell into the riches through little insight. When a used car salesman is the financial mastermind something is wrong. I don't see anyone with vision ready to lead. As usual, events will determine their own outcome.
While things don't look good right now lets not forget that F1 has a long history of turmoil. Back in the fifties they threw in F2 cars to fill up the field and in the eighties we had two leagues for a short while (FISA/FOCA war). Who knows they might suddenly run GP2 cars mixed with the financial behemoths of F1.
I believe Bernie has become an obstacle to change. A problem that will go away over time. Restructuring is inevitable. And while the process will be messy I'm sure the result will be much better than what we have now.
I agree about Bernie but I don't see him stepping aside of his own free will. He's made too many too rich for him to be dumped by the owners as well. Old Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times".
I didn't say he will step aside voluntarily. As Gorbatchew said to Honecker: Those who are late, will be punished by history.
Yes, but he was deliberately driving slower than the car could really go! Marussia and Caterham set sub GP2 lap times when they're pushing to their absolute limit of performance!
To be fair, it will be interesting to see what becomes of Marussia when they're running the Ferrari drive-trains instead of the Cosworth engines that they have this year - Can they become a mid-field team? Caterham are already using the same engine as Red Bull and Lotus (and will again next year), and yet they are struggling to do any better than Marussia. One of the worries for them is that Marussia moves on up the grid and leaves them behind at the back on their own. As for Sauber, it currently looks like they're being messed around by a bunch of dreamers who's money offer is about as reliable as those made by "Nigerian princes" via the internet. I hope it's not the case as Sauber deserve better, but it doesn't look too good at the moment for them!
+1 Doesn't even need to be in the break. Some sources just aren't credible at anytime. What else are we gonna do? Anyone know anything about this Sirotkin kid? He's obviously bringing many $, but is he any good? Cheers, Ian
