Comments on: Ferrari boss on racing Schumacher, tyre and money problems

By: Steve Rogers

Steve Rogers — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:00:19 +0000

Brilliant analysis, well-informed and interesting – I will watch the sponsorship as a sport in itself now after reading this

By: Curro

Curro — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:48:35 +0000

Michelin is the best solution but or course it’ll never happen with Todt as head of the FIA.

By: Andy C

Andy C — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 08:18:51 +0000

James,
totally off tpopic but it made me smile. On your Twitter service darren Heath was wondering if Robert kubica had a personality bypass at birth

who is the most interesting guy to interview and who of ex drivers was the worst?

By: Martin

Martin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 05:50:15 +0000

Although the tyres are not at the cutting edge of what Bridgestone can do, I suspect that there is still intellectual property that it wants to protect. Your plan could still work, with some degree of Bridgestone control.

In tennis there are situations where a play uses one brand of racquet, but is painted to look like another.

By: Martin

Martin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 05:43:41 +0000

Your analysis make sense. As far as I’m aware, IRL still has a big problem in that no one is watching, therefore sponsors are hard to get.

By: Racergil

Racergil — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:44:53 +0000

I absolutely love the business of F1. Clearly when an insider and team boss like Domenicali rings the alarm bells, there is cause for concern. In the business of F1, things happen very quickly, due to the vast sums of money in play. There is a clear negative trend in the high profile pull outs over the course of the last few years. The manufacturers, numerous sponsors, and potentially Bridgestone now, have signaled an alarming situation, that has been exacerbated by the FIA’s, and Bernie’s propensity for shooting themselves in the foot. HRT and teams of this calibre are not the solution. Lets hope that Jean Todt sorts this out.

By: jack_faith

jack_faith — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 02:56:48 +0000

Of course the economic climate is hardly conducive to new sponsors but I wonder if also companies look at F1 as more trouble than its worth. Undeniably prestigious but what a carry-on. You can see Bernie Ecclestone’s point about F1 being in the news always being a good thing but the political stuff, and other shenanigans, can be a bit distracting from the business of racers racing. You get into watching the memorable moments half expecting some issue to arise thats casts a pall over race-craft.

By: Rich C

Rich C — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:45:12 +0000

Not gonna be a tire war. B’stone have quite properly served notice and will need to be coaxed back in, if they stay at all. You cant say they got lazy because you have nothing to compare them to. And their competitors are not exactly lining up in droves to replace them!
I dont know how they got paid if at all but it seems they were *the major sponsor of the series, and quite un-sung for it.

By: Rich C

Rich C — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:37:14 +0000

“…and many smaller teams like Sauber, unsponsored”

I lol’d. So all of a sudden the Big F are concerned about the health of the smaller teams? I guess he didn’t get the memo from Montewhatsit!

By: Adam Taylor

Adam Taylor — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:28:31 +0000

James, Im just putting it out there, but what would the problem be if the teams (FOTA) or even the FIA brought the rights to the tyres (moulds/factories etc) and carried on with the same tyres next year. Im not sure about any contract disputes but this solution would solve many problems.
1) Teams wouldnt have to spend a fortune re-designing there cars (especially if they had gone in a different direction) to match the tyre characteristics.
2) They would be able to develop the tyres at the rate they want.
3) The employees would have a good chance at keeping their current jobs within the set-up.
4) They could sell the rights to a tyre company for branding purposes. This would save Pirelli for example, a lot of money and would be very cost effective as they would be involved with Formula 1 on the branding side, but would save a lot of money from having to set up the tyre factory/facilities.