Renault team boss Flavio Briatore believes Formula One needs an overhaul in order to satisfy the fans and get the teams to have a bigger say. The Italian also feels the sport is hurting due to Max Mosley focusing on his personal problems. "His absence is felt as there's no project for F1. The teams feel abandoned," Briatore told Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. Speaking about the issues Formula One is facing, Briatore said: "The Concorde agreement, the number of races, the costs, the spectacle, the imperative increase of revenues. Formula One needs to be re-designed. "I feel that it should be down to the teams to decide, by electing in turns a director of operations. A guy who does things, not a PR person. "On top of that, we need to decide with a 51% majority, not unanimously like now, otherwise we'll carry on being stuck." He added: "Nowadays Ecclestone takes 50% of all revenues, but we are supposed to be able to reduce our costs by 50%. "How? Starting from the engines. Making them more environment-friendly, accepting Mosley's challenge of reducing fuel consumption by 50% by 2015, while cutting the high costs of the engine themselves and also cutting the staff. "The problem is that us, Renault, have stuck to the letter of the current regulations on frozen engines, and we've been buggered: others didn't do that and are far ahead, while we suffer. It's not fair." Briatore and the rest of team principals and other officials will meet today in Maranello to discuss the future of the sport. briatore
Gotta love Flav's quotes! Wonder if he wants some cheese with that whine?...... "It's not fair" - Boo Hoo!
Max has been busy focusing on hurting his ass, his absence is a welcome relief, no-one to blame but himself for not being a front runner, the racing is as close as it's been for a good while, and he wouldn't be saying it if otherwise. Plus the fact he is contradicting himself, in one hand he is saying Max is missed, then moaning about cost cutting and thats, Mad Max's master plan.
I completely agree... F-1 needs to get back to basics... Embrace technology... driver aids, active aero, impose a 1liter 16 cyl maximum engine size, use small turbos / super charged, and KERS... Diesel's and turbines to be alowed. I think active suspension, etc... should all be open. Aero should be limited with a FIA box that does away with all the appendages etc... and give them slick tires, like back in the 80's and open up the under body aero from the last 25% of the car... flat bottom all around. Alow customer engines and have 2 or 3 chassis each year that customer teams can buy... McLaren, Williams, Toyota, etc... also this could open up for Dallara, March etc... to be in there. Limit the number of team personnel to 100. limit the team budget to $100 million per year...and all teams would have an FIA "delegate" that is at the factory that supervises the financials and pays the bills... I know it sounds crazy but I think it would open up the formula to be a real spectical... Keep all the modern saftey and focus on bringing the paying fans closer to the action at the track, and in the paddock...Daily open rounds in the pits and paddock for paying fans, and drivers have to be available for a 1 hour Saturday afternoon autograph session in front of the garage for fans. I know it will never happen, but I think this is the way it should be run... oh yes, fire Ecclestone and Mosley today. Put Jackie Stewart in Ecclestone's place and Marco Piccini in Mosley's slot... I think that would really work.
Really? This year needs more spice? A three way tie for the championship halfway through the season needs more spice? Yea, you're right we should go back to the early nineties Schumacher cake walks.
Were Flavio and Renault "sticking to the letter of the regulations" when they were openly and admittedly using McLarens technical information to develop their car last year? Flavio is IMO actually right on much of what he says - but more equitable sharing of revenues, more control and say-so for those that actually make up the sport (the teams), and the ability for the teams to carry things with a simple 51% majority are all things that reduce Bernies income, and reduce Max's control over the sport, so they will never happen. Flavio is probably getting all sorts of heat from his bosses, as well as from Alonso and others. He's breaking rank and speaking his mind. No doubt Bernie and/or Max will toss him a bone to shut him up... perhaps in the form of extra scrutiny on McLaren (a favorite pastime of Max's), Ferrari, and BMW, or perhaps they will just cherry pick a few things to call illegal on other cars but let a few things on the Renault slip. Renault are definitely due a couple of passes, after they got hugely dicked over by the mass damper ruling a couple years back.
Rueters - F1 bosses to set up new team body Tue 29 Jul, 07:21 PM view photo MILAN (Reuters) - Formula One teams have agreed to form an association to negotiate with governing body FIA and the commercial rights holders in drawing up a new framework for the sport, champions Ferrari said on Tuesday. Bosses from all the 10 current teams met at Ferrari's Maranello headquarters along with Formula One's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone and Donald McKenzie for rights holders CVC. Ferrari said in a statement that the meeting was "extremely constructive. "The teams have subsequently agreed unanimously that they will establish the new Formula One Teams Association to work with the FIA and FOM (Formula One Management) to agree upon regulations and commercial conditions which will provide a framework for a strong and dynamic sport," it added. A Ferrari spokesman said no decision was taken about who might head up the association, if indeed a figurehead was required. The teams have yet to sign a new 'Concorde Agreement', the confidential commercial document to be signed by FIA, FOM and teams that governs the workings of the billion-dollar sport. Those attending the meeting, presided over by Ferrari head Luca di Montezemolo, included McLaren boss Ron Dennis and his team's chief executive Martin Whitmarsh in a further sign of a new spirit in Formula One. Ferrari and McLaren were embroiled in a bitter spying controversy last year that cost the Mercedes-powered team all their constructors' points and a record $100 million fine for having Ferrari data in their possession. OVERHAUL NEEDED Renault team boss Flavio Briatore, who has long advocated cost-cutting measures and measures to liven up the show, said earlier that the sport needed an overhaul with teams having more of a say in how the sport was run. "Formula One needs redesigning. I believe the teams must decide," the Italian had told Tuesday's Gazzetta dello Sport. FIA said last month that it would enter a "wide-ranging consultation" with the teams to review the governance of the sport as well as future technical regulations. Ecclestone said earlier this month that he also backed FIA President Max Mosley's call for the teams to propose rule changes to cut costs and save resources. Back on the track, Briatore tipped Ferrari's world champion Kimi Raikkonen to retain his title this season and said he expected double world champion Fernando Alonso to stay at Renault. "I think he'll stay. He is racing really well, he has missed out on many points. We have less than we deserve," he said. The Hungarian Grand Prix takes place on Sunday. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton has a four point lead in the championship after 10 races. (Writing by Alan Baldwin in London and Mark Meadows in Milan, editing by Justin Palmer/Rex Gowar)
I've always been a big fan of Flav's...he knows what will work, what won't and is prepared to give an opinion, contentious or otherwise. The F1 "show" needs overhauling with practical measures that will restrict cost, but enhance spectator appeal -it's entertainment after all. Retire the untenable Madmax, ease Bernie into retirement and Flav in.Flav more than proved his capability as a highly successful marketeer at Benetton and maybe he could do the same for F1? E
IIRC, Flav cut his staff a year ago admirable, but now is suffering because of it. This is what Max want's !! But you can't hope to compete as a front runner team with less resources, I don't disagree with his idea's ,but while Mclaren are pushing/developing in every direction, is the reason they have got the edge, you can't have it all ways ,all IMO.
yes, but generally, F1 is pretty boring these days. barely any overtaking, and just a parade from the 1st lap till the last. this year's three way tie has got nothing to do with the rules, whatsoever. it's just silly school boy mistakes that Ferrari management made, and Lewis Hammi's blunder.
F1 cars are so slick and were looking like they were stuck in a groove. Taking away traction control and "control tyres" have put more focus on driving and less on Gigabytes, but I believe most F1 ( or any motorsport ) fan want to see is wheel to wheel driving and passing on the track, not tactical passing in pit lane. I dont mean Speedway fender bending but some junior class open wheelers, although not as spectacular as F1, have bloody good racing and challenge the pilots to have a go. Maybe if Millions of Dollars wern't at stake the drivers would venture off the racing line just enough to poke their nose in front
The first thing they need to do is get rid of a lot of the downforce. That would make the braking zones longer and you would see more passing. The problem is that other cars (read IRL) would be faster and that would rob F1 of the ability to say that they are the "pinnicle" of the sport. F1 didn't use to worry about it and in those days Group 7 (CanAm) cars were actually a good bit faster. Now F1 has to be the "fastest cars in the world" so that they can claim the they are the biggest and baddest sport and Bernie can pocket more money. Remember that not all that long ago there was a move afoot to create a new series that would replace F1, cut Bernie out of the loop and basically start all over. Most of the teams were on board, but Ferrari (who knows a sweet deal when they have one) torpedoed it. Now things aren't going as well and it appears that all of the teams are singing from the same songbook. Problem is Bernie is still there and he will manage to screw up anything that would substantially change the sport (read make him less money). As many have noted, if they don't get their act together they will continue to decline in popularity. My guess is that nothing substantive will change until Bernie dies.
