Comments on: Manufacturer breakaway threat grows

By: jw1980

jw1980 — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:31:46 +0000

I agree that there will be a more even distribution of revenues. However, some teams will still have more sponsors and therefore bigger budgets and will perform better gnerally speaking.
One way around this problem could be to do what the DTM did many, many years ago. A group of five or six sponsors supported the championship and appeared on every car.

By: Bill Johnson

Bill Johnson — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:04:12 +0000

Silas: “Instead they allow new technology to be tried – quickly and quite cheaply – to see what works.”

And could you cite some examples of ‘cheap’ new technology, please? I think you are talking through your hat, sir.

By: Jeremiah

Jeremiah — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:53:20 +0000

Yes, you are right, CVC is the root problem of all this mess, not Max

By: rpaco

rpaco — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 07:56:26 +0000

Yes the days of visiting Chrysler at the Merc building in Milton Keynes were short lived, but considerably up market from the previously shared Daihatsu office block at Dover. (Hi Jeff!) (Originally the offices of BMW concessionaires ~ I told you I was old)

By: rpaco

rpaco — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 07:48:59 +0000

If FOTA form a new series then they will probably form a company to handle the tv and circuit rights, let call it FOTA Ltd. Then that company will need some capitalisation in order to exist, run itself, have an office, telephone, pay staff, accountants etc.

The company would give itself rights to the proceeds from the series fro a time period….. Sounding familiar yet??

It’s no good expecting a new series to be formed as a hobby by teams having a bit of a meeting in a bar now and then. It has to have a legal and solid basis, with some very strict rules about the future ownership of the rights and who writes the rules for the sport.
Now if you follow this to it’s obvious conclusion you end up with a company handling the rights, promotion etc and a committee or board making the rules. But you don’t want the possibility of the control of either of those being passed to an outside the group (FOTA Group LTd) so a communal golden share must be written in from the start, with no possibility of it ever being changed.

Once you look into it, the path to end up as we are now, with an insider (team principle handling the promotion and rights) becoming an outsider and then owning all the rights by means of various company manipulations and an outrageous give away for 100 years. We (they) would have to be careful not to go down the same logical path as before, it would be all to easy.

By: André Lucas

André Lucas — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:46:57 +0000

I like the historical reference there Rob. Thing is, if Max+Bernie are your Neville Chamberlain, who’s your Winston Churchill waiting in the wings? di Montezemolo is leading the attack, but I’m not sure I like the idea of a breakaway led by Ferrari – how much of what is wrong with F1 right now can be fairly laid at their door?

By: phil c

phil c — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:31:28 +0000

Difference is if a FOTA series start all the revenue will be given to the teams. All the teams will more then likely own an interest in the sport. You need to remember one thing if the revenue in the sport is distrubuted evenly, (all the teams bernie and CVC get an equal share as it should) there would be no financial issue. No need for a silly budget cap.

By: phil c

phil c — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:23:16 +0000

It became a manufactures series when every single car on the grid is supported by a manufacture. Whether a manufacture team like ferrari or somebody like williams which runs a Toyota Engine, Gearbox, electronics etc etc Formula 1 and the money all the suits and bernie earns is from the famous brands in the sport. TV revenue that the puppets earn is from the popularity of the sport which has multiplied 20 fold since the late 90′s. Git rid of the show, FOTA, the people who invest millions each year, and F1 revenue collapses overnight. I read an article that BBC paid double what ITV were prepare to offer for tv rights. Would that have been the case if FOTA was not racing dont think so.

By: OmniF1 » The drama continues - a week to save F1? - Motorsport Blog

OmniF1 » The drama continues - a week to save F1? - Motorsport Blog — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:31:47 +0000

[...] in the day, the drama continued, reported by former ITV commentator James Allen on his blog as FOTA said it was going to issue a [...]

By: Rory Hawkins

Rory Hawkins — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:46:00 +0000

Howard Hughes,

Whilst I agree with you to some extent, the other half of me has to disagree with you. F1 should not be about the off circuit bickering and attempts at negotiating rules and regulations. When the teams and drivers arrive at a Grand Prix weekend, they should not have to worry about the future of the sport and the rules and regulations that may or may not affect them in the next year; they are there to race. Although i have found watching Jenson cruise around every fortnight to be quite boring too, I firmly believe that he is winning at a time when the rules of the sport a fair; which they may not be next year. Personally, I hope that the FIA comes to the party and negotiates with the FOTA teams because I could not imagine an F1 championship next year without Ferrari or McLaren or any of the other major manufacturers. PS I am a drunk Aussie just checking your site after getting back from the pub, but I really feel quite strongly about this situation! I am a huge fan of your blog James.