Ferrari open to breakaway championship

[woof]

Ferrari open to breakaway championship
(must be time to re negotiate the Concorde agreement)

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo says Formula 1 teams will be open to the idea of forming their own championship from 2013, on the back of interest from News Corporation about getting involved in the sport.

A tie-up between News Corp and Italian investment group Exor, which has strong ties to Ferrari parent company Fiat, has prompted speculation that Ferrari could be evaluating the possibility of a breakaway series."

So Ferrari want an even larger share of F1 monies than they do currently. Ferrari already get more than anyone else, because they are Ferrari. "And without Ferrari, there's no F1"

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91349

[A911DOM]

So let me get this straight...

Ferrari dont like the fact they arent winning despite having the biggest pot to piss in, and supposedly the most talented snitch, I mean cheat.... sorry... eyebrow.... Bugger

Good luck and good ridence i say... How exciting, watching ferrari dumb down their competitors each week so as Montenopolyzemelo can afford his hair wax and swanky chinos...

[Cheese Mechanic]

A911DOM said:

So let me get this straight...

Ferrari dont like the fact they arent winning despite having the biggest pot to piss in, and supposedly the most talented snitch, I mean cheat.... sorry... eyebrow.... Bugger

Good luck and good ridence i say... How exciting, watching ferrari dumb down their competitors each week so as Montenopolyzemelo can afford his hair wax and swanky chinos...

Sounds good to me . Feck off Fiat!

Oh yeah , P/S Dom Celp is brill!

Edited by Cheese Mechanic on Saturday 14th May 14:53

[AlpineWhite]

This is just the standard posturing before negotiations for the next Concorde agreement, isn't it?

[woof]

AlpineWhite said:

This is just the standard posturing before negotiations for the next Concorde agreement, isn't it?

yep !

[A911DOM]

Cheese Mechanic said:

Sounds good to me . Feck off Fiat!

Oh yeah , P/S Dom Celp is brill!

Edited by Cheese Mechanic on Saturday 14th May 14:53

Ive just run out too

Glad you like it CM Get yourself some 'The big smoke' too - the 60 (percent) is like peat rocket fuel

and back on topic....

[Derek Smith]

AlpineWhite said:

This is just the standard posturing before negotiations for the next Concorde agreement, isn't it?

It is a threat. A threat is of little use unless you have something to back it up. If the other side knows that it is an impossibility then all you have done is suggest that you can be walked all over.

I'm not a big supporter of threats. I think they often show a weakness. If Ferrari wanted to put pressure on CVC they should have just entered discussions with backers and the other teams to investigate the chances of another series. Oh, and some television company or other. That would have been better. News would leak out soon enough, especially after McL and Ferrari refuse to comment.

The problem with specifics is that if neither side is willing to back down, or thinks the other will cave in first, then both end up being forced to go for plan B.

This concord agreement is a critical time for the sport. mosley ensured that the teams organised themselves into a powerful lobby. Once they tasted power they wanted to keep it. Todt is in a difficult position. He, the FIA, stands to lose a considerable amount if the teams do clear off. It will take some years to build F1 up into anywhere near as big again. He also wants a cut from CVC but has little to bargain with.

The ACO runs LMS with little regard to the FIA. And with little income generated for it. FOCA need look no further for a model. Foca 1 anyone?

Ferrari running the sport is not good news. It wasn't when they virtually ran it under mosley. There does need to be a balancing agent. Murdoch isn't that.

Having the teams produce the rules and police them is a recipe for disaster.

Worrying times.

[Fire99]

I'm not certain the 4-cylinder engine malarkey is helping the situation with Ferrari. It seems to favour potential newcomers (something from the VAG group) rather than the 'lads' from Italy.

[F1 Contractor]

Yes because all of the rival series to F1 have done so well.... really enjoying this years A1 GP.... GP Masters..... ummmmmmmmm?

[Derek Smith]

F1 Contractor said:

Yes because all of the rival series to F1 have done so well.... really enjoying this years A1 GP.... GP Masters..... ummmmmmmmm?

The other formulae were not rivals.

It is a tragedy that mosely ran them down. There was little or no support. F2 is nothing but Formula Ford. A one make F2 is no way for constructors to learn their crft and move up to F1.

Todt seems to be supporting WRC so perhaps the winds of change are blowing.

We need exciting lower formulae to get people interested in F1. I wonder how many fans saw the Tuscan Challenge as their first race. If you take F1 away there is little motor sport on TV.

Thee is room in the schedules for another formulae. Have F1 and Foca 1 running side by side seems to me to be a good idea, although it will not happen of course. One will try and out-do the other.

I'd prefer a WSC series. A dozen races or so on those weekends that Bernie hasn't already booked seems to me to be ideal. I know I'm going back a few weeks but it used to be like that. Indeed the drivers had their toes in both.

If FOCA do opt for their own series then the good news is that they will need feeder formula so there will be other races to watch.

[AlpineWhite]

Derek Smith said:

It is a threat.

Exactly that. To paraphrase Pitpass, last time they threatened to leave F1. Now they are threatening to buy it. A variation on a theme, probably brought about by the prohibition of discussing a breakaway series until the end of this (or next?) year.

They've also made a very good point that the Exor / News Corp "bid" can be summarised as some parties, that may talk to other parties, while thinking about maybe making a bid to perhaps buy something that is not for sale....

All of a sudden it looks like an empty threat to me, unless I am missing something.

[fatboy69]

So the breakaway championship will be open only to cars built by Ferrari & only if they are driven by a whnging Spaniard named Alonso!!!

One car, one driver, one winner.....

[F1 Contractor]

fatboy69 said:

So the breakaway championship will be open only to cars built by Ferrari & only if they are driven by a whnging Spaniard named Alonso!!!

One car, one driver, one winner.....

.....one eyebrow!

[bigbadbikercats]

Derek Smith said:

We need exciting lower formulae to get people interested in F1. I wonder how many fans saw the Tuscan Challenge as their first race. If you take F1 away there is little motor sport on TV.

Actually, speaking as someone who doesn't have MurdochVision, between the BBC's MotoGP coverage, ITV's coverage of the TOCA package, ESPN's FIA GT coverage plus the odd highlights package here and there (WSB, BSB, European Rallycross, US Supercross, drag racing, etc, etc, etc) I'm seeing more motor sport on TV than ever before[1].

Doesn't mean I wouldn't like to see more though - in particular I'd love to see top-level Speedway available on Terrestrial TV...

--
JG

[1] Oh how my wife and family love it when MotoGP and/or TOCA, and/or F1 show up on the same weekend and I commandeer the TV for a marathon all aftenoon and evening motorsport veg-out session...

[The Hypno-Toad]

IMHO Why did Mad Max and Bernie back down the last time there was a breakaway threat?

Because both Ferrari & Monaco had signed up to the breakaway group. Like it or not, whoever has those two in their series has the rights to call themselves Formula One. They are the two most important things in the brand.

[Derek Smith]

The Hypno-Toad said:

IMHO Why did Mad Max and Bernie back down the last time there was a breakaway threat?

Because both Ferrari & Monaco had signed up to the breakaway group. Like it or not, whoever has those two in their series has the rights to call themselves Formula One. They are the two most important things in the brand.

I'm not sure Bernie and CVC will agree that Monaco has control of the rights to the F1 logo.

Whilst there is other motorsport on TV - GT racing in particular for me - it is not hyped, pushed or given soap opera status. I have the hope that with McL producing sports cars they might take to an international sports car series. Lotus, Ginetta and others from this country to mix it with the other sports car makers. I remember a few years ago when, at the end of the season, a T400 backmarker took off the only car that could challenge the lead T400 for the championship. If that had been F1, everyone would have heard about it. If it had been F1 with a German taking out a British driver they'd be talking about it still. No, sorry, that's supid.

That's what we need: needle. A little bit of scandal and some bad guys/good guys copy in the press. It all helps. The internet needs to be exploited more by these other formulae. It is no good moaning about lack of sponsors if you don't produce something for YouTube or have embedded video on your website. Exploit Google. Just think about those who saw something in the newspapers about the Vertappen fire and then were surprised by the result after putting: mosley, german race+holocaust in the search engine.

There is a GT1 race at Silverstone on the weekend starting 3 June. Tickets start at £13. Thirteen quid! Wouldn't get you a hot dog (or the runs) at the GP. I was going to go but my eldest lad has rather selfishly arranged the birth of his first child on the 7th. Kids, eh! Always thinking of themselves first.

But £13. It's a bargain. Open paddock as well and you get to be near the drivers and teams.

If anyone hasn't seen big sportscar races then you have missed some really exciting spectacle. Not, in my mind, as fascinating as F1, but pretty near.

I think the motor racing market is wide open for a much publicised and hyped formula to run alongside F1. A rival open-wheeled series to F1 could, if managed well, challenge it for supremacy, especially if it is run with better than 4-cylinder engines. Any challenge on green credentials will leave F1 trailing.

[The Hypno-Toad]

Derek Smith said:

The Hypno-Toad said:

IMHO Why did Mad Max and Bernie back down the last time there was a breakaway threat?

Because both Ferrari & Monaco had signed up to the breakaway group. Like it or not, whoever has those two in their series has the rights to call themselves Formula One. They are the two most important things in the brand.

I'm not sure Bernie and CVC will agree that Monaco has control of the rights to the F1 logo.

I just meant IM very HO that if you asked the general public who turn on to watch Lewis and Jenson which two things sum up Formula One, it would Monaco & Ferrari. Therefore whoever has those two on board is going to be seen as F1 among the great unwashed.

What enthusiasts consider sums up F1 is an entirely different thread.