Why Racing Belongs On Track

Some people call it racing. Some people call it sport. Lots of people are calling this a farce these days with all these shenanigans that have little to do with racing.

The sorry state of Formula 1 rolls on... June 12th might be another day in the long running drama.

F1 Headed For A Showdown...

And it's not on the track. Ferrari lost their court case this week when seeking an injunction against the FIA's rules (more details here).

They lost not on the grounds of their case, but the fact that they failed to exercise their veto power at a prior meeting with the FIA when decisions surrounding the rule changes (and budget cap) for next season were made. However, the FIA did err in their procedural matters and thus are now also subject to additional legal action.

Yesterday all 10 F1 teams threatened (via FOTA, the Formula One Teams Association) to pull out for next season. FIA president Max Mosley's likely intended outcome for next year was a somewhat higher budget cap than 40m Euros. Maybe 60m or 70m, and one set of technical regulations. The threat of a two tier rule structure and a low budget cap was just posturing.

But the negotiations didn't go as planned once the existing teams realized the proposal would devalue the investments they have made over years, and in some cases decades (Ferrari), and not allow the them to ramp down their spending in a gradual
and orderly manner unless they were subjected to severe technical restritions, while teams that do comply with the budget cap (probably new entrants) would be allowed tremendous technical freedom.

There is no way any sensible outcome would involve Ferrari leaving F1. It is much more likely that a compromise will be reached (e.g. only one set of rules) and/or Mosley will have to leave.

And this still would not resolve the issue of how a budget cap could possibly be enforced in an equitable fashion. It is foolish to believe that accounting rules can be enforced more easily than technical rules.

F1 Cost Cutting Measures

The F1 governing body (FIA) is worried about the rising costs of running an F1 team, especially during an economic environment like the one we have now. If another team goes under the grid will be down to 18 cars, which will be a shadow of the 26 cars the grids use to have in the early 1990's. Simply put the show will be in serious jeopardy if one or two teams fail.

So they're proposing all sorts of radical changes during the upcoming few seasons. If every proposal goes through, by the end of it the teams will be buying mostly spec parts and cars to race with.

While the FIA idea that the cost of running a team should be close to the amount of revenue it brings in from its share of the TV broadcast money makes sense, mandating and enforcing that is going to be very difficult.

They're basically proposing standard engines for 2013, as well as standard wheels, brakes, and suspensions in addition to the standard tires already used.

Pretty soon the cars could be a lot like the GP2 cars. The racing will be closer and the drivers more experienced so it should be exciting to watch, which is the most important thing. But then it wouldn't really be Formula 1 with teams building their own cars as now. Here's a link to the supposedly leaked letter:

http://www.formula1blog.com/?p=2393