very interesting.....(also big changes upcoming in ACO rules, especially in LMP1 ! ! !) Carol planetf1 Luca di Montezemolo insists Formula One needs to adopt positive changes if Ferrari are to commit their long-term future to the sport. The Italian manufacturer is committed to F1 until the current Concorde Agreement expires in 2012, but di Montezemolo maintains that should the current unhappiness regarding cost-cutting measures and rules changes persist, the Maranello-based outfit will look to exit the prestigious motorsport. "I want F1 to improve between now and 2012, when we sign a new Concorde Agreement, and if not we will have motivation somewhere else," di Montezemolo is quoted by Autosport as saying at a Christmas function. "I have been to Le Mans and I was impressed. We cannot accept huge gaps between drivers and the press and public. In the past the pits was full of good looking girls, now it's like a concentration camp. And we need to overtake!" "There are a lot of answers needed. We need good people at the FIA. [FIA president Jean] Todt is a good person and knows F1, and I'm sure his priority is to recreate a different dialogue and atmosphere. Bernie [Ecclestone] is coming to the end of his career, but I am sure he will look ahead. And FOTA has been very useful. There needs to be a strong triangle between the three parties," the 62-year-old added.
I'm glad to see that LdM focuses on the right reasons for why to return to Le Mans: Not enough good looking girls on the grid. So if Todt and Bernie can bring back Katie Price & Co. then LdM will keep his cars in F1 beyond 2012? Splendid.
No, LDM was talking about good looking girls in the pits, not inflatable sex dolls! (Mosley has gone remember! [before Kraftwerk says it!] ).
Jean Todt and Michelle Yeoh. Flavio Briatore and Heidi Klum, Naomi Campbell, Adriana Volpe, Elisabetta Gregoraci, ... I don't think guys are drawn to F1 for the free Red Bull.
This discussion is moving nicely along focusing on the real aspects of F1 vs Le Mans racing. Bravo! I guess that's what LdM gets with his opening remarks...
Would personally love to see a Ferrari LMP1 car, maybe Porsche would get back in and create some real action out there battling Audi and Peugeot.
The problem with LeMans is that if you don't have a diesel engine these days, you've very little chance of an outright win. This is an issue which I suspect has put alot of people off entering and I can't see Ferrari going into diesel engines just to race at LeMans. So Ferrari would demand the advantage of diesels be taken away and then Audi and Peugeot would threaten to leave. The other problem is that LeMans is a once a year event and most of the other GT racing gets overlooked. It lacks the exposure that F1 gets week in, week out and even if Ferrari were to re-enter it, I still don't think it would generate the same level of interest around the world as F1.
If I had a dollar for every article I've read insinuating that Ferrari is going to leave F1, I'd be speccing my new 458 right now. They aren't going anywhere, and everyone knows it. That said I'd love to see Ferrari return to LeMans but as others has mentioned, diesel is the only way to fly. And Ferrari is more than capable of doing F1 and LeMans at the same time, they are not mutually exclusive.
LdM makes these kind of statements for two reasons: 1) He would like to see the rules changed so that non Diesels can win. 2) He wants to keep Todt on his toes and improve F1 to his own liking. He is basically trying to play the two sides against each other as competitors to have both options at his hands once the Concorde Agreement expires. How serious is he about all of this? Well, just look at the "pretty girls" statement and you can tell he is just stirring the pot.
I think he actually makes some interesting points in the interview but then spoilt it with the " pretty girls in the pits" comments. I agree with him on the testing issues, the price of tickets and pit access but can't agree with the idea of shorter races and I'm not sure about moving the European start times. But at least he's showing an interest in changing things to make "the show" more interesting rather than burying his head in the sand. Yes he's doing a bit of politicking with his hints about LeMans, but Jean Todt and LDM both know that F1 is the main event in motorsport whereas LeMans (great in it's own right as it is), is just a side show.
Le Mans isn't only for Diesel engines. The ACO taylored the rules to favour Diesels because AUDI was going to leave or be to race Diesels competitively. There was no other constructors interested, only small teams - ORECA, Pescarolo, etc... If serious constructors like Ferrari were interested, the ACO would work some formula not to handicap petrol engines. Aston Martin and Porsche are hinting they want to come back. Le Mans regulations aren't writed by the FIA, but by the ACO. Also, it isn't Le Mans only, apart from the 24-hour race, there is the Le Mans Series in Europe (6 races - 1000km each), the American Le Mans Series and the Asian Le Mans Series under the same format. A constructor wishing to participate in all these would have a 12/15 races program, which isn't far from a GP season.
Except that it isn't watched by anyone compared to F1, which happens to be the world's most watched sport. Le Mans and ALMS etc are great races, but lets face it, it doesn't have the following F1 does. I went to an ALMS event at Road America and could have chosen any grandstand I wanted. For myself.
As soon as the rules took any of the diesel advantage away from Audi and Peugeot, they'd both threaten to leave the series (and probably would). I seem to recall there was talk already about more equalization between the petrol and diesels and the first thing Audi said was : "Do that and we're off!", shortly followed by Peugeot. Yes, if you could get Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin and maybe a couple of other big names (say Mercedes and BMW) to enter, then you may get the equalization required and if Audi and Peugeot bailed, so what!, but I can't see it happening. I'm aware that there are more races than just LeMans, but where is the press exposure for any of them? (apart from the LeMans weekend). It's not about the number of races, it's about the interest in the races and I'm afraid there's no comparison when you put GT/endurance racing up against F1. If you were to ask most people to name five GT/endurance races, after LeMans, most would struggle to come up with four more. Ask the same people to name five GP's and you would probably get more than five. Ask those same people to name five GT/endurance drivers and you would probably be lucky to get one name. Do the same with F1 drivers and you would get at least four or five names. The interest in GT/endurance racing is far too specialized. F1 races run to a maximum of 2 hours and this is already being queried as too long. The GT/endurance race stands no chance of capturing the attention of the casual motorsport fan.
I love the way you can say in three lines the exact same thing that takes Me twelve! (Oh No!, please tell Me I'm not suffering from Ronspeak!)
Did I read this correctly? He said ceramic brakes should NOT be on road cars. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thing is, I think diesels are the future of motorsport, like it or not. I won't be surprised if some years from now, even F1 will be running diesel engines. Btws, sorry for a silly question, but whats the difference in running petrol and diesel engines at Le Mans? Why are petrol engines handicapped?
Thanks for the link, good article. I'm curious, if Ferrari is not happy with F1 in 2012, where else would they go?
I believe LdM also hinted at some interest in Indycars. This obviously would also require some sort of rules change such that the series is no longer a spec series with a single chassis supplier and single engine supplier, but maybe the interest of Ferrari will be all it takes for these rule changes to occur.
