Speaking to the Italian media after today’s breakthrough agreement, FOTA and Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo took quite a strong line on the man sitting on the opposite side of the negotiating table from him these last few months,
“The satisfaction is that all of our requests have been accepted, ” said Montezemolo. “To us three things were most important; that F1 stay F1 and not become F3, that there is no dictator, but that there was a choice of rules, agreed and not imposed; and that whoever had a team was consulted and had a voice. Mosley has announced that in October he will stand down, with an irrevocable decision, and that from now on he won’t get involved in F1.
“Now finally we have stability of the regulations until 2013. I want to thank all our fans, because the public had had enough of these changes. Let’s hope that next year, with the rules finally stabilised, we will see also a winning Ferrari. Could Mosley change his mind? He can, yes, but we won’t. What has been fundamental is the unity of the teams, of the manufacturers. Ecclestone said that he fed FOTA’s cards to his dogs, Mosley said that he didn’t know what FOTA was, today it seems to me that both of them have something different to say.”
In other words, “Its FOTA, not Schmota”.
Meanwhile Mosley has put his side of the story this afternoon,
“They (the teams) have got the rules they want and the stability, we’ve got the new teams in and we’ve got the cost reduction – that’s very helpful. There is no budget cap because costs will come down to the levels of the early 1990s in two years – it’s a different way of doing the same thing. I always thought there wasn’t much between us; now we’ve agreed there isn’t.
“My departure was planned, agreed, arranged. As far as I’m concerned, the teams were always going to get rid of me in October; well, they still are. All the staff have known for months, but obviously I couldn’t say it publicly because the moment you do you lose all your influence. Now I don’t need influence, it’s a satisfactory situation. I can have a peaceful summer for the first time in three years. Whether the person who succeeds me will be more to their liking remains to be seen…”
And as the race fans gathered in the plaza, the ropes twined around the giant bronze statue of their despised, but now deposed leader, they heaved, and heaved again as the hated edifice slowly began to break from its foundations before finally, with one almighty pull, it toppled to the ground to be climbed upon by the seemingly victorious hordes.
It was sometime after, when the fans began to disperse that it dawned on most that while this battle had been won, there was still a long way to go before a true victory could possibly be declared.
OR:
“Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss” ?
you can’t compare a sport to a war. nice try
Isn’t that the fundamental purpose of sport?
Will Ferrari continue to get more money than the rest ?
IMO nothing has changed after all. We will still have KERS next year ???
LOL
I agree. Nothing is changed.
This fuzzy, feel-good “cost reduction” aint gonna work. It might result in some “Hollywood” accounting tricks, but thats all. Ferarri and Toyota will each still spend half a billion dollars a year, while the small guys will struggle at 100 mil. And the new guys will now be totally outspent by 10 to 1.
And that “technical support” will evaporate tomorrow. So we’re back to the same ol same ol, regardless of the smiley face these ppl try to put on it.
The fans got nothing, and more than likely they never will.
FOTA was our big hope, but it seems that until Bernie /CVC makes major concessions, we’re far worse off, as we’re stuck with the same masculine bovine feces as before fro three more years.
Barry
‘In other words, “Its FOTA, not Schmota”.’
Awesome dig here from Luca. I am so happy to hear that FOTA’s views and ultimately the fan’s views on this whole entire fiasco have been heard. Now, to do something about no Canadian and US Grands Prix. That comes down to ousting Bernie, or at least getting him to relax his ridiculous, greedy, money hungry grip off the asking price for hosting a GP.
I was hoping FOTA would press on with the breakaway series. At least there’s a chance the cars might not look as ugly as these year’s cars. Oh well so much for f1 and did anyone realize that no one mentioned anything about reduced ticket prices anymore? Something FOTA mentioned a lot when they decided to go for their breakaway series and it made the fans happy but now… I must say that I’m totally disappointed that the breakaways series isn’t happening so no more lower ticket prices and I’m not bothered watching F1 anymore.
I agree with the concern that we don’t know what Monty was promised in that private threesome for him to bring the lads back into the fold. Perhaps he’s stitched up another 3 years worth of FIA/Ferrari favouritism and hodloads of extra cash.
So Mosley does what he was always going to… Hm.
This is rubbish. Should have been a breakaway.
*sigh*
Fantastic news. Now the next step is to reduce hosting fees and ticket prices. Finally, there is no F1 without races in Canada, the US, France, Germany, England, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Australia, and Japan.
We haven’t heard much of this, and one of my greatest hopes for FOTA was to have races in each and every one of these countries.
When will this issue get fixed?
Bernie? You remain the enemy of every F1 Fan.
So does this mean there won’t be a refueling ban next year if it’s under the 2009 rules? Shucks.
I suppose that’s what you get for underestimating the power of the mighty F.O.T.A! Presumably FOTA, the FIA and FOM will all come out and say they’ve won, but it seems to me that the teams are the true winners.
Like a lot of people who’ve left comments on this site, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit disapointed when I heard that the teams were staying in F1. The more I’d heard of a potential breakaway series, the more I liked the idea. But I suppose the reality is that one united F1 will be stronger than two competing F1’s.
Hopefully CVC will have been pushed out somehow by this settlement. It has become quite clear in recent weeks that, due to their insistence that F1 follows the money to the deserts, jungles and artificial marinas across Asia, the sport is becoming rather too soulless. The massive contrast between the Turkish and British GP attendance’s illustrated that perfectly.
And so Max gets what he wants again by throwing grenades and watching everyone run around for months before settling on exactly what he wanted anyway.
Yet again, any promise of wholesale change slips by the wayside. I agreed with Max’s proposuals and feel let down that this was just a diversion tatic and the excitement of possibly seeing some interesting engineering solutions was never a real option to begin with.
Is this the same Luca di Montezemolo who was recently revealed as having been party to a secret contractural arrangement regarding the rule-making process for Formula One?
Yes good news but I feel a little sad as well. As said above I felt if FOTA came through we could get to North America again and perhaps the tix prices would be affordable.
Well better this than the Cart/IRL nightmare.
After all the enthusiasm on the teams part for the new series, the only reason that the teams may have backed off and signed for 3 more years is that maybe some dangerous contracts like those between Ferrari and the FIA have to expire.
Then hopefully they can start the new series someday
What a pity, after dreaming of those beautiful tracks, in the meantime we have 3 more years of races in the Far East and the desert
This is messed up…. I dunno. I’ve just lost faith in the teams. They were holding together so well, and now they’ve given up so much…
“I can have a peaceful summer for the first time in three years.”
In a way, that kind of makes me happy for Max – good for him.
Baa Hum-Bug…. I wanted FOTA to start afresh without any influence from Max or Bernie. 😦
But I’ll put my trust in Luca di Montezemolo and presume what he signed up for is in the best interest of the FOTA teams.
Roll on October when Max Mosley has to retired…. nobody should have been able to have that much control over any sport… hopefully the FIA has learnt a valuable lesson.
It’s good to see the FOTA teams will be able to have they say before new rules are passed.
So I guess I’ll give the agreement a cautionary thumbs-up….
Now that an agreement is reached can we start enjoying racing again? 🙂
Oh and James – thanks for your blog – it’s an invaluable source for reliable news and gossip about the world of F1.
Montezemolo is clearly as arrogant and unpalatable as the man he desperately wants us to think he’s defeated.
Mosley at least had an excellent track record in creating, with Ecclestone, the F1 world we know today. And though he’s lately done a great deal of damage to current perceptions of F1, at least, apart from the odd lapse, he generally uses reasonably polite language. I doubt Montezemolo could do as well as the younger Mosley did.
Montezemolo does not draw any plaudits from me with his rabble rousing language to the worst sort of people. Great power in the hands of a dangerous bully would put us all back into serious trouble once again.
For a 3rd time I’m in agreement with you Leo!
Why would the rest of the FOTA teams trust Montezemolo? Ferrari play with a STACKED DECK, or they DON’T play!
The reason for this whole debacle is as follows.
** Rant Start **
(1) At the start of the season, Ferrari, BMW, Renault, found that their performance relative to the smaller & independent teams, wasn’t very good, however, Toyota & McLaren, minus a DDD, just got on with racing.
(2) Because there is no longer in-season testing, they couldn’t throw money at wind tunnels & CFD to catch up, like they usually do.
(3) So they cry foul, and try to get the DDD banned, like the Renault mass damper, which Ferrari, couldn’t get to work, so they wanted it banned.
(4) When this failed they attacked next years rules, because, they didn’t won’t a repeat of this seasons embarrassment, so Montezemolo Corrals the rest of the FOTA members McLaren, Toyota, Brawn, FI, Williams, Red Bull, Torro Rosso, to support his view about next sessions rules.
** Rant End **
Now we know what happened next!
It is my opinion that, Max Mosley is the perfect antidote to Montezemolo, without Max, we could end up with Ferrari F1!
The teams that started the season with a DDD, showed great ingenuity!
Let us not forget! F1 is supposed to be a SPORT, equality amongst it’s participants, is imperative, or it becomes a farce!
Good bye Max, and not before time.
If FOTA achieves nothing else, this will still be enough.
It’s ironic that the man that I saw to be the saviour from Ballestre’s reighn of terror has become worse than Ballestre ever was. Mosley is a proven liar so we’ll see whether it really comes to pass I guess.
It’s also ironic that it ended up being Ferrari that lead the challenge to the FIA’s governance when it has been them that has benefited most from their cynicism in the past.
All they need to do now is remove the ridiculous “bringing the sport into disrepute” rule and the teams can get back to racing without having to worry about a rule that requires no evidence to enforce and carries with it no clear definition of what infraction contravenes it.
Gee i wonder what secret deals Luca manage to secure for Ferrari this time?
This is a good BUSINESS outcome.
This is not a good FORMULA 1 RACING outcome.
I guess my F1 attendance will forever remain at one. (Adelaide when it got rained out….)
FOTA trying to save face…they didn’t get what they want at all, but it comes across as they did. That was the big deal for them, to make people believe they got what they wanted…and the more gullible will actually believe it.
– The regulations are still the same, and will stay the same until 2013 (haha), the teams wanted that gone. FIA 1 – FOTA 0
– Cost reduction (which is still a cap but worded differently) will eventually be what Max wanted, the big teams were heavily against this (“limit means it will be a GP2, blabla”..but they accepted it still). FIA 2 – FOTA 0
– Max was already going end of the year, so FOTA now can pretend they made it happen…but again, only gullible fall for it. FIA 3 – FOTA 0 (this was the face saving point for FOTA).
– Bernie is still there and he has a lot more to say about the money being distributed than whoever, which is what the teams wanted more off. FIA 4 – FOTA 0
– The guy replacing Max will of course be a FOTA asskissing, Bernie hating guy?….No. Different face, same policy directed by Bernie. FIA 5 – FOTA 0
So, yes, FOTA won….in another dimension, LOL.
I think you can take any situation and make it look as you please. FOTA too wanted to reduce costs, not in a draconian method as Mosley suggested. They wanted a “glide path” which they got. The rules stay the same next year but future changes can be made with teams input and aprroval. The important change I think you miss is the fact there is not just one emperor dictating the rules and the changes. Bernie now has to understand that you cannot charge race organizers so much to host races. I think there should be more races, perhaps 23-25 and many close together, a European season, North American season, Asian etc. Something like this. Since you expend the resources to get to Australia, why not have 2 races there? Test the team’s mettle. The weeks in between races give too much time for bickering between the teams and trolling on the boards.
I totally agree.. Taking oz for example: we should have a race at Melbourne & Adelaide; then when we go to the states there should be races at Sebring, laguna, Indianapolis and montreal..then when in europe there could be a block of ten races on consecutive weekends with no problems whatsoever. And maybe a 3 week break after each block of races on each continent..sounds great
A good argument well thought out Fausta, it would most certainly make sense to have 2 races in OZ after the Logistical effort it takes to get there. but doesn’t our Bernie get the profits out of transporting the teams around the world?…”clever man that Bernie.!”
Not sure how that would increase the spectacle, or help cost-cutting. Hockenheim and Nurburgring are already going bust, Indy struggled to pull in numbers and was a dull race anyway. 18 races is pretty much perfect. As much as I like Brawn and Button, would we really need to have seen, say, 10 races of Brawn domination before the European season?
ati – you have completely back to front.
– right from the start FOTA were trying to *stop* the FIA from changing the rules and imposing them onto the teams. so FIA 0 – FOTA 1
– FOTA acknowleged and agree that cost reduction were nesseccary and inevitable and had proposed exactly what what they now have, They were only objecting to the sudden capping to such a low amount, so FIA still 0 – FOTA 2.
– Max’s retirement is good very everyone regardless of whether he was planning to go or not. I think Max is just trying to save face, but I’m not going to complain about it. But still thats one more point for FOTA.
– I’m sure the teams would like Bernie to go as well, but was not on thier current agenda *and* Bernie is not part of the FIA so you can’t say the FIA won that round. It is a separate fight to fought later, maybe.
– Max’s replacement will knwo that he can’t push FOTA around, and if he tries he will lose, like Max did. FOTA 4 FIA 0.
– Bernie is the commercial rights holder, he doesn’t make the rules, thats the FIA – you seem to be confused about this.
-> Overall FOTA kicked FIA’s ass.
Completely agree with ati. Funny how this is generally being represented as a victory for FOTA when in reality it’ is nothing of the kind. Max ousted? No way, he was going anyway. At 69 I’m sure the last thing he wanted was more of that kind of aggro in his old age, and he’ll have more time now for his hobbies.
The really interesting question is: why did FOTA fold so suddenly and comprehensively? FOTA appeared to be pointing a pretty convincing gun at CVC with the breakaway series charade, so obviously something happened behind the scenes that made them toe the line damn quick. I can only guess that Bernie impressed on them the fact that, legally, CVC had them by the short and curlies, and they would lose big time in the courts. Not just big time, mega big time. Many, many, hundreds of millions big time. That made Montezemolo shut up pretty quick. I’d love to have been a fly on the wall, there.
I also notice that Bernie is publicly at pains to call this all a compromise. He clearly doesn’t want to rub salt into FOTA’s wounds and start them off again.
I wonder what James’ opinion is on this? And what happened to Ferrari’s Lausanne case?
At least if the teams can manage to rid themselves of the curse of the KERS next year, it may all have been worthwhile. And as to the future, I wouldn’t be in the least surprised if Max’s successor doesn’t make him look like a complete push-over!
I feel betrayed.
We the fans have been treated with contempt again.
More processions at desert tracks with no fans, no heritage.
Guess it also means no Silverstone next year.
Why do we bother watching, we obviously mean nothing to FOTA, the FiA, and especially not Bernie and his banker mates
Leaves you wondering what secret deals are in the fine print
BTW where does this leave the new teams who signed up for entirely different regs and engine specs and budget restrictions? Shame there isnt an F1 union for all the engineers, I reckon I’d be organising a strike about now. Looks like 60% reduction in the workforce is in their futures
Ferrari in the form of Luca M have stuffed us all again
I always thought this war was all about FOTA trying to get rid of Max Mosley, and that seems the case reading between the lines today.
It will be very interesting to see the full story of how the peace deal happened unravel itself over the next few days, as we have gone from a situation where Max Mosley was adamant that Formula needed to be cost capped, regardless of how much the cap was, to one where Max has basically agreed to the original FOTA proposals that he originally didn’t like. I suspect Bernie has once again worked his magic!
I think it quite funny how many people (not just here…in the web/blogsphere are saying that FOTA backed down, or blinked.
This was always the result they wanted; twas a big game of chicken and they won convincingly….only allowing Max some ‘faux dignity’ in that he is not standing for re-election rather than getting the sack.
They could have run an alternate series …but why would they when they can have the FIA do it they way FOTA want.
This result is entirely expected (IMHO) and the best result. Those that wanted a breakaway…what if there was the breakaway and your favorite driver won the series next year…there would have always been a cloud as it wasn’t F1….and there was another series; Who was better – Indy or Champcar champ in 2007? who cares…who remembers?
Win-Win
Thyraeus – I agree!
The breakaway series was never the objective, and was always only a “plan b” in case FOTA lost this battle with the FIA. The fans who are ranting on about being let down by FOTA have no clue what they are talking about and must have only picked up on this story when FOTA announced the breakaway series.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out Max.
Bring back the USGP while you’re at it FOTA. Those tickets for a Weekend at Bernie’s are still pricey, and try adding on a plane ticket and hotel for us in the States to fly out to see the show. Flying to Indianapolis is a lot cheaper than Kansai for Suzuka.
I’m reasonably satisfied with this result – Max out.
I get to watch motor racing.
That’s OK by me.
I think it would be useful for the FIA to review the ‘overtaking’ aspect for next year.
There is reduced disturbance but is there also less downforce and does that have something to do with it?
Also, as a fan I feel like we’ve taken a hit with these unimpressive looking 2009 cars and the wheel-to-wheel racing has not been different as I see it to last year. I’m not FOR more overtaking mind you, I think it should be difficult but possible, and ALSO that the cars “look fast” which I don’t think they do this year.
Overtaking has reduced dramatically since the advent of carbon brakes. When steel disks were the norm the difference between the ‘normal’ and late brakers was talked about to be in the region of 10 metres now it is probably 1-2 metres. Whilst not advocating going back to steel brakes a standard retardation spec for the braking components could be agreed to increase the braking distance to aid overtaking – also with it being a standard part there is the potential to reduce costs
The outright braking distance doesn’t change with carbon brakes – the limits basically come from the tyres, which is driven by the aerodynamics. Carbon brakes can resist the heat for longer, but all you get is heavy steel brakes with intricate cooling.
Damon Hill tried steel brakes on his Williams as he didn’t like the feel of the carbon brakes. There wasn’t much performance difference. The engineers probably hate steel brakes for the extra weight and angular momentum at the extremities of the car.
I also think part of the problem is the engines. On the straights drivers cannot get close enough with the rev limiter preventing drivers getting closer
So that’s it? An agreement has been reached? No more breakaway series? No more politics?
How boring. What do we talk about until the next grand prix?
Quick!!! Somebody sue someone!!!
But but…
”
Bernie now has to understand that you cannot charge race organizers so much to host races.
”
Of course you can… As long as demand remains high, as it does, with more tracks wanting a race than the season having races, this will continue.
Let’s see, Abu Dhabi is willing to pay twice what Silverstone does, which race do we drop?
Am one of the many disappointed fans 😦 Schmota used US FANS to put some pressure on max and Bernie to get what they wanted, once they did [got what they wanted] well 😦 F…. the fans AGAIN. Am sure it would have been a different story had Ron Dennis been president of Schmota,
What did they fans want?
– More & more power V12 engines back (Alonso too)
– Mixture of traditional and futurist circuits
– Better looking cars
– Stable rules
– Affordable tickets
– U name ’em
So it’s safe to call the future F3
it’s a good thing am already getting used to watching motoGP, I need a therapy
Now we can all go racing again and I can see the race in aussie next year.The only shame is that some of those new tracks looked interesting .finally just talking about cars,drivers & racing.
I am so behind the news…. this having to work for a living malarkey is ruining my F1 time! Anyway….
A cautious thumbs up from me with a few buts… Hopefully the questions will be answered in the next few days.
Does Ferrari retain the right of veto over the rules and thus becomes/continues to be the golden goose?
Will FOTA’s promise of reasonable prices and taking races back to the fans hold? Along that line, will we be back in the US and Canada? Will a mere 16,000 Turkish fans have to put up with a grandprix as opposed to 130,000 in Silverstone?
What happens to the worthy teams like Prodrive, Epsilon, etc denied an entry for 2010? Should they not be allowed to enter and if there are too many cars for a race grid, we go back to pre-qualifying?
And perhaps a rhetorical question – will we see Ron back at McLaren F1? I do hope so!
All that remains to be asked now, James, is who is next in line after Mosely? Is there a clear favourite? Personally, I get the feeling that Alan Donnolley or Jean Todt consider standing for election?
Todt is a candidate, for sure. Many F1 teams wouldn’t like it, but they don’t have a say.
I’m not sure if I would like Todt.
How about Alain Prost? He could offer a driver’s perspective of things in addition to him running his own team.
Although I’m not aware of the FIA’s policy of selecting former drivers as candidates.
They need someone who will garner respect from both the FIA and the teams.
What do you think James?
I think it’s much more likely that the next president will be someone who is a ‘blazer’ ie someone who is a big wheel in one of the FIA member countries and knows the ropes and the people etc. This isn’t really a job for a figurehead, unless they plan on changing the way the FIA engage with the sport. Todt has been in the system there for some time, has a vice presidential role already etc. The question with him would be whether it is what he wants to do next, unpaid. He and his son Nicolas didn’t have a run at one of the new team slots so I don’t know what he’s thinking
James, could you find a moment to do us a run-down of likely blazers ? Todt is the only one most of us have ever heard of (and we don’t much like what we know).
‘The teams’ don’t. Ferrari does.
I believe that this statement given by Montezemolo goes to show how important and influential Ferrari are to Formula 1.
I’m not so sure myself regarding this meeting but I think Ferrari had a large influence in the outcome of this agreement.
However, then again, I could probably say the same about Flavio Briatore and Renault.
So much for Max saying F1 can survive without Ferrari.
Thanks James for providing great insight into the politics, race build ups etc. I miss your commentaries and I think the bbc are missing out, especially with the coverage you provide near.
Smoke & Mirrors.
So the teams are returning to the spending levels of the early nineties.
Does this mean that they are also returning to the funding levels of the early nineties? Will Bernie return the prize money and the track charges to the level of the early nineties? Will tickets return to those levels too?
If the FIA want the sport to return to a decent financial footing, then they surely they have to take a stand on the outrageous costs & charges going on on the FOM side of the fence as well.
Or would even asking these questions get someone’s pit-line pass revoked?
People seem to be confused. FOTA got exactly what they proposed. They only ever mentioned the breakaway series as a last resort if they did not get what they wanted, which they now have. The FIA have backed down completely.
i am reasonably happy.
But what i am more interested on.
Ticket prices, classic race tracks back, more performance from the cars.
If they do not fix this, f1 is still down hill.
Mosley out does not solve the FiA’s problem, only that of F1.
The AAA and the ACEA have been highly critical of the voting system and the FiA’s power. They will not be happy with Todt. My bet is that the FiA is concerned that the AAA and then the ACEA will leave the FiA’s governance in all but name, opting for protectionalism, if they get someone like Todt.
My bet is an AAA supported candidate. One who will not be keen to follow Mosley’s prominence.
If the AAA does put someone forward and they are supported by the ACEA and another candidate wins, despite the many millions of members the two organisations represent, I can see the FiA’s international authority being severly curtailed.
The F1 has been almost critically wouded over recent years but so has the FiA and perhaps more so. Mosley’s suggestion that the voting system in the FiA is democratic is rather risable. If those with the power to vote again ignore the majority wishes then I can see serious reprecussions. With GM folding, no manufacturer is safe. The FiA, and the countries it represents, need someone who is going to fight for the interests of the car manufacturers.
This is the elephant in the room, isn’t it? I doubt anyone in the F1 power structure has thought about this at all, but yes: The FIA itself may well have reached its sell by date, along with Mosley.
Is it mere coincidence that Bernie is intent on moving F1 to venues away from the AAA and ACEA, giving rounds to FIA members that have been MM’s staunchest supporters?
Winners and losers.
Winners:-
On the face of it FOTA have won the concessions they had been seeking. They get to compete in F-1, reduce costs in a measured way and, above all, they no longer have to deal with Mad Max.
Bernie and CVC have won; there have really been no concessions on their part as all the blame and loss of power (or apparent loss of power) has been borne by the FIA. They get to keep all their money-grabbing ways, get to go to whatever circuits Bernie can screw over and he can continue ditching any circuit, regardless of historical relevance, that he chooses.
Williams, Force India and the 3 new teams have won as they will get to compete with the big boys rather than tool around in what would have been a glorified GP-2.
Losers:-
The FIA has taken a hit, no doubt about that, but one suspects, despite Max’s impending departure, his fingerprints are going to be all over the paperwork of the new, yet to be determined, incoming President. Rule by proxy is not inconceivable.
The fans; should I say, last but not least? Perhaps I should just add the fans position as a footnote. I mean, in the big F-1 picture, do we really matter that much anyway?
Well, for a while there, in those heady few days of impending FOTA breakaway, we actually seemed to matter a lot. FOTA talked to us, sought our views, encouraged us and thanked us for our encouragement. FOTA even offered us the potential, if not the promise, of reduced ticket prices and a return to the traditional circuits that we used to love.
We were going to get a Brave New World Championship, free from the shackles of Bernie, Max and the whole CVC financial debacle.
For those few days, the euphoria was palpable. The internet fairly crackled in glorious anticipation. Yes there were risks, and yes, Bernie was going to give some of the teams grief, but in the end there would have been nothing Bernie, Max or CVC could have thrown at us (and by US, I mean FOTA and its millions of fervent supporters) that would have stopped us succeeding.
Unfortunately last night, we the fans, became the F-1 reconciliation’s Biggest Losers. Yes we get to have F-1 with all the teams (even 3 new ones), but if anyone out there is holding on to some grand illusion that by getting rid of Max, things will fundamentally change; the places we race, the prices we pay and way we view and attend F-1, well I need here now to burst that particular bubble of hope.
One might suggest even that the last week or so was all about FOTA spinning a tale that we, the fans, wanted to hear so Bernie would finally react the way he inevitably did.
Quite sad really.
Agree totally
Absolutely. Too bad no one else is in a position to start another series: I live in hope…
I feel like the kid that wakes up on Christmas Day, excitedly opens his present, only to find that what was inside isn´t what was expected, but something very like another toy that he´s already bored stiff with.
I suspect Ferrari have stuffed everyone yet again, and have further stengthened their position to the disadvantage of all the other teams.
The one possible saving grace is the period commited to, Bernie was looking for much more. This maybe only the end of Round 1.
It’s FOTA.
They’ve made a deal.
FOTA.
In Paris.
Pushing on.
FOTA chasing down the FIA.
In Paris, Paris France.
Nevermind Bernie, where’s Max.
It’s Max we want to see.
In Paris.
Pushing on.
Down the straight.
Round the corner.
FOTA.
Cost cutting.
Will it work.
Will they stick to their guns.
Only one man can answer.
It’s Allen.
James Allen.
On the web.
The world wide web.
Pushing on.
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com
Round the corner.
Down the straight.
LOL – so accurate it’s almost scary 🙂
FIA/FOM/FOTA, what about ticket cost reduction? as always, the fans are on the losing end.
When people are in power for too long they inevitably forget how they got into power in the first place and the result is leadership by ego. Mrs Thatcher was a good example and Max Mosely is yet another – both will be remembered for the good that they did, but both will be remembered for the awful.
The budget cap has proved to be Max Mosely’s Poll Tax.
After all the shouting and the dust settling, we have the same as what we had before it all blew up.
Brillant!
What a waste of time and money that was…
Am i missing something here?… There were three parties involved in this;
1. The FIA/Max: End result, Max is going
2. The teams/FOTA: End result, they still have to reduce costs
3. Bernie: End result, he hasn’t given away anything – least of all a larger share of revenues to the teams
You’ve got to hand it to Bernie. Pure genius!
I’m curious why Williams want to join FOTA again. Has anyone any idea why FOTA should let them back in again? Surely Williams showed that when the going gets tough, they’re not hanging around so why would FOTA accept them back again. Strange behaviour I reckon.
Personally I think FOTA should tell them to live with their decisions of leaving FOTA and ‘enjoy’!
Formula1 is dead,
what a golden chance they lost,
here’s hoping FOTA can stand the cost,
the teams by Max,no longer bossed,
but by Bernie, millions more’ll be grossed
and once again fans, we’ve all been crossed.!
Formula 1 is dead.! ! !