Bernie says there's no room for FOTA in F1

[Scott]

So what does Bernie expect?  The teams to show up in unmarked transports??  Track advertising should be all the advertising around the track, not the paddock, pits and trailers.  He is touched.  Isn't it time for the sponsors themselves to wade into this and take Bernie by the balls neck and shake some sense into him?

From Autosport…:

Bernie Ecclestone thinks there is no room in grand prix racing for the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) - as a spat over sponsorship branding in the sport moved up a gear at the British Grand Prix.

F1 teams had been warned ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix last month to be mindful of the display of sponsorship logos in the pits – with trackside advertiser Allsport making it clear that it owned such rights at circuits.

The matter has now moved across to the back of the pits too – with sources telling AUTOSPORT that teams have been ordered to remove their tractor units from the Silverstone paddock because of the branding that they displayed.

No truck tractor units have been left in the paddock, and teams were seen on Thursday trying to work out ways to make the front of their trailer units look better.

The move to clamp down on team rights comes on the back of comments that Ecclestone has made to Gazzetta dello Sport – suggesting that he does not believe teams' body FOTA has a place in F1.

"It will never work because it is made by teams that fight against each other on the tracks," Ecclestone told the Italian newspaper.

"When the teams examine rules, everyone tries to get an advantage. The teams wanted to divide F1, but now they understand that it is good to give importance to the money that they get (from FOM). There is no space for FOTA... "

Ecclestone has previously denied any involvement in the row over sponsorship branding, claiming it was a matter between the teams and Allsport.

[Jericoke]

1)  It is true, between FIA, FOM and FOTA, there is at least one too many F ing organisations.

2)  FOM's genesis was identical to FOTA's; that is the teams were tired of being pushed around, and put together a singular voice to make sure everyone is treated fairly.

At the end of the day, if FOM has signed exclusive advertising rights, and FOTA has signed Concorde, which agrees to FOM's rights, then there's not a lot that can be done.

HOWEVER, Bernie needs to be mindful of what it takes to run a top flight F1 team.  If a sponsor thinks they're losing value, they're going to leave, and the teams will fall apart, and then FOM holds exclusive rights to nothing.

Someday they'll learn to close the door and have a meeting.  Even Flavio understood some things were to be done in private, not the press!

[John S]

This is Bernie trying to reassert his typical divide and rule tactics that have served him well over the decades. I think he may be suprised that none of the teams will pay the slightest attention to his pontification on FOTA.

The other spat with Allsport cracking down on the teams obviously has Bernie's backing, who would dare push the teams around without clearing it with Bernard; even Todt wouldn't, if the tyres issue is anything to go by.

I'm not sure how Allsport fits into the whole F1 funding thing, do the teams get money from them or is it only the FOM that pays out to teams? The answer, I feel, will show if they are being bully boys or just enforcing rights they have paid the teams for.

[cosworth151]

Bernie is just afraid that there might be a farthing coming out of F1 that he's not getting a piece of.

[lkjohnson1950]

I believe Alia said that, except for Monaco, the FOM owns and sells all the advertising rights at track side. The teams only get money from the FOM. No one has ever argued that the teams can't display their sponsor logos it the pits and paddock. This is the evil dwarf going for every penny he can squeeze from F1. Removing the tractors from the paddock is ridiculous. Next he'll want them to paint over the trailers and motorhomes. One of the big sponsors should pull out and their team should announce that without funding they cannot continue. Vodafone et. al. have the power here and I think Bernie knows it, he's just hoping they won't contest it. 

Lonny

[Scott]

I think it would only be a sponsor that doesn't do track advertising that would contest it...and I think Vodafone does do some Allsport ads.  But they certainly might bring it up in the next renegotiation of on track advertising.

[Alianora La Canta]

I can't see the sponsors bothering to exert their power. They'll just move to a place where they can get slightly less value in return for a lot less stupidity from the powers-that-be.

[Jericoke]

I can't see the sponsors bothering to exert their power. They'll just move to a place where they can get slightly less value in return for a lot less stupidity from the powers-that-be.

Maybe, maybe not.

Tobacco fought very hard against being excluded.  Granted, they have fewer outlets to peddle their wares, but it's not unprecedented for sponsors to put up a fight when they feel they're being treated unfairly.

However, you're right, the real danger is all the sponsors deciding that professional bull riding is a better investment.

[cosworth151]

I think tobacco fought so hard because racing was their last access to TV in most of the world.