More F1 rule changes

[FourWheelDrift]

Ahonen said:

Anyway, I think it'd be a great laugh if F1 keeled over and died. It's been possible to see this coming for years and if Minardi and Jordan finally give up the unequal struggle the championship will be in real trouble. Why does Minardi bother? Being the plucky underdog is one thing, but going to each race KNOWING you'll be last on the grid and you've fallen too far behind to ever catch up is just plain daft.

The Concorde agreement that every team signed states there must be a minimum of 20 cars (10 teams) and a maximum of 24 cars (2 per team) competeing in the F1 World Championships, hence Bernie last year pumping cash into Minardi to help keep them going.

Also it's worth noting that no testing can be performed on any circuit outside of Europe unless it is an offically sanctioned FIA test day. Which means it really rather stops teams from the USA, Asia or Australia where there may be cash which can be injected into the sport from setting up teams within their country to race in F1, even if they have a home race they can't test there. They all have to come to be based in Europe to be close to the testing circuits. And they call it a World Championships

[Eric Mc]

Ahonen - I agree with vitually everything you say. I wasn't disputing that F1 cars are not stuffed to the gills with technology - more the fact that their technology is becoming less and less relevant, except for F1.

The fact that engineers can monitor the performance of a Ferrari at Valencia whilst sitting in Maranello may be fascinating to some but it increases my enjoyment of motor racing not one jot.

[Teppic]

Well, surprise surprise. The GPWC have broken off talks with Bernie...

Autosport.com said:

www.autosport.com/newsitem.asp?id=26947&s=5 F1 on brink of civil war GPWC breaks off negotiations with SLEC Holdings over the future of F1 GPWC Holdings - representing manufacturers Ferrari, BMW, Daimler Chrysler, Ford and Renault - has broken off negotiations with commercial rights holder SLEC Holdings, which is controlled by Bernie Ecclestone, over the future constitution of Formula 1. The announcement at Imola has left Formula 1 on the brink of a civil war. The GPWC cited the failure of the SLEC shareholders' (Ecclestone, and the three F1 banks) to comply with key points in a memorandum of understanding thrashed out at the end of last year. One of these points was seats on the board of any restructured administrative body. GPWC Chairman Juergen Hubbert said: “When we realised that our commitment to implement the memorandum was not met by the other parties, we had to make a decision in the best interests of the sport and end negotiations.” Bernie Ecclestone told Autosport.com exclusively: “We were giving about $700 million more to the teams to 2007 than they would normally be paid under the current Concorde agreement. They were going to commit to 2014 but then when we got down to signing an agreement they couldn't commit to one year. “The manufacturers just said they couldn't commit. So we said, if you can't commit, then why are you wasting our time? All we want is the Concorde Agreement extended.” Asked whether the breakdown in negotiations meant that the five GPWC manufacturers would now band together in an attempt to organise their own championship, a threat from the outset, Ecclestone said: “I've no idea. Probably. Maybe. “They wanted to give it to the FIA basically and be the regulators,” he continued, “which could never happen. We have a 100-year agreement with the FIA and they are the regulators. If they want to try and organise their own championship, they can.” One of the initial stated aims of the GPWC was to have an involvement in any new F1 constitution “in the best interests of the sport,” as well as to protect their own investment. A negotiated solution was seen as being in the best sport's interest in order to create a stable and transparent basis for future commercial investment. Ecclestone, however, said: “What the GPWC wanted was all that money and all these things, seats on the board and everything, but they didn't want to give any commitments to the banks. They didn't want to give any commitments at all. You give us everything, you put us on the board and so on, all the lovely things they wanted… And we said, well, what are you going to give us, and in the end and the answer was nothing. It's what you might expect of big companies…”

And the BBC's take on this...

BBC Sport said:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/3654341.stm F1 revolt threat returns Formula One's top manufacturers have once again threatened to set up a breakaway world championship. GPWC Holdings had reached an agreement with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and commercial rights holders last December to plan for the future together. But proposals from ruling body the FIA for a shake-up of F1 in 2008 appear to have prompted a parting of the ways. "GPWC has decided to end negotiations on the future structure of Formula One," said a GPWC Holdings statement. GPWC was set up by manufacturers BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Fiat, Ford and Renault to safeguard their interests. BMW supply engines for Williams, Ford own the Jaguar team, champions Ferrari are part of the Fiat group and DaimlerChrysler is the parent company of McLaren's engine suppliers Mercedes. GPWC said on Friday that shareholders of Ecclestone's SLEC holding company had "failed to comply with key points" agreed in the memorandum of understanding last December. "When we realised that our commitment to implement the MOU was not met by the other parties, we had to make a decision in the best interest of the sport and end negotiations," said GPWC chairman Juergen Hubbert in the statement. The memorandum had offered teams a greater slice of Formula One's revenues, while Ecclestone - who controls 25% of SLEC - would have continued to run the company. GPWC spokesman Xander Heijnen said the company would push ahead with plans to set up a rival championship when the current Concorde Agreement governing the sport expires in 2007. He added that Formula One's other teams - Toyota, Sauber, Jordan, Minardi and BAR - would be invited to join. Earlier on Friday, FIA president Max Mosley had announced radical proposals designed to cut costs. "The GPWC have said they are going to start a series in 2008," said Mosley. "What we are doing is running the FIA Formula One world championship in 2008 for which Bernie has a contract for the commercial rights. "We have a contract to run that championship for 100 years and Bernie has the right to exploit it commercially. So we are going ahead on doing that. "Of course if the GPWC did want to start a series it would be entirely up to them to do so, and if they ask us to sanction it we'd be happy to go ahead. "But in the meantime we have to concentrate on the Formula One world championship which will go ahead in 2008, no matter what."

Nice one, Max...


>> Edited by Teppic on Friday 23 April 23:46

[bad boy]

groomi said:

Well personally I don't think watching a series where all the cars are similar is particularly interesting.. F1 was at it's best when some cars were stupidly quick in a straight line, some were magnificaent under braking and others were so light they would go round the outside on any corner.... Think back to Brabham Fan Car, Tyrell 6-wheeler, March 6-wheeler, Brabham / Renault Turbos etc... VARIATION is the key. Why should all the cars use V8s or V10s, whats wrong with some 4-pot turbos and some V16s??? Control the amount of fuel they are allowed to use (easy to manage) and you have some seriously variable machinery around again.i had to delete a bit of your post because i ran out of space

i totally agree, why do all the cars have to be the same? in motogp they have 3,4,and 5 cylinder bikes and all are very different and all are reasonably competetive(in times at least)admittedly bikes are totally different, but if the fia are going to use standard ecus anyway i cant see why different engine types couldnt run competetivly with each other, somehow get rid of a lot of the downforce, and traction control. fit tyres which encourage sliding and proper manual gearboxes and maybe it will be a decent championship. i cant see them changing anything to be honest, i can just see them continuing with the same crap regulations and stupid ideas, qualifying etc...........