So They DO Have The Minerals

I woke up happy this morning. Still in a slumber I stumbled straight to the laptop and lo and behold. A new breakaway series was announced. My eyes lit wide, I thought I was dreaming. I had been fully expecting the teams to cave in to Mosley's demands. They always do. But as I stated in my last post, there was just no way they would sign up to race under a set of regulations that as it stood today, would allow the FIA to walk all over them.

Simply put: The FIA want the teams to sign up unconditionally and then a satisfactory governance structure would be put in place (or so the FIA says). This even though an unconditional entry would mean they are obligated to race without proper governance and the FIA would under the entry be under no obligation to change such structures.

The teams on the other hand wanted such governance structure in place before signing up. As well they should. I mean how could you trust the FIA president who could at any point after the signature change his mind and decide any which way simply on his whims? The teams would be negligent in their duties to safeguard their operations if they did so. Yet, that is what Max was asking him to do.

Speaking of governance, here's what the FIA had to say:

"Formula One needs a strong and impartial regulator because of the nature of the sport, the high stakes and the competitors - people who want to win (literally) at any cost."

This is true but over the years the FIA have not been impartial in dispatching its duties as a regulator. Furthermore, strong arm tactics as deployed by Mosley and the FIA do not consititute strength. Its bullying and that is not good nor fair governance.

"Good governance does not mean that Ferrari should govern. "

Huh? Thats pure smoke and mirrors to confuse the public. FOTA are not suggesting that Ferrari govern the sport. In fact, through the veto, this was something the FIA had in a way allowed Ferrari to do. As many commentators point out, this is not sporting and certainly would not be allowed in other sports. Who let Ferrari have the veto? Why, it was the FIA and further demonstrates how dubious and facetious their governance has been.

"Ferrari now claim that the procedures followed by the FIA are contrary to their agreement with the FIA, but in reality they never objected to these procedures (indeed they voted for them)..... "

Again, more finger pointing to Ferrari and more distractions. The fact is the FIA have failed to demonstrate in this or any other statement, how great and how well their current governance structure is or ever has been. Pointing to Ferrari's failures in fact incriminate the FIA and provides more evidence of their mismanagement.

".....until they were not happy with the decisions themselves. Ferrari has been officially (as well as unofficially) represented on the WMSC since 1981 and never objected to the process or decisions until April and May this year"

So you have actually allowed them special privileges this long and let them get away with it? Again, how does this prove the FIA's ability to properly govern Formula 1?

And on the subject of commercial revenues, the FIA only claim that the teams wish "to expropriate the commercial rights for itself" Even if they did, so what? They deserve it. As it is, the FOM have for years denied the proper share of revenues to the teams. Bernie Ecclestone, that crook, who was supposed to look after these rights on behalf of the teams, took all of it for himself and up until a few years ago, gave only 25% of the revenues back to the teams. Most of which went to Ferrari.

So now, without waiting any further the teams have announced their own breakaway championship. Will they really go through this? Max doesn't think so. Well, he would wouldn't he?

Make no mistake, the FIA and FOM are losing a lot here. What I am surprised to see is that the FIA, instead of trying to make ammends actually came out with the hideous press release and following the breakaway announcement have announced plans to sue FOTA for trying to organise their own series. I mean, thats a helluva way to make peace and attract these teams back to the FIA championship. Whilst FOTA attempted a compromise with the FIA, the FIA have so far only responded with hostility, typical of tyrants and despots.

So what would a breakaway championship look like? Much the same as now I would imagine, for now. I should think in order to provide stability and therein save costs, they would probably adopt this year's rules. And really, that is fine by me.

Circuits are plentiful and much as I would miss seeing the FOTA teams in Malaysia (assuming they can't get to or won't race in Sepang) nevertheless I am glad they'll be pulling out of hideous places like Bahrain and this new stupid Abu Dhabi circuit. Hopefully, they'll never arrive in India, too. Bernie can have his race among the impoverished on the streets.

Here's where I hope they'll do races: Imola, Magny Cours, Estoril, Sachsenring or the Nurburgring (where else in Germany?), Indianapolis, Montreal, Jacarepagua, Suzuka (of course!), Spa (its a must, they somehow must get this one), Silverstone (the drivers admittedly love this one and having driven on it, so do I), Brands Hatch, Portero de los Funes (wishful), Jerez, Adelaide (always fun over there), A1-Ring (I wish it was still the Oesterreichring), Monza or Mugello, Hermanos Rodriguez and Kyalami to name a few. There, enough venues to make a nice 16-17 race championship. Its a pity Bernie owns Paul Ricard in France but that would have been a fantastic venue to be in as well.

I was always a believer in a breakaway championship having written about the possibility even back in the cowardly GPMA days. There will be difficulties but there is nothing to fear. FOTA will have the best teams and the best drivers. They will have the choice of visiting all the classic fast and challenging circuits I grew up watching in front of passionate fans who really care about the sport rather than silly Arab circuits full of sand.

And what of attracting new, independent teams? Well, if only they would relax the customer car rules, there could be more of them particularly with a more equitable distribution of the commercial revenues of the sport. Its interesting to note that poor N Technology have withdrawn their application to enter the FIA championship based on the fact that the manufacturers will not be present. How much longer before the rest do the same and leave the FIA with nothing?

What have the FIA championship got? Has-been Williams and wannabe Force India. And a whole bunch of teams unheard of. Where will they find the sponsorship to finance their racing? I find it hard that all of them will successfully procure the necessary funds.

For now, we should not get too excited. Lets see what happens. With Brawn still insisting on negotiating with the FIA and Bernie yet to play his hand, things could still change. I do hope though the breakaway series does happen and we can get rid of tyrants like Max and parasites like CVC and Bernie.

No End In Sight

"You do prefer it this way, don't you, as it was meant to be? No peace in our time" -- General Chang

Now take a look at the latest press release from the FIA:

"Indeed, [FOTA] were not prepared to discuss [financial] regulation at all."

"In default of a proper dialogue, the FOTA financial proposals were discussed but it became clear that these would not be capable of limiting the expenditure of a team which had the resources to outspend its competitors. Another financial arms race would then be inevitable."

While FOTA talks about governance, the FIA are still pressing on about budget caps. As I understand it, FOTA works towards cost reductions through technical measures but the FIA still talks about imposition of absolute limits to budgets. Something that the FOTA teams are absolutely against.

The point is subtle but therein lies the loggerheads. And lets not even discuss the matter of governance, something that the FIA, barring a passing mention of reverting back to the 1998 Concorde Agreement, still has not been properly addressed at all by the FIA.

Put it simply. The FIA says agree to the 2010 rules including the budget cap and we'll all then sign the Concorde Agreement. FOTA's position is sign the Concorde Agreement that governs the sport (including how the rules are shaped and made) then we'll talk about rules.

Max of course does not want this because then he'd have a very very hard time imposing the budget cap. In fact, with the Concorde in place the only way the FIA could bulldoze any rule is on the grounds of safety.

Meantime of course, Max has sent his thug, Alan Donnelly to try and break the unity between the FOTA teams which met with some stern retaliatory statements from FOTA. The fact that Mr Donnelly is also chief steward, seriously calls into question his ability to remain impartial in applying the rules at races.

Essentially Max there trying the divide and conquer strategy once more. But the teams aren't buying it. Thank God.

The differences between FOTA and FIA are subtle in form but huge in substance. And as it stands, I fail to see how this will be resolved unless one of the parties compromise.

Funny Stories

Max Max Max. You're so predictable these days its hilarious mate! So now there's a new press release from the FIA. And in this press release the FIA claim that:

"The FIA believed it had participated in a very constructive meeting with a large measure of agreement. The FIA was therefore astonished to learn that certain FOTA members not present at the meeting have falsely claimed that nothing was agreed and that the meeting had been a waste of time. There is clearly an element in FOTA which is determined to prevent any agreement being reached regardless of the damage this may cause to the sport."

Ok so given that in that Thursday meeting the ones present were Toyota, Ferrari, Red Bull and Brawn GP, the "element in FOTA" could be one or more of BMW, Mercedes or Renault. But strange that following this meeting on Thursday you had Ferrari, Toyota and Red Bull voicing out strong opinions against the FIA particularly on the issue of governance. Seems that those present in the Thursday meeting weren't pleased with the issues as well, never mind some strange "element in FOTA."

And to this, a FOTA spokeman has responded:

"FOTA, whilst reserving its position on the specific issues, does not intend to comment the FIA press release issued on the 15th of June and to be involved in a prolonged series of polemical statements that generate confusion and does not help create a positive environment for the ongoing contacts"

Max Max. Still trying your best to divide and conquer? Are there no other strategies in the play book?

The FIA have also seen fit to respond to the ACEA statement, again driving the issue of costs and how the FIA proposals would save the manufacturers a ton of money (should be nice after years of screwing the manufacturers with constant rule changes). No mention of the FIA poor governance though. But again, Max simply couldn't resist the good old highlight on the one dissenting voice in ACEA. In this case:

"The FIA understands that Porsche did not support ACEA’s Formula One resolution and has instructed the ACEA secretariat to make this clear in response to any press enquiries"

You just couldn't resist it eh Max?

Meanwhile, Bernie has urged calm and restraint: "I would just ask everyone, instead of throwing mud at each other in public or behind each other’s backs, to just be quiet and let things settle down a bit."

In other words, help help! You are ruining the free lunch for me and my CVC Pedigree Chums. Yeah, its been quite a funny weekend alright.

The funniest story so far must be about poor N Technology who had their application for a spot on the Formula 1 grid rejected by the FIA. According to N Technology's Mauro Sipsz : "The applications have been used by the Federation as pawns to move in the fight against the teams."

Wha.. What the f...? You just knew this now? You mean you really thought the FIA would take you seriously? You poor sod or should I say cannon fodder. Autosport goes further : "Sipsz and Codignoni reveal that they were informed by the FIA about having missed deadlines for submitting financial and technical details of their teams - even though they are adamant such information was sent in on time."

Reminds me of when you send an invoice to your customer who doesn't want to pay up. But we never did get your invoice... could you please send it again? Oldest trick in the book except in this case its oops sorry you can't enter now.

Max, what sort of joint are you running here?

The State Of Play

As of today, the situation is:

1. The FIA have published the entrants for 2010. Unconditional entrants include Ferrari, Red Bull and Toro Rosso. Conditional entrants include the remaining 5 FOTA members.
2. Ferrari, Red Bull and Toro Rosso have stated that their entry is still conditional upon the FIA agreeing to terms to their satisfaction and have thrown support to FOTA.
3. FOTA have declared that they will release certain information detailing why they think the FIA's 2010 regulations stink.
4. FOTA have implored the FIA WSMC and Senate to step in and help resolve this issue, bypassing Max Mosley.
5. The ACEA i.e. the European Automobile Manufacturers Association have thrown in their support firmly behind the FOTA teams. In a statement they have called for better governance of the sport, more equitable share of the sports revenues and at the same time warned that FOTA will have to breakaway if these conditions are not met. A clear slap in the face to Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone.
6. Max and Bernie have so far been silent.

I am glad that the FOTA teams are showing solidarity and unity on this issue and furthermore, I am pleased to see the ACEA stepping in and hitting it where it hurts. One trump card that Max have repeatedly used thus far for his draconian measures is his claims that the board of directors in the manufacturers would be in full support for his budget cap. Well, both the ACEA and Renault's Carlos Ghosn (Le Cost Cutter himself!) have stepped in and clarified that this is not the main point. The point is his governance of the sport and the share of revenues from the sport that is in question. Processes to govern and set the rules must be transparent and clear to all and it is this that is most important to them at this time.

I wouldn't put it pass Max to get himself out of this one but it certainly would be very interesting to see how he could. His professional credibility is now called into question in the most public manner possible by some very heavyweights.

With attacks from all side, including previously cowardly journalists, Max finds himself in isolation, something that is not unknown for him. Remember the whole sex scandal thing last year? In that case he could and successfully did defend himself on the grounds of privacy, this time its about his professional competence. And that is fair game.

The Manufacturers' Voice

Well, the standoff is most definitely on. And in the wake of yesterday's published FIA entry list, the ACEA i.e. the European Automobile Manufacturers Association has issued a statement in support of the FOTA teams. The statement reads:

"Today, the members of the Board of the European Automobile Manufacturer’s Association discussed the current situation prevailing in Formula One, and have concluded that the current governance system cannot continue."

Max Mosley, please leave.

"ACEA has come to the conclusion that the FIA needs a modernised and transparent governance system and processes, including the revision of its constitution, to ensure the voice of its members, worldwide motorsport competitors and motorists are properly reflected."

That is to say, screw you Max Mosley. We're tired of you shoving arbitrary rules down our throats and not listening to us. And furthermore:

"The ACEA members support the activities and objectives of the Formula One Teams Association to establish stable governance, clear and transparent rules which are common to all competitors to achieve cost reductions including a proper attribution of revenues to the F1 teams, in order to deliver a sustainable attractive sport for the worldwide public."

In other words, screw Max Mosley, Bernie Ecclestone and CVC dogs. Give us a proper share of the revenue.

"Unless these objectives are met, the BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Toyota along with the other teams are determined to find an alternative way to practice this sport in a manner which provides clarity, certainty of rules and administration, and a fair allocation of revenues to the competing teams."

If Max doesn't leave then we will.

"The European automotive industry is key to the strength and competitiveness of Europe. The ACEA members are BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler, FIAT Group, Ford of Europe, General Motors Europe, Jaguar Land Rover, MAN Nutzfahrzeuge, Porsche, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Scania, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen and Volvo. They provide direct employment to more than 2.3 million people and indirectly support another 10 million jobs. Annually, ACEA members invest €20 billion in R&D, or 4% of turnover."

Oh yeah. Look who we are bitches!

While Max Appeases, Bernie Threatens

Well, seems like we're looking at some role reversals here. It usually Mad Max who brandishes the iron rod, whilst Bernie Ecclestone becomes the calm voice of compromise and reason. But now its Ecclestone thats pulling the threats to the FOTA teams. In this article in Autosport, he warns the teams that any attempt to organise a breakaway series will be met with stern action.

He warns the teams to stay away from sponsors, venues, television broadcasters lest they face punitive action in the courts. But I like this statement: 

"That money flows back to the teams and they spend it. It would be different when they have to provide all the venues, hire their own race people, find their own television companies – and we have the best – and promote it."

Err Bernie, I think we're all smarter than that. Some of the money flows back to the teams. Collectively we know its 50% to all teams. Then the rest is in all but legal form, stolen for you and those dogs at CVC.

As for having the best broadcasters, well many, many folk will take issue to that. In Malaysia, if we want to catch the European races live, then the only option is Star Sports (which is basically Sky Sports in the UK and elsewhere). If you thought that James Allen was piss poor you should hear the morons they have commentating. And whilst the BBC broadcast provides roaming reporters who provide inside updates from the teams, those idiots at Star Sports are absolutely clueless. Long after you can spot whats happening from the timings provided by Formula1.com, they're still mumbling inane blabber on the mike. Really, the only star in current available broadcasts is Martin Brundle and I think the FIA would not mind if he left after his scathing remarks in an article in the Times last year. So thats a bit of nonsense from Bernie right there.

Even more silliness comes from Bernie when he says: "As for the drivers, they want to win the FIA F1 world championship or some of them would be elsewhere getting more money to win a title that means less. I don't think they will get a series going."

Clearly in contradiction to statements made by the likes  Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Filipe Massa, Jarno Trulli and Mark Webber. I think a driver is interested in racing in the best series no matter what its called. Nothing like some good mis-information to really confuse the casual viewers and sponsors there eh Bernie?

And finally nothing like telling the teams its all their fault with this little gem: "The teams had a chance to sign the 1998 Concorde Agreement which would have protected them from Max's technical changes, but they said no." 

Thanks for pointing that out. And therefore now Bernie thinks they should commit another mistake by signing up for Max's ridiculous new rules. 

Poor Bernie. He's really so desperate now that his accounting skills seem to be affected. He warns the teams, particularly the manufacturers that their board members won't be best pleased with them spending money to set up a new series. Well Bernie, any bean counter worth his salt would argue the equation is more complicated than that. Its all about net gains. If the net gain to be had from starting a new series outweighs the net gains from joining the FIA series, guess which one the bean counter would recommend. Particularly since if they ran their own series the teams would be entitled to 100% of the commercial revenues rather than the 50% handout they receive now. Add to this, the costs of Max Mosley's constant rule changes that would now be saved by some stable rules, then you get the true picture.

I follow MotoGP from time to time. I must say, entertainment-wise on average year on year it beats F1 hands down. I just happen to prefer cars to bikes which is why I follow F1 more closely. But the rules in MotoGP are determined by the teams not by the FIM, the governing body for motorcycle racing. And look how spectacular it turns out to be. And to this end FOTA have contacted Dorna Sports SL, the MotoGP organisers to possibly run the new series. I can think of no better group of people. 

Ironically, Dorna is or was owned by CVC. After buying up the commercial rights to F1 they have had to dispose of their holdings in Dorna. If they haven't already, they most certainly will be required to by EU anti-trust regulations. What a great way of getting rid of the CVC cancer and sticking their commercial rights up their arses.

Bernie and Max's defence of their position is looking increasingly desperate. Upon examination, their arguments sound increasingly senseless. I hope FOTA are not buying the absurdity Max and Bernie are selling. Come on guys, have a backbone for a change. Just do a breakaway series already. 

A Load Of Bollocks

Max Mosley has recently written to the FOTA teams in what seems like a kindly worded reconciliatory gesture urging them to sign up unconditionally to compete in 2010. He assures the teams that should they submit, they will be invited to discuss new proposals to modify the 2010 rules (including the budget caps) in consultation with the FIA.

But first of course they have to submit unconditionally. Bind themselves in a legal contract with the FIA with no guarantees whatsoever that their voices will be heard. After all, is this not the same person whom last week told the FOTA teams to take a hike? And furthermore, the FIA have been writing the rules for the last 60 years and if they didn't like it they can form their own championship.

Remember also, that these are the words of a man who have repeatedly time and again forced rule changes down the throats of teams in contravention of the FIA's own rules and procedures in making such changes. And why should the teams now trust this Hitlerian dictator? He respects not his own rules and why should he respect the views of the teams.

Henry Ford (wasn't it?) used to say that you can have any colour (for his Model-T) as long as its black. Well, to Max the teams can have all the say so long as in the end the rules conform to his view.

FOTA have yet to respond but I hope they tell this bastard to in turn take a hike. And as Chris Balfe in this article in Pitpass has said, enough is enough. Max has gone on for far too long. The teams should stand firm and bring an end to his tyranny and greed.

Update: Whilst Mosley suggests that FOTA sign up to shape the 2010 rules, it can only be changed by unanimous decision. Whilst the FOTA teams do not agree to a budget cap, these tiny newcomers are absolutely depending on it. It goes without saying, there will be no unanimous decision to drop or increase the budget. Game over.

Hear Hear!!

I love it when the general press (as opposed to cowering racing journalists) hits hard, as did the UK Guardian in this article by Richard Williams today. Highlights:

"Those who watched the Turkish grand prix on television might be interested to learn that the people in charge of the transmission were instructed to focus their cameras tightly on the cars in order to disguise the paltry attendance.

Not everything can be obscured by green sheeting, cunning camera angles or Jenson Button's dazzling smile. Button's success ....is just about the only thing formula one has going for it during a year in which the corrosive effects of Mosley's political machinations and Ecclestone's insatiable greed have become fully apparent."

Brilliant opening salvo but there's more:

"By imposing a wholesale set of rule changes at the beginning of this season, rather than introducing alterations gradually, he made himself look like a reformer while actually forcing the teams to incur huge additional costs, not least through the addition of his vastly expensive and troublesome KERS system, already abandoned by most of the teams."

Where were articles like these years ago before the introduction of the rubbish KERS. Instead we even had some blogs and press supporting its entrance. But the article goes further and this part I like:

"So far only two teams – Williams and Force India – have switched to his camp, suffering expulsion from Fota as a result of choosing self-interest over the long-term health of the sport. The association's eight remaining members – Ferrari, Renault, BMW, Toyota, McLaren-Mercedes, Brawn, Red Bull and Toro Rosso – might very well take the view that grand prix racing can exist perfectly well without one team that won its last championship in 1997 and another that shows little sign of doing anything other than making up the numbers."

Finally someone else says these things I've been trying to get across!

"Whatever Mosley may say, his objective appears not to be making formula one cheaper, greener or more competitive. It is to retain control of the sport first by dividing and ruling the existing competitors and second by threatening the introduction of a bunch of new teams whose loyalty to him and to Ecclestone has been bought by the rewriting of technical regulations and by the promise of financial assistance."

The article concludes:

"How much better the world would seem if formula one returned to Silverstone next year and Mosley and Ecclestone did not."

Amen to that Mr Richard Williams!

And so to the wannabe racing team boss Vijay Mallya. Why don't you quit being a wannabe and take your billions elsewhere instead being a nuisance in grand prix racing? Giving it to help the hardcore poor in your country who live on the streets eating scraps off garbage would probably be more beneficial to yourself and your nation in the long run.

The Budget Cap

I hate this idea of a budget cap. I really do. Maybe because it radically changes the face of grand prix racing and I hate the idea of racing changing even further because of Max and cohorts. Perhaps I hate the fact that to my mind, its just a deceitful way arguing that the teams should not need to receive more money from Bernie and the CVC dogs. Maybe I hate the fact that Max argues there are is no technical innovation in grand prix racing and yet it was he who framed the current rules so tightly that innovation is not permitted. There are even provisions in the sporting regulations that state that any innovative advantage a team has will be removed after a year! Yeah, perhaps I just hate the disingenuousness of it all and I really want to see the end of Max, FOM and CVC.

Putting all these other bigger issues aside, I do wonder whether the budget cap in and of itself is such a bad idea. I have to agree with Mosley on one thing. If applied, it is at least ensures fairness (though I think fairness can also be achieved by other means). But whatever, on the face of things, those folk from Norfolk who want to revive the Lotus name, could theoretically be fighting on the same terms as Maranello. If you ask me, I think Maranello is afraid of this. For if everyone is on equal footing, then its down to creativity (if this is allowed as well, but I'll come to this later). Time was when Ferrari were getting beaten by so-called garagistes using only Cosworth DFV engines and old Enzo hated that. And so would Luca di Montezemolo. Ferrari builds its brand on grand prix mystique and here's a chance that the myth would be destroyed. Not good. And I would say it also applies to a lesser extent but still significantly to other car manufacturers in Formula 1.

However, we should not let ourselves get carried away. As I said before, this is only in theory. Whilst a budget cap allied to greater innovative freedom seems like a great idea here are some reasons why it would not work in the long run.

Budget caps are impossible to police

Seriously, do the teams or anyone for that fact want a bunch of FIA people to rummage through their books? And even if they were allowed, so what? Auditors have been rummaging through people's finances for ages but still you had things like Enron happening. Sarbanes Oxley? Pffft. Such regulations simply creates more loopholes for hanky panky.

When they implemented currency exchange controls, banks simply created currency swaps and derivatives on those. When it comes to money, there are very creative ways of ensuring that it gets where it needs to go and of course there are creative accounting techniques that have been practiced for hundreds of years.

Whats to stop Mercedes for instance to place their CFD and wind tunnels under Mercedes trucks or AMG for instance? In return, Mercedes High Performance Engines could do some "research" work for those divisions. After all engine expenses are spared from the scrutiny of the FIA. Whats to stop Mercedes HPE from transferring the results of such CFD and wind tunnel work back to McLaren? Nothing would stop McLaren from claiming that they innovated and "discovered" this all on a miniscule budget because of the genius of their engineers. Are the FIA going to send auditors to the entire Daimler Benz empire?

Likewise, are the FIA going to send auditors down to Nissan in Japan to investigate possible Formula 1 chassis work? In fact, whats to stop Nissan doing it out in the open? If Nissan wanted to build a grand prix car simply for pure research purposes, there would nothing the FIA could do to stop them. Nissan are not competing. Its the Renault Formula 1 team that does so. And if Renault "inherits" or is simply allowed to "view" the results of Nissan's research, does this in and of itself constitute a breach of regulations?

Both McLaren and Ferrari have road car divisions separate from their teams. In the case of McLaren this goes even further to encompass other vehicle and technological enterprises. There's no stopping either of these teams parking grand prix development expenditures to these other operations.

Such things are not confined only to the large manufacturers. Any team can practice such creativity. Lola for instance builds racing cars for other formulae and series. Who's to say what expenses are incurred for the grand prix team and what expenses are attributed to development of chassis in other formulae? Only Lola's accountants know and you can bet they ain't saying. Other teams could also set up similar situations very easily. They could for instance sell engineering services to other entities and organisations for non-financial consideration.

I'm certain the FIA will look into all of this. Max is quite a clever bastard. But he should know that budget caps will exist only in name. Teams will find even cleverer ways to cicumvent these caps. In the end, I feel that the so called cap will simply be abandoned, the way horsepower limits (300 bhp) were abandoned in rallying.

Technical Innovation Causes Safety Issues As Cars Get Ever Faster

As I said before, the only reason why there have not been any innovations in grand prix racing lately is because the regulations are framed in such ways as to prevent these innovations from happening. Max has long argued that this is for cost and safety reasons. History will show that the cost savings never materialised much. But Max could always count on safety as the reasons for killing off technical creativity. He would argue (and he would be right) that the cars would be going too fast for their own good.

As it stands, despite ever tightening regulations, engineers have found ways of making the cars go even faster. Any limits placed on them have been temporary. Eventually development catches up and cars go even quicker than ever. I suppose the FIA can argue this is possible because of the hundreds of millions that go into 24 hour development. And so they want to place this budget cap. In exchange teams get more liberal regulations.

However, if Max is correct, that with such freedoms, engineers and teams would not need the close on half a billion dollar budget to go faster, then in the end, the FIA would still need to curb their creativity and thus the speed of the cars for safety reasons. How are the FIA going to achieve this? Tighter budget caps? Would it still be considered grand prix racing when teams are limited to only say 5 million dollars or less per season? That would just be ridiculous. Sports car teams spend more. The only practical way would be for the FIA to write ever tighter technical regulations and all this will do is curb creativity. Once again, whatever monies are available would simply be spent refining existing technology rather than producing new ones.

Lack of Rule Stability Will Raise Costs Anyway

Lets face it. One of the reasons why budgets in Formula 1 have gone sky high is because bloody Max has changed the rules according to his whims every couple of years. In some cases, he's changed it year on year. Such rule instability forces teams to deploy massive amounts of financial resources for development. Now who's to say that if Max gets his way and teams sign up unconditionally, he would settle down and stabilize the rules. Especially given safety concerns. He'd keep on changing the rules and I argue that even the little teams will be complaining. What would happen I feel is that teams would argue that the budget cap be relaxed in order to properly respond to these rule changes. And there goes the farm on budget capping.

Conclusions

I believe the FOTA teams are looking to make massive cost reductions to their operations. And I believe they are in a better position to suggest more practical and economical ways on how these can be achieved. For this to happen in the long run, there must be rule stability. And this is the thrust of the FOTA argument. That rules are managed and constructed in consultation with the teams and not simply on the whims and fancies of an ego-maniacal FIA president.

If you ask me, I don't think the FOTA teams are worried about these budget caps, or at least they shouldn't be. Better spend their time in finding not only new technical innovations but also financial innovations and creative organisational and commercial structures to circumvent such nonsense. Who's to say that they aren't doing this right now?

However, as the loud mouthed Flavio has recently said, what FOTA requires is transparency and rule stability. This is an essential ingredient to cost savings and is something that Max doesnt seem to understand or realise. And if those traitors Williams and the oh so wannabe Vijay Mallya and his Force India team had the foresight they would see that unconditional surrender to Max will in the end be folly and detrimental to them in the long run. I argue that all these hopeful new entrants should also place stability and transparency conditions not just on the FIA but also the FOM on whom their lives will depend on.
I am surprised that Williams, Force India and others seemingly take such a short term view of things. In the long run, they will be back on the table arguing against the FIA once more.

As for Max, it would seem that here is a man who wants and needs to be in complete control and be able to dictate the regulations as he pleases. I do believe though that a lot of the motivation for it is commercial and even political. Commercial pressures come from Bernie and the CVC dogs. Political pressure would perhaps come from environmental lobbies and governments. To satifsfy these pressures, I think he doesn't at all mind to be seen as the ruthless dictator and perhaps he even enjoys it. In the end I feel that he simply wants to satisfy his ego as being the man who changed and "saved" grand prix racing. There cannot be any doubt that he himself is engaging in legacy building.

And so the practical way forward is to perhaps to let Max be seen in public as the victor in this standoff. After all, car manufacturers and teams are in different businesses and not in the business of politics. FOTA should perhaps capitulate and be seen to have been humbled by the great dicatator, Premier Max. Then, work with Bernie to come up with a new Concorde Agreement that this time guarantees rule stability. I'm not sure how they would get more money out of Bernie and CVC but thats a different story. In the meantime as I mentioned FOTA teams can simply restructure their organisations to circumvent these silly budget caps. In the long run they should realise that budget caps will (in substance but not form) disappear anyway. And all that would remain (if they played it smart) is rule stability guaranteed by a new Concorde Agreement.

The Battle Lines Are Drawn

To the press Max Mosley has made known that there will be no compromises. And for good measure he has reminded the FOTA teams as to just who has been setting the rules for the last 60 years. And if they don't like it, they can eat shit and start their own championship. Well that would be interesting. Personally I'd prefer to that they did. What better way to rid themselves of cancerous CVC and corrupt dictatorships? But somehow I have a feeling this isn't going to happen.

What I do think will happen is that we'll have like Brawn and Force India getting really nervous and caving to Max pressure. I reckon even Red Bull and their two teams will follow. This leaves the five manufacturers Toyota, BMW, Mercedes (via McLaren), Renault and Ferrari. Rumour has it Renault and Toyota want out if given the chance. So this leaves BMW, Mercedes and Ferrari. Of these, only Ferrari have been extremely hardcore.

Some have suggested that the remaining 5 manufacturers run 4 car teams to make a 20 car grid in a new championship. Sure why not? Or how about allowing customer cars and allowing private entrants to purchase their cars, perhaps with the condition that the customer cars be co-identified with the manufacturer. As I have said numerous times, Red Bull has proven that the concept can work. And perhaps Red Bull can persuaded that a new championship is a good idea and that they should put all 4 Red Bull Technologies racing cars in there.

In prosperous economic conditions, I would say a new FOTA run championship would have a better than even chance of succeeding. But the reality of it is that in these turbulent times, they will not have the collective will to do so. And that would be the end of FOTA. The members will either cave in to Max or they will leave the sport. The only question is which option will Ferrari choose? I doubt if Luca would want to lose face over this affair but what are his choices? Ferrari have signed up with the FOM to 2012. If they leave now, they are facing a massive lawsuit from the likes of the dogs, Bernie and CVC. Could they afford to do so? Profitable as Ferrari are, it would be in their best interests to do so. Luca may just have to eat humble pie over this entire affair.

The rest have not gone to such lengths as Ferrari and therefore caving in to Max will not be such a loathsome option. For those manufacturers that choose to remain, you can be assured there will be reconciliatory gestures all round. Lots of back slapping and all that with Max and Bernie.

So for those that sign up to the FIA championship what would be their future? More of the same. Whilst teams want rule stability and governance transparency, they will have neither of this. And faced with this budget cap, they will wonder how to respond to Max when he keeps changing the rules ever so often to his own whims and fancies. Some people never learn the lessons of history and this folly will continue on.

In short, I'd love to see a new championship but I seriously doubt if this is going to happen. Nice try FOTA.

PS: Please prove me wrong

Connecting The Dots

The Mole is back on GrandPrix.com and after some inane drivel suggests a very interesting conspiracy theory.

Max, as everyone knows, won the vote of no-confidence some months ago with the help of some dubious affiliates of the FIA. One of these being a certain Mohammad Bin Sulayem. Coincidentally also, this chap is the brother of Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the head of the Dubai World sovereign wealth fund.

Furthermore, there have been hints by Max himself that a sovereign wealth fund will be buying over the commercial rights to Formula 1 from CVC itself. Could the Dubai World fund be that organisation? Especially given how supportive the Bin Sulayems have been of Max? Intriguing....

More On KERS

From this article by the UK's Guardian:

"'It's nonsense,' said one team engineer. 'We're saving costs with the engines - which is fine. But some of the larger teams are reputedly spending $70m [£35.5m] on Kers in the hope that they will find a performance advantage. It means even the smallest teams have to look at spending between $5m-10m they don't have. One of the Kers systems uses batteries to store the energy. They cost £150,000 and would need to be thrown away after each race. Where's the sense in that? But we're stuck with it for as long as Mosley is in charge.'"

And we're trying to save costs right Max?

Strangely Familiar

So Max won the vote. Well I guess most of us expected such a thing despite many, many reasons (aside from dubious sex charges) to get rid of him. But whats interesting is the way he won. The big clubs that make up the membership of the FIA include the Amercian Autombile Association and the German auto club ADAC. The few big clubs together represent that vast majority of motorists (and presumably motorsport participants). And yet, each of these clubs get just one vote, the same as any other affiliate however tiny these are.

This of course led Bernie to a snipe at African clubs sending votes Max's way which has angered the African clubs. Well, the Africans can protest all they want but it still rings true. The smaller clubs (African or otherwise) need the FIA (or specifically Max) to send good things their way. Some of course, are hoping to receive or keep their grands prix and other motorsport and motoring events. And guess who they voted for?

All this sounds oddly like a certain presidential election eight years ago where because of the collegiate system caused the guy who got the majority of popular votes to lose and instead a complete moron and his cronies took charge of the world's most powerful armed forces to deadly consequences for 600,000 people (including his own) in the Middle East. All of course on some incredibly spurious reason that all of the rest of the world doubted but was sold and bought wholesale through the media by the moron's charges. So much for championing democracy. Its full of shit. I of course digress here but I just had to put that in.

As for what happens now to motor racing in all forms is anyone's guess.

Breaking It Down

Finally a really juicy item that perhaps should have long been revealed appears in this article on Pitpass. If anyone ever doubted the dictatorial style of the FIA geared towards financial and commercial gain, they should get their heads out of their asses and read the article.

The article recounts the events of the 1994 season when Benetton were facing disciplinary action from the World Council over alleged fixing of a fuel rig that lead to a huge fire in the pits during Jos Verstappen's fuel stop.

To simplify and summarise here's what the article alleges:

1. That the night before the World Council, Bernie Ecclestone invites Max Mosley (chairman of the Council which he supposedly undertook "in a completely neutral capacity") to meet a certain Mr George Carmen QC representing the Benetton team.

2. That Max Mosley helpfully advised Mr Carmen that the Benetton team should not point the finger at any member of the FIA in this affair (despite the fact that the FIA had approved of the rig modification and Benetton had proof of this).

3. That Max Mosley further advised the Benetton team to simply admit guilt and he would ensure that the charges would be mysteriously dropped. This way Benetton (and Schmumacher) can keep racing and the FIA don't look like idiots for allowing the rig modification that led to the fire.

4. That more than being a simple peacemaker, Bernie Ecclestone (also a member of the World Council) was there to safeguard his investments by ensuring that a certain German won that year because "it is possible to observe a correlation between the popularity of the Championship in the Federal Republic of Germany in recent years and Michael Schumacher's success in the Championship."

5. That in doing all of this, effectively buggered the championship of one Damon Hill because of course Damon Hill will not get a single cent out of the huge German market.

I am taken back to the words of Nigel Mansell who was brought in to race at Adelaide, the final championship deciding race in the 1994 season, where he, despite being quicker than the two protagonists (or so he claims), was told by "the powers" to stay out of their fight or else....

Manipulation in the name of commercial requirements is something that many have always suspected was very much at play at the FIA particularly where it involves Max and Bernie. I remember that back in 1989 many allege that Jean Marie Balestre stacked the cards in favour of his countryman Prost when brought on the ludicrous charge of dangerous driving on Ayrton Senna. Well, wrong as that was, at least he did it for his country. In the case of Max and Bernie, its all for almighty dollar.

Now, looking down the line and purely speculating, which team in Formula 1 has the biggest fanbase, the likes of which Formula One as a commercial entity can ill afford to lose? And how many times have we suspected that favour will always follow this team? Hmmm....

I am sure teams are not happy with the situation and surely would have known of the hanky panky over the years. But many team bosses (now unfortunately replaced by manufacturers) know of this but not being skilled at political machinations as Max, nor as commercially astute as Bernie, on whom they all relied upon for financial assistance, simply could not do anything about it.

Frank Williams and Patrick Head knows the deal but their existence depends on Formula 1 and they are wont to do anything about this. Ron Dennis and McLaren had other activities to keep them afloat. This makes him bolder in facing Max and Bernie, to the utmost chagrin of Max. Witch hunt? Vendetta? Words too small to describe Max attitude and objectives towards Ron.

Did anyone really believe that McLaren's "confession" was a genuine one? Of course not. It sounded like a cop out by McLaren to ensure that they could keep on racing.

It is reasons such as these that Max Mosley must go and the FIA restructured completely if they are to retain the credibility and relevance and not some stupid sex romp episode. But as I have said before, if the stupid sex romp gets rid of this bastard, then so be it.

Hey Look Over There

What a load of crap. I feel this is nothing more than a ruse between Ecclestone and Mosley to help Herr Max keep his throne. Once the FIA votes him to stay, then this will all magically go away.

KERS Is Bullshit

By many accounts, KERS is primitive. And yet Herr Max is pushing as if it was the second coming. To me its just bullshit window dressing and the sad fact is many are buying into the hype.

The idea is that all energy spent under braking will be stored and released into electrical propulsion at the touch of a button. Limits will be placed of course and the use of this power boost will be restricted to once every lap. Quite how they will control this per lap I am none too sure.

Power boosts are nothing new. We have all seen it in Indycars and A1GP. However, as both these series have demonstrated its use by a driver wishing to overtake can simply be countered by the other driver defending the line by activating his own power boost. The sum total benefit of it amounts to bugger all. In fact, KERS is projected to release up to 10% more power to the wheels. So if we conjecture that the modern V8 produces 750 bhp, this releases around 75 bhp. Fat lot of good this will do. At Monaco for instance it bloody well makes no difference. And the same goes for a great majority of circuits as well. So much for the actual racing.

How about its possible contribution to road relevance? Luca Marmorini of Toyota, the makers of the best selling Prius hybrid, has flat out stated that it is a primitive device. One would imagine the Prius has far more sophisticated energy recovery systems. So you can chuck that in the bin. And as I have said many times, Formula 1 should be the pinnacle of racing technology. Let the boffins in the car labs handle the saving of the world.

Quite recently Max had said, in a letter to the FIA detailing why he should be allowed to stay on as FIA president, that costs in Formula 1 are skyrocketing. Well, does he really believe that the introduction of this technology will bring it down further? Thats even more bullshit. It surely will send costs flying even higher. The introduction of any new regulation and associated technology or technological development has a habit of doing this. Quite how one can believe Mosley's dream of containing costs is beyond me.

The only logical reason for having this technology introduced into Formula 1 is to create the illusion, the perception that the manufacturers and the sport cares about green issues, whilst the implementation itself does nothing for it. And why should a sport that has dedicated itself to being the pinnacle of the art and science of going fast care about these things? After all the teams care about only one thing. Winning. The rest is just total crap waste of time.

With enough press releases and press conferences with Max Mosley doing his level best to persuade the "casual fan" of its benefits, maybe these fools will start to believe it. And you know what? They probably will.

When all is said and done the manufacturers do care about the illusion if it helps them sells cars. And here it is, isn't it? The sport subsumed to the needs of the big manufacturers. And to one power mad prick who is all out to win glory for himself for supposedly doing the "right thing."

So Who Shall Take His Place?

Scanning the various news headlines on Google News, one gets the sense that Max Mosley's days are truly numbered. Alongside the largest automobile clubs, now former world champions are calling for Mosley's head in a basket. A source for the London's Daily Telegraph has described Mosley as being inflicted by a "deepening madness." Err... I think he has always been more than a little mad and don't we all know this.

Sir Jackie Stewart has made some interesting comments as to the sort of person who should be running the FIA post-Max. Sir Jackie thinks that this should be a person from outside the sport. Someone with a flair for economics and business, a CEO type of character.

Whilst Sir Jackie is not proposing that he take over the FIA, nevertheless his comments have its pros and cons. On one hand, he speaks wisely that this cannot be an ex team principle. Jean Todt for instance has been touted as a Max replacement. Dear Lord, what a dreadful error that would be. Formula 1 would be more of a Ferrari benefit than it already is. No, Mosley's replacement must be a neutral party.

On the other hand, I wonder if someone from outside the sport can truly appreciate motorsport's true essence. The very qualities that have had fans on the edge of their seats for years. Or will an outsider continue Max Mosley's vision of making it more appealing to the "casual viewer," possibly to the detriment of the sport in the long term.

One must ask whether racing as a whole and Formula 1 specifically will continue as a sport or as an unashamed commercial enterprise like wrestling or NASCAR. Some folks (like those at GrandPrix.com) would love it. I think die hard fans would feel rather disgusted by it all, as increasingly evident all over the internet.

Above all though, I feel Mosley's replacement must stand for justice and transparency in his or her decisions and this person should not be afraid to go head to head against that other irrelevant dinosaur named Bernie Ecclestone and Ferrari. He or she should also be tough enough to stand up to the other team principles who, being competitive sort of folk require a firm hand in dealing with them. Someone who can make firm decisions and yet not be a dictating tyrant.

The choice for FIA replacement is a crucial one, not only for the sport but for motoring in general. And the choice will not be an easy one. Personally I really cannot think of anyone I'd rather see. I wish the best of luck to whoever steps up to the plate.

The List Grows

Up until now, three motoring federations have joined the four manufacturers in condemning Max Mosley over his expose. These are the ADAC (Germany), the Dutch Federation and the FIA's biggest member club the American Automobile Association.

Max Mosley in the meantime is taking legal action against The News Of The World claiming a invasion of privacy and suing for unlimited damages. As Pitpass notes, he has not sued for libel. And neither has Max Mosley denied these acts. But this is really his private matter.

What isn't private is the fact that the FIA member clubs are beginning to distance themselves from the FIA president. Regardless of whether or not this is a private and personal matter (and the clubs feel that it isn't) the fact is the members want him out. And when leaders are no longer wanted by those who are in their charge then it really is time for them to leave.

If he stays on or even attempts to do so, he will have proven beyond any resonable doubt a fact that true racing fans have long known. That he is a power lusting political animal whose time is long past. And he will do whatever it takes to stay in power.

Max Mosley claims that he is being setup. According to this PlanetF1 article, he is reportedly claiming that this is some sort of plot by McLaren to bring him down. Even Bernie Ecclestone thinks so. But most surprisingly, even Dr. Mario Thiessen agrees that this could be some sort of trap.

Trap or no trap, the fact is he got exposed. And Max is not denying these acts. Its highly unfortunate for him because I think everyone has their own sexual fantasies. Anyone who denies having them is a bloody liar. However, its one thing having fantasies played out with a lover in private. Its another thing when this allegedly involves 5 hookers and gets aired in public. It shocks the hypocrites in the public.

The member clubs and the manufacturers (who guard their corporate image like crown jewels) want that most mythical person as the head of the FIA, the squeaky clean person. Irregardless of whether head of corporations are also known to indulge in lewd acts, in this case Max got caught and this is the mistake he has made.

And so, according to the rules defined by the hypocritically prudish, Max must go. To be honest, had Max been a good FIA president, I would be defending him all the way. But I hate his guts for the things he has done. Sorry Max. Time for you to leave.

Oh and Max... Whilst I see Bernie attempting to defend you, I still do not see your friends at Ferrari and Flavio Briatore coming to your aid despite your favours to them, especially to Ferrari, all these years. And now they are rats on a sinking ship.

Fair Condemnation?

Joint statements from Mercedes and BMW here.

Statement from Toyota here.

Statement from Honda here.

Ordinarily I'd sympathise with anyone who falls under this sort of scrutiny. But not this guy and not this time.

To be fair though and as this article in Pitpass mentions, there are no signs of any Nazi themes in the YouTube video. In fact, I thought the whole thing was bloody hilarious. I mean come on... the whole play acting was so elaborate and it just reminded me of a bad porno flick from the 70s. But then again, the YouTube clip was a minute and a half long. Lord knows what happened in the full 5 hours.

For years Max has been throwing around spurious and unfair accusations culminating in the whole McLaren affair. And now its his turn to receive unfair treatment. Do I care? Not a bit. In fact, I'm loving every moment of it.

But interestingly enough, no statements from either Max's friends at Ferrari or Renault just yet. And don't we all know why right? Luca and Jean! Say something. After all these years Max has been helping you guys out. Its time to return the favour mateys. Flavio! Surely you understand the fun of a little rompy pompy with the ladies right? You were there when Max received the honorary legion award from the French. Why aren't you at his side defending him now?

In all of this, there was one interesting conspiracy theory I read the other day. It was actually a comment in a F1Fanatic article. It goes something like this. News Of The World, The Times, Sky News and ITV are all entities associated with News Corporation controlled by one Rupert Murdoch. Well, recently ITV lost F1 rights to the BBC. In addition, Martin Brundle both of ITV and The Sunday times is being brought to court by the FIA over his "witch hunt" article last year. Therefore, this is retaliation by News Corp against Max and by association the FIA, the FOM and Bernie. Some payback huh?

All this is just so funny.

Sport In Disrepute?

Interesting article on Max Mosley and his family is published in the UK's Independent newspaper today. But as the article concludes and as Max himself has said, Max is here to stay. Interesting isn't it? An apology is apparently sufficient for the head of the FIA. Contrast to that with the embattled Finnish minister fired over erotic text messages. But then he ain't the boss, is he?

However, its interesting to note that FIA presidents seem to have rather chequered pasts. Take Jean Marie Balestre, loathed by many but to a far lesser extent than Max. He too, apparently, allied himself with Vichy France during World War II. It seems that the FIA have a knack for Facist leaders. No wonder they keep infuriating everybody.

Max likes to throw the catch all regulation about bringing the sport to disrepute at people from time to time, such as in last year's spy scandal (and really whenever it suited his purpose). Any chance that anyone is clever enough to twist this current episode as to somehow potray Max himself as bringing the sport to disrepute?

Yes, I know I'm clutching at straws. But I am not alone I think in wanting to see this bastard leave the FIA for good! But what are the alternatives to Max? Jean Todt? A motor racing man to be sure and one who perhaps understands it far better than the stupid lawyer currently at the helm. But god, that wouldn't put the Ferrari International Assistance out of existence now, would it? Far from it.