Ferrari Leave Formula 1

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76244

FIA says ?40m budget cap going ahead

The FIA says that its plans for a ?40 million budget cap will now go ahead unchanged, after the latest talks between the governing body and the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) to try and find a compromise ended without a deal.

Leading financial representatives from both the FIA and FOTA met in London on Monday to try and reach a settlement on next year's rules that would be acceptable to both parties.

There had been some hope that new rules could be put in place after preliminary agreement was reached between FIA president Max Mosley and several representatives of FOTA in a meeting last week.

However, the FIA has been left disappointed that this week's meeting achieved nothing, after FOTA's representatives said they could not discuss the rules, and the teams' proposals were rejected as being ineffective.

A statement issued by the FIA on Tuesday said: "As agreed at the meeting of 11 June, FIA financial experts met yesterday with financial experts from FOTA.

"Unfortunately, the FOTA representatives announced that they had no mandate to discuss the FIA's 2010 financial regulations. Indeed, they were not prepared to discuss regulation at all.

"As a result, the meeting could not achieve its purpose of comparing the FIA's rules with the FOTA proposals with a view to finding a common position.

"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.

"The FIA Financial Regulations therefore remain as published."

The FIA has become increasingly frustrated with the failure to find a solution to the row, and on Monday it accused factions with FOTA of deliberately trying to scupper a deal.

F1's current teams have been given until Friday to drop the conditions attached to their entries, or risk being left off the grid for 2010.

With part of their conditions being that the 2010 regulations are scrapped, the FIA's latest stance makes it increasingly unlikely that the matter can be resolved before the deadline.
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http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76250

Webber: Breakaway series appealing

By Jonathan Noble Tuesday, June 16th 2009, 10:30 GMT

A breakaway Formula 1 championship would hold no fears for drivers as it would still be the most 'prestigious' championship in the world, claims Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber.

With F1 edging closer to the possibility of a split after talks between the FIA and FOTA to find a solution to the row over costs stalled on Monday, fears about a breakaway championship are increasing.

Writing in his BBC column, Webber said he was saddened that the political situation was going to overshadow this weekend's British GP - but said that he fully supported the stance adopted by FOTA.

"It's a great shame that, for the second year in a row, we're not even going to able to go to Silverstone and concentrate on a great venue and a great race," wrote Webber.

"Friday is the day of the latest deadline in the political row that's going on in Formula 1 at the moment, and the papers are going to be full of all that nonsense, when it should be about [Jenson] Button and the drivers competing in the British GP.

"It's disappointing that it has ended up this way, with the teams in a stand-off with the FIA, the governing body, over its plans to change the rules next year and introduce a ?40m budget cap

"Collectively everyone has played a role in trying to help and protect the sport and you just see all that effort down the years being devalued or diluted through some pretty radical ideas."

"It's good to have some stability, to be able to predict what's going to happen, not have different things going on every six months."

He added: "All the drivers share the same view. We want to drive for the best teams and race against the best drivers. If it's not the FIA Formula 1 world championship, so be it. It'll still be the most prestigious championship.

"Ferrari are crucial. Everyone wants to beat them and McLaren. They're awesome teams and big set-ups who've taken years to get into that situation, they are respected and we want to beat these guys.

"It's the first time ever pretty much all the teams have the same view. For the sake of the sport, the main constructors and people who have the real vision believe they need to take a stand.

"It doesn't have to be this way but it's been pretty predictable. There have been lots of little ding-dongs going on over the last few years."
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"All the drivers share the same view. We want to drive for the best teams and race against the best drivers. If it's not the FIA Formula 1 world championship, so be it. It'll still be the most prestigious championship.

"Ferrari are crucial. Everyone wants to beat them and McLaren. They're awesome teams and big set-ups who've taken years to get into that situation, they are respected and we want to beat these guys.

"It's the first time ever pretty much all the teams have the same view. For the sake of the sport, the main constructors and people who have the real vision believe they need to take a stand."
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:dance:
 
Mark Webber said:
If it's not the FIA Formula 1 world championship, so be it. It'll still be the most prestigious championship.
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Well said : )
 
It's settled then. No new talks are scheduled, 5 Fota manufacturers won't apply cause of the 50 million agreement, Brawns too, Red Bull teams i am not sure, probably will follow FOTA too, as they won't be able to afford Newey in F1 under unchanged cap.

I am only worried about FIA inability to get 8 new teams (to accompany Williams and India). They have the new 3, one was "missing documents in the process", Austrian project has financial problems, Brabham is facing a legal battle, so they probably won't get enough to fill 16 slots on the grid.

Looking forward to next year.
 
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A breakaway series doesn't sound bad now, but... Let's imagine it's created.
The FOTA teams are united, they go everywhere hand in hand and it's seemingly a lovefest. But now, they have a reason to be united. They all fight against the same enemy and this units them. One would think that the new series would also unit them in the future, but think about it.
How many times have we heard rumours of Renault and Toyota (and since the financial crisis even BMW and Mercedes) leaving F1? It almost seems as if Renault had been ready to leave for years. I can imagine Toyota leaving anytime. Renault's main concern has been money, apparently they don't think it's worth spending so much on F1. Would this change in a FOTA-governed series? No. A new series would be even more expensive. I understand that the essence of this war is not just fighting against the new rules and the budget cap, it's a fight against the whole FIA government - but I think some manufacturers would leave F1 even if it's governence was perfect, simply because manufacturers' first priority seems to be money.
"Without racing, there is no Honda", says the slogan, yet they decided to leave F1 without warning. It could easily happen in the FOTA series too, with one difference - who would replace the leaving manufacturers? New teams would probably prefer going to F1. A series based on manufacturer teams would be uncertain with increasing costs and numerous problems to be solved.
 
I'll admit I was wrong, it looks like Ferrari weren't just bluffing :blink:
A breakaway would be an unmitigated disaster. The teams barely agree on anything as it is, they certainly would never agree on the regulation changes that would inevitably have to happen. The first year or two would be fine, maybe even a success as they could just use the current regulations, lightly modified. The problems would arise after that. The other main problem is that the manufacturers would have a huge majority at the moment, so the smaller teams interests would probably not be heeded and they would end up forced out.
The only way it could ever work is if they agree to elect a new "dictator" to rule the sport (maybe democratically selected). Bring someone like Jean Todt in who would be willing to consider everyone's views equally. If you made it so that they were elected every 4 years or so, they would have to follow the best interests of all the teams, rather than being self-serving.
 
vikiradTG2007 said:
http://fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/f1releases/2009/Pages/fia_fota.aspx

I don't know what to make of this, other than the fact that this might be FIA's official "declaration of war" against FOTA.
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I read the first few lines...

What is this dispute really all about? Is it about an attempt by some teams to take over the commercial rights to Formula One? Or to take the regulatory function away from the FIA? Or even just a clash of personalities?
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... and thought to myself "Gosh, this sounds like someone's achy-breaky diary entry, not a press release!"

:lol: I'm sorry if I seem insensitive, I've just reached a point where I'm starting to find things getting so ridiculous that it's just plain funny.
 
This has just tunred serious...I can't believe it...this is gonna be great...that, or a disaster...
 
ladora said:
I read the first few lines...



... and thought to myself "Gosh, this sounds like someone's achy-breaky diary entry, not a press release!"

:lol: I'm sorry if I seem insensitive, I've just reached a point where I'm starting to find things getting so ridiculous that it's just plain funny.
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You are not the only one, I started to read it on Autosport and I thought the first paragraph was written by the author of the article as a foreword to the press release. :lol:
 
^ I'll have some when you're done. This is going to be a great weekend...
 
Since I'm leaving the states this weekend, I won't be able to spend too much time on the net for the latest F1 updates. So I'm relying on you guys here, please post whatever you can find about FIA and FOTA's outcome.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Since I won't be able to catch the British GP BBC live coverage, I will just assume that Jensen has got this race in the bag already : p
 
The new questionnaire:

1. Will FIA sue Ferrari for breaking the agreement to participate in F1 up until 2012, if they do, who's going to win?

2. Which of the current FOTA teams, who DID NOT sign a $50 million bond not to apply to F1 (Brawn, Red Bull, Toro Rosso), you suspect will stay in F1?

3. What would be the name and the basic rulebook of the breakaway series?

4. Can FOTA make the camera-people not show Anthony Hamilton anymore?

5. Will there be a new lower tier racing series, as GP2 and F2 are to F1?

6. Which "Abandoned by F1" racing circuits will return to Breakaway Series calendar?

7. Of all the 16 current FOTA drivers, who will seek employment in the 2010 F1?

8. With 8/10 teams gone from F1 next year, what will be the drop "%" in TV ratings and Grand Prix attendance figures next year?
 
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ViperVX said:
The new questionnaire:
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Fun, fun, fun....

1. Will FIA sue Ferrari for breaking the agreement to participate in F1 up untill 2012, if they do, who's going to win? They will sue. I hope Ferrari win, but I think maybe the FIA will. And then everyone else in FOTA is royally screwed.

2. Which of the current FOTA teams, who DID NOT sign a $50 million bond not to apply to F1 (McLaren, Brawn, Red Bulls), you suspect will stay in F1?
None, if the other series happens. Otherwise, all of them.
3. What would be the name and the basic rulebook of the breakaway series?
Grand Prix, or GP1, or something like that. The rulebook should be somewhere between 08 and 09 I think, with some '10 cost cut ideas.
4. Can FOTA make the camera-people not show Anthony Hamilton anymore? Let's not go completely mad now...

5. Will there be a new lower tier racing series, as GP2 and F2 are to F1? Nah, no need...

6. Which "Abandoned by F1" racing circuits will return to Breakaway Series calendar? Magny Cours, Gilles Villeneuve, Silverstone, maybe Jerez

7. Of all the 16 current FOTA drivers, who will seek employment in the 2010 F1?
The guys fired by their teams (ie. Bourdais)
8. With 8/10 teams gone from F1 next year, what will be the TV ratings and Grand Prix attendance figures drop next year in %? Probably around 40% down, assuming the other series takes off well....
 
Well after reading the whole thing it's quite obvious that the FIA is trying to shift the blame to FOTA, who I am sure are not complete innocents, but are not the evil bastards this document tries to portray. The most interesting part to me was Di Montezemolo giving his word to get the manufacturers assurance and not even trying to do so. I find this interesting because the whole document seems to try and point out that Ferrari seem to want to take over the sport, a point that I don't find too hard to believe because Italians are crazy bastards and now that Jean Todt is not there god knows what's going through the minds of all those mobsters.

I would not be surprised if this entire crisis was conjured by Ferrari BUT, if Max wasn't the piece of shit dictator that he is he would see that he must let go of the 40M? crap he came up with or the teams will just quit the whole thing and go race elsewhere.

This whole thing starting with a dictator on one side and a power crazed Italian on the other sounds very logical to me.

If I had to choose sides I'd go with FOTA but in truth, after reading that document I am convinced that a much better agreement could have been reached if both men were missing from both sides.
 
If Mosley - Montezemolo exchange is valid, it looks like FIA stepped back a bit about 3 weeks ago, clearly FOTA never wanted a compromise, but a full blown acceptance of their stance on things, so recent FOTA relations with MotoGP bosses might be already a "deal in progress" for alternative series.
 
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Mercury said:
Ferrari seem to want to take over the sport, a point that I don't find too hard to believe because Italians are crazy bastards
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You just sent a chill down my spine. If the FIA is going to be Ferrari biased, what would Formula Ferrari be like :|



...let's hope that doesn't happen :p...
 
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