F1 Standoff Update: Mosley drops two-tier system, Ferrari takes FIA to court

No argument from me there. Another "+1". I certainly understand, and largely agree with your comments.

However, Grand Prix racing has "evolved" over the years, sometimes for the better (performance & safety), others for the worse (Mad Max & the evil pygmy), rule changes, politics and so on.

Ferrari have *always* been there, and when the Old Man was alive, were always threatening to pull out. They'll figure it out [.....I think......]

I know I'd much rather keep up with Carlo's picture thread than this BS Gotta love Monaco, even if the best race will almost certainly be the F3 Euro round [I really hope they still have that - F3 cars "fit" around the streets and those guys are *hungry*.....]

Cheers,
Ian

 

I agree with much of that. Grand Prix racing could, of course, be left unchanged, but like anything else that fails to evolve to meet changing circumstances it will die. To survive F1 needs people to watch it, if they don't watch it in sufficiently large numbers TV coverage and sponsorship and the revenue that those bring will disappear and the sport will wither and die. To remain the pinnacle of motorsport F1 needs a huge audience to pay the bills and to attract and retain that huge audience F1 needs to give people what they want to see. On the whole most of those who watch F1 on television want to see close, exciting racing - and probably some crashes. They aren't particularly attracted by the sophistication of design, or at least that in itself wouldn't hold their attention for an entire season, they certainly aren't likely to tune in regularly just to watch a procession of highly sophisticated cars, they can go to motor shows for that.

 

Very well said. +1 etc. [We both chose "evloved" as the verb as well ] The following is where I respectfully disagree:

Yes (it's a nice bonus!] and no respectively.... If I wanted crashes, I'd watch the taxicabs go round and round.

I am! It's a large part of the reason I've been following it for more years than I want to remember. I *want* 'em to push the limits, and sometimes dominate [The season the evil Mclaren won 16 of 17 was to many a procession, but you gotta respect the achievement - All a part of F1. IMHO.]

Cheers,
Ian

 

There is nothing that the fans can not find elsewhere save the sophistication and cachet of F1. If you "dumb it down" it will lose the one quality that separates it from other racing series and its main attraction.
We already have a highly competitive, exciting, price-capped series that races on the same tracks and the same days as F1. How many do you think it would draw if there weren't an F1 race included in the ticket price?

 

Hope your right, I'm with you on that.

What he said ^ I hate to admit... V good

Excellent, but I concur with Ian's point's below.

Well I go to BTCC and it's great racing, but when I do go to a F1 race it's spine tingling, into another league, so F1 is my prefered choice for excitement, at the min.

Great post's by all concerned here.

 

More fat to chew on.
A agreement known as The Nice Declaration and is often used by sporting federations to justify their own existence.

Hidden away in the boring small print, there were some qualifications added to the acceptance that federations should have power, notably the one that says that this power is only recognised “with due regard for national and Community legislation and on the basis of a democratic and transparent method of operation”.

When I began to think about this, I reached the conclusion that Ferrari may not care very much if they won or lost in Paris. What they achieved was to to put on the record the fact that they have enjoyed a special relationship with the FIA. Many suspected it, no-one knew for sure. We all knew that Ferrari got extra money, but who knew of the veto? You can hear the lawyers already beginning to argue that the Ferrari veto was neither democratic, nor transparent. You can hear them questioning whether the FIA should continue to be recognised by the EU…

And at this point one must screech to a halt and put things into some kind of perspective. Forget the budget cap and all the other smoke that is swirling around. How can an independent governing body of a sport, justify a special relationship with one team that allows that organisation to not only have a pile more money than its rivals, and also grants it the right to veto rule changes? I can imagine that Max Mosley, being the clever soul and (spectacular) survivor that he is, will have 412 reasons why it is all completely right and why anyone who asks the question is obviously not intellectually capable of anything other than sewing mail bags, but for me it is like the International Olympic Committee allowing Russia to stop the 100m sprint if their team does not happen to have any good sprinters at that particular moment.

So if you think Mosley is the answer, you are as much of a hypocrite as him.
Ferrari did not lose they just highlighted this fact.

 

I doubt anyone concerned really wants to open that black hole but you never know.
In that the FIA has never been a democratic organization I fear that whoever replaces Mr. Whippy will have similar despotic tendencies.

 

Jean Todt................

 

One way to assure that Ferrari doesn't get special treatment

 

A despotic single authority is the problem now.

I hope there are people waiting in the wings ready to put right what Mosley is doing.
I believe Max is really pushing his luck here, and I'am not so sure he has Bernies backing, in fact I'am not to sure how much backing he has full stop.

The deal they cut with Ferrari, could back fire, everyone suspected it but no one could prove it, but it is now out in the open, and the veto, well that really is a new one. I think Ferrari have a new weapon.

 

In the best of times if Bernie had my back I'd be worried
The three headed nature of F1 (FIA, FOTA & Bernie) reminds me of a bit of advice my first dog breeder gave me. Never have three dogs.

 

Frank Williams from today's press conference in Monaco:

"Well, Ferrari now don't really need this help. They're a very, very strong and wealthy team. It will be a great shame if they do go but if they go, I hope that it won't be in a fit of pique. They've had many years under this Concorde Agreement and the previous one in a very privileged position, which if it had been known previously would not have gone down very well, I think, with the competition authorities in Brussels, so it would be better for them to put their cap on and come back inside."


This press conference makes for good reading. It appears that most, if not all of the teams except Ferrari, agree that budget caps are needed.

Link to press conference: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=244118

 

I'll bear that dog bit in mind I was thinking of increasing.. Just trying to tame a nutter cocker now, it's chewing everything..

 

Two dogs are easier than one. Three can be a disaster.

 

Yeh I have two. I can love em and loathe them at the same time.... Thread now Terminated..