On the Road

…because the stakes are so low.” I once heard that phrase used to describe the world of academia and office politics.

But what I’m referring to now is the current bickering that threatens to tear Formula One apart. This time next year, or even later on this year, who knows what we’ll be watching going around the racing circuits of the world?

Far as we are from the epicenter of the crisis, Europe, the most I can tell is this : quarrels are nothing new to F1, but for the past twenty or so years, Bernie Ecclestone has managed to keep a cap on things, and keep most of the money too.

Unfortunately FIA president Max Mosely seems to have decided that a budget cap of 40 million pounds is the only solution to saving F1, and paradoxically endangering it immediately by making most of the Formula One teams very unhappy.

He could take a page out of MotoGP’s book – the FIM (motorcycle equivalent of the FIA) once tried the same thing, upon which the constructors and teams overthrew them. Now rule-making decisions lie with the Grand Prix Commission, a committee of all involved parties and MotoGP is all the better for it.

Budget caps can work, but not dropping from 400 million pound budgets (like Ferrari’s rumoured annual cost of its F1 programme) to 40 million in one year.

First of all involving ‘forensic financial analysts and accountants’ into a ’sport’ is just ridiculous. There are a thousand and one ways to make money and a million ways to hide it. Just ask any illegal business.

Secondly, as double-world champ Fernando Alonso has said, modern F1 is now probably more of a business than a sport. Cut the money and you’ll anger even more people: sponsors, suppliers, personnel, etcetera.

In contrast the weekend of June 13-14 saw yet another edition of the superb 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, with Peugeot finally grabbing a win and the past dominating Audi only in third place. It was also great to watch 24 hours of non-stop racing without a shade of politics interfering.

Back in F1 though, the bickering continues with no end in sight. Honestly as a fan of motorsport myself, if F1 were to break into two separate series, as happened to CART and Indy racing in America, I don’t think I’d watch either. Let’s hope that the fans still have one championship to follow at the end of this year.

Tags: budget cap, controversy, Formula One, Le Mans, MotoGP

In all the years running up to this one, if you wanted to bet on who’d win the Formula One Championship you’d have a choice of either Ferrari, McLaren or Renault. The last major changes before 2009 were back in 2005 where they switched engine formula from V10s to V8s and until 2008, it’s just been cost-cutting (engine freezes and so on) and aero restrictions all the way.

It’s too long to describe all the new changes here but suffice to say, it’s been a sea change, and some might say not even that as even the cars look different: they now look more like Formula 3000 or GP2 cars.

The season’s not yet begun and there have already been some surprises thrown up by winter testing: there’s been nary a red or silver car in sight at the top of the time sheets but some small outfit called Brawn GP in an unmarked white and fluoro yellow car posting the quickest times.

If you’ve not been in the loop then Brawn GP is the ex-Honda F1 effort bought over by technical director and now team principal, Ross Brawn, the man widely regarded as responsible for that Schumacher guy’s seven world titles.

Personally I’d be very happy if Rubens Barrichello, the most experienced driver in Formula One and Schumi’s eternal number two, would be able to capture a few race victories, and maybe even a championship at the twilight of his career.

It’d prove that eventually, dreams do come true, and you don’t need to be a multi-million dollar powerhouse or a kid raised by a racing company to win.

And it would also put to rest the ten-year saga of a Formula One team, once known as Tyrrell (which won championships with Jackie Stewart) but which has endured mostly heartbreak and setbacks since its takeover and morphing into first the BAR Honda and then Honda F1 team.

Tags: Barrichello, Brawn GP, Formula One, Honda