Just do as I say

[Derek Smith]

At a time when Mossy is demanding swingeing cuts across the board for teams, suggesting that costs put off incoming teams, it would appear that he has not grip on the finances of F1.

We all know about the taxing of driver by way of increasing the licence fee. Perhaps you also remember Mossy saying that this was in order to fund the costs of fire extinguishers or something. So now Hamilton pays £270,000 in order to bring thousands of spectators to Silverstone this year – but not next of course – and millions of extra viewers. I bet he’s glad he doesn’t race in NASCAR, the next highest fees in motorsport, where he would be forced to fork out a whopping great $4000.

PitPass reports that with Mossy at the controls, the projected profit of €472,000 has gone up to a massive, er, actual deficit of €1.7 million.

This is despite entry fees for GP are believed to have increased by 1/3rd to €300,000, no doubt in another tremendous cost saving initiative by Mossy, which of course does not take into account the increase in calendar fees of 90% increase on 2007, going up by €2,510,000 to around €2,800,000.

So Mossy would appear to have gone over the budget by some €2,000,000+ in a year despite these hikes.

So who’s for the suggestion that the increase in licence fees last year was demanded in order to cope with the massive budget overrun?

[LanCat]

Surely that was just to pay for his legal fees?

[Holst]

I dont think this is really moselys fault.
Its down to F1 being bought on borrowed money, which now needs to be paid back.. hence the defecit.

F1 in itself is very profitable.. its just that the owners/management company have massive debts.

More bernies fault than max.

F1's finances are very complicated and I dont understand all the details, if you search the forum for Flemke's posts you can find more info.

[nc107]

I hear legal defense teams were quite expensive in 2008.........no of course not, he paid for that out of his own pocket - he said so himself

I wouldn't have thought the FIA's finances are based on borrowed money (not in the same way Bernies are). The just take the entry fee and set a budget around that - what would they be financing, they haven't bought anything ?

Edited by nc107 on Tuesday 24th March 20:32

[Derek Smith]

Holst said:

I dont think this is really moselys fault.
Its down to F1 being bought on borrowed money, which now needs to be paid back.. hence the defecit.

F1 in itself is very profitable.. its just that the owners/management company have massive debts.

More bernies fault than max.

F1's finances are very complicated and I dont understand all the details, if you search the forum for Flemke's posts you can find more info.

But going from an estimated profit to a massive loss - the only person who can be blamed is the bloke in charge. I think Mossy must have been getting to you 'cause he blames Bernie for everything.

But I'm with you: I fail to understand the finances of F1.

[eccles]

Derek Smith said:

Holst said:

I dont think this is really moselys fault.
Its down to F1 being bought on borrowed money, which now needs to be paid back.. hence the defecit.

F1 in itself is very profitable.. its just that the owners/management company have massive debts.

More bernies fault than max.

F1's finances are very complicated and I dont understand all the details, if you search the forum for Flemke's posts you can find more info.

But going from an estimated profit to a massive loss - the only person who can be blamed is the bloke in charge.

He must be due a massive bonus then, that's how it seems to work in the city these days!

[andyps]

Looking at the FIA as a whole, presumably a fairly large part of the income must come from the member clubs. Following the negative publicity about the FIA last year I wonder how many of the member clubs may have decided not to be associated with the FIA, leading to a subsequent reduction in income. There seems little point in looking on the FIA website at member lists for changes as they don't keep it up to date - after the NOTW story last year I contacted the RAC (as a member) about their views on MM and was told that they were no longer FIA members. 12 months later they are still on the list.

The other concern about the FIA accounts is that there have been many suggestions by MM that much of the legal and detective costs relating to the NOTW story have been paid for by the FIA. No doubt these costs are quite substantial with the calibre of people employed. As MM has also repeatedly stated that the story related to his personal life and did not affect his ability to do his job it seems completely unethical to use the federation funds to pay for his legal costs. In any business which was accountable doing so would be misappropriation of funds and quite possibly a criminal offence. In the strange world of MM that doesn't seem to be the case.

Basically, when the man in charge is shown to be so incompetent both personally and in business he should be out. MM will say that he needs to stay to sort things out. The worry is, if I am right in my first point, those clubs who opposed him will no longer be involved and able to vote against him.

[garycat]

I wonder what happened to the $100m that McLaren paid to them. I've never heard of any specific projects or donations linked to the money.

[flemke]

garycat said:

I wonder what happened to the $100m that McLaren paid to them. I've never heard of any specific projects or donations linked to the money.

About $40M (which McLaren would have received for having finished 2nd in the WCC) went into the pool, and thus was dispersed to the other teams.
About $60M was allocated to "improving the safety of grass roots motor sport".

[FNG]

flemke said:

garycat said:

I wonder what happened to the $100m that McLaren paid to them. I've never heard of any specific projects or donations linked to the money.

About $40M (which McLaren would have received for having finished 2nd in the WCC) went into the pool, and thus was dispersed to the other teams.
About $60M was allocated to "improving the safety of grass roots motor sport".

Was it wrong of me to assume, then, that the grassroots motorsport that would benefit most from this $60m might possibly be disproportionately directed towards those member clubs who had vocally supported the FIA president when the Spank Scandal broke?

Therefore we aren't going to exactly be tripping over spare cash for grassroots motorsport in the UK, Germany, Holland, US... but the UaE and a fair bir of Africa might do quite nicely?

Or perhaps that wouldn't be a fair supposition and I am overly cynical about the politicisation of the FIA. Hmmmm.

[flemke]

FNG said:

flemke said:

garycat said:

I wonder what happened to the $100m that McLaren paid to them. I've never heard of any specific projects or donations linked to the money.

About $40M (which McLaren would have received for having finished 2nd in the WCC) went into the pool, and thus was dispersed to the other teams.
About $60M was allocated to "improving the safety of grass roots motor sport".

Was it wrong of me to assume, then, that the grassroots motorsport that would benefit most from this $60m might possibly be disproportionately directed towards those member clubs who had vocally supported the FIA president when the Spank Scandal broke?

Therefore we aren't going to exactly be tripping over spare cash for grassroots motorsport in the UK, Germany, Holland, US... but the UaE and a fair bir of Africa might do quite nicely?

Or perhaps that wouldn't be a fair supposition and I am overly cynical about the politicisation of the FIA. Hmmmm.

How cynical, how very cynical.
Would you be challenging the integrity of the FIA and especially its esteemed president?
I'll have you know that Max Rufus Mosley is a fine gentleman. In fact, he's just as straight as the hind leg of a donkey.

[FNG]

flemke said:

FNG said:

flemke said:

garycat said:

I wonder what happened to the $100m that McLaren paid to them. I've never heard of any specific projects or donations linked to the money.

About $40M (which McLaren would have received for having finished 2nd in the WCC) went into the pool, and thus was dispersed to the other teams.
About $60M was allocated to "improving the safety of grass roots motor sport".

Was it wrong of me to assume, then, that the grassroots motorsport that would benefit most from this $60m might possibly be disproportionately directed towards those member clubs who had vocally supported the FIA president when the Spank Scandal broke?

Therefore we aren't going to exactly be tripping over spare cash for grassroots motorsport in the UK, Germany, Holland, US... but the UaE and a fair bir of Africa might do quite nicely?

Or perhaps that wouldn't be a fair supposition and I am overly cynical about the politicisation of the FIA. Hmmmm.

How cynical, how very cynical.
Would you be challenging the integrity of the FIA and especially its esteemed president?
I'll have you know that Max Rufus Mosley is a fine gentleman. In fact, he's just as straight as the hind leg of a donkey.

Now, you can't go saying that: that's putting words into my mouth.

For the record, I think Mr Moseley is so straight, he meets himself coming the other way.

...no, that's no better is it?

Better stick with the donkey analogy. Much more fitting. The leg is pretty close to the arse, after all.

[The Hypno-Toad]

flemke said:

FNG said:

flemke said:

garycat said:

I wonder what happened to the $100m that McLaren paid to them. I've never heard of any specific projects or donations linked to the money.

About $40M (which McLaren would have received for having finished 2nd in the WCC) went into the pool, and thus was dispersed to the other teams.
About $60M was allocated to "improving the safety of grass roots motor sport".

Was it wrong of me to assume, then, that the grassroots motorsport that would benefit most from this $60m might possibly be disproportionately directed towards those member clubs who had vocally supported the FIA president when the Spank Scandal broke?

Therefore we aren't going to exactly be tripping over spare cash for grassroots motorsport in the UK, Germany, Holland, US... but the UaE and a fair bir of Africa might do quite nicely?

Or perhaps that wouldn't be a fair supposition and I am overly cynical about the politicisation of the FIA. Hmmmm.

How cynical, how very cynical.
Would you be challenging the integrity of the FIA and especially its esteemed president?
I'll have you know that Max Rufus Mosley is a fine gentleman. In fact, he's just as straight as the hind leg of a donkey.

Unless of course you believe the conspiracy theory that actually Mclaren didn't pay a bean. The fine was written off once Mclaren had pressed the button on Hamiltons gearbox control in Brazil 08....

[flemke]

The Hypno-Toad said:

flemke said:

FNG said:

flemke said:

garycat said:

I wonder what happened to the $100m that McLaren paid to them. I've never heard of any specific projects or donations linked to the money.

About $40M (which McLaren would have received for having finished 2nd in the WCC) went into the pool, and thus was dispersed to the other teams.
About $60M was allocated to "improving the safety of grass roots motor sport".

Was it wrong of me to assume, then, that the grassroots motorsport that would benefit most from this $60m might possibly be disproportionately directed towards those member clubs who had vocally supported the FIA president when the Spank Scandal broke?

Therefore we aren't going to exactly be tripping over spare cash for grassroots motorsport in the UK, Germany, Holland, US... but the UaE and a fair bir of Africa might do quite nicely?

Or perhaps that wouldn't be a fair supposition and I am overly cynical about the politicisation of the FIA. Hmmmm.

How cynical, how very cynical.
Would you be challenging the integrity of the FIA and especially its esteemed president?
I'll have you know that Max Rufus Mosley is a fine gentleman. In fact, he's just as straight as the hind leg of a donkey.

Unless of course you believe the conspiracy theory that actually Mclaren didn't pay a bean. The fine was written off once Mclaren had pressed the button on Hamiltons gearbox control in Brazil 08....

Is that the theory that was thought-up by the same guys who proved that Diana Spencer was killed by MI5 and that the Apollo astronauts never left Florida?

[The Hypno-Toad]

flemke said:

The Hypno-Toad said:

flemke said:

FNG said:

flemke said:

garycat said:

I wonder what happened to the $100m that McLaren paid to them. I've never heard of any specific projects or donations linked to the money.

About $40M (which McLaren would have received for having finished 2nd in the WCC) went into the pool, and thus was dispersed to the other teams.
About $60M was allocated to "improving the safety of grass roots motor sport".

Was it wrong of me to assume, then, that the grassroots motorsport that would benefit most from this $60m might possibly be disproportionately directed towards those member clubs who had vocally supported the FIA president when the Spank Scandal broke?

Therefore we aren't going to exactly be tripping over spare cash for grassroots motorsport in the UK, Germany, Holland, US... but the UaE and a fair bir of Africa might do quite nicely?

Or perhaps that wouldn't be a fair supposition and I am overly cynical about the politicisation of the FIA. Hmmmm.

How cynical, how very cynical.
Would you be challenging the integrity of the FIA and especially its esteemed president?
I'll have you know that Max Rufus Mosley is a fine gentleman. In fact, he's just as straight as the hind leg of a donkey.

Unless of course you believe the conspiracy theory that actually Mclaren didn't pay a bean. The fine was written off once Mclaren had pressed the button on Hamiltons gearbox control in Brazil 08....

Is that the theory that was thought-up by the same guys who proved that Diana Spencer was killed by MI5 and that the Apollo astronauts never left Florida?

Frightingly I know two people in the industry, one high up in a very well known UK constructor, who believe this to be true. With all the BS thats happened in the last few years with gruesome twosome it wouldn't even surprise me if it was true.

[Cara Van Man]

flemke said:

About $60M was allocated to "improving the safety of grass roots motor sport".

In other words it went towards his legal fees and hush money for the prostitutes of London and Paris.

[flemke]

The Hypno-Toad said:

flemke said:

The Hypno-Toad said:

flemke said:

FNG said:

flemke said:

garycat said:

I wonder what happened to the $100m that McLaren paid to them. I've never heard of any specific projects or donations linked to the money.

About $40M (which McLaren would have received for having finished 2nd in the WCC) went into the pool, and thus was dispersed to the other teams.
About $60M was allocated to "improving the safety of grass roots motor sport".

Was it wrong of me to assume, then, that the grassroots motorsport that would benefit most from this $60m might possibly be disproportionately directed towards those member clubs who had vocally supported the FIA president when the Spank Scandal broke?

Therefore we aren't going to exactly be tripping over spare cash for grassroots motorsport in the UK, Germany, Holland, US... but the UaE and a fair bir of Africa might do quite nicely?

Or perhaps that wouldn't be a fair supposition and I am overly cynical about the politicisation of the FIA. Hmmmm.

How cynical, how very cynical.
Would you be challenging the integrity of the FIA and especially its esteemed president?
I'll have you know that Max Rufus Mosley is a fine gentleman. In fact, he's just as straight as the hind leg of a donkey.

Unless of course you believe the conspiracy theory that actually Mclaren didn't pay a bean. The fine was written off once Mclaren had pressed the button on Hamiltons gearbox control in Brazil 08....

Is that the theory that was thought-up by the same guys who proved that Diana Spencer was killed by MI5 and that the Apollo astronauts never left Florida?

Frightingly I know two people in the industry, one high up in a very well known UK constructor, who believe this to be true. With all the BS thats happened in the last few years with gruesome twosome it wouldn't even surprise me if it was true.

It certainly would not seem to be outside the ethical boundaries of Tweedledee and Tweedledum. The question is whether Ron Dennis would have gone in for it. The man's teams have won >100 GPs, and numerous WDCs and WCCs. The notion that he would have crawled down into the gutter that they call home is almost inconceivable to me.

[german tony]

What would you do for 100 million?

[flemke]

german tony said:

What would you do for 100 million?

It would have been $15M to him, pre-tax. He doesn't need the money.

Then you have the fact that Mosley - who made such play of the notion that the $100M was "letting McLaren off lightly" - would have had to justify why the entire fine had been rescinded. How would he have explained that? Mosley doesn't do, "I was wrong."

[german tony]

Indeed, the money was paid (or wasn't paid to McLaren in the 1st place) & anything else is just sillyness.

The funniest bit is how McLaren manage to cough up the money & still not go bankrupt as Mosley seemed to be hoping they would. I hope that stuck his blood pressure way up.