Yawn...Mosley has something to say.

[Scott]

I put this in F1 History because though Mosley doesn't think so, he is part of F1 History now, and nobody really cares what he thinks.

I can't be bothered to read the entire article, but it sounds more like the scare tactics he used to use to change the regulations without discussing it with the teams, and I think is the reason F1 is no longer the 'Pinnacle of Motorsports'.  The teams don't need to save money, they need to find a way to appeal to more people and more sponsors.  Get the cars decked out in Google and Facebook stickers and nobody will be telling them to save money.  But Max, like Bernie, doesn't understand the internet, so until we have people in place who can understand and embrace the internet for the massive economy that it is, F1 will be scrounging for booze and cigarette sponsors as only the silly old men who run the sport know how to.

But here, read it if you like...

http://www.pitpass.com/53607/Mosley-Teams-must-agree-or-F1-will-implode

[cosworth151]

I'm no fan of Max but I wouldn't lay the fault exclusively at his door. The FIA has continued and even expanded as the most destructive force in motorsport. If anything, Todt is even worse than Max was. Now they are out to destroy endurance racing, too.

[Scott]

I'm no fan of Max but I wouldn't lay the fault exclusively at his door. The FIA has continued and even expanded as the most destructive force in motorsport. If anything, Todt is even worse than Max was. Now they are out to destroy endurance racing, too.

Absolutely, but it started with Max, and if Max hadn't sold the TV rights to Bernie, F1 would be sloshing with cash.

[Alianora La Canta]

Costs need to be cut, but the only way it can ever work is by persuading teams to want to cut costs. You can't force a team to save money (unless it doesn't have it in the first place!) and this is something nobody in the FIA appears ever to have understood. Max was ousted because he didn't understand. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that the same thing may happen to Jean.

[Jericoke]

Costs need to be cut, but the only way it can ever work is by persuading teams to want to cut costs. You can't force a team to save money (unless it doesn't have it in the first place!) and this is something nobody in the FIA appears ever to have understood. Max was ousted because he didn't understand. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that the same thing may happen to Jean.

Costs don't need to be cut.  Costs need to be covered.  F1 has been shrinking instead of growing, and I think the problem is that there are too many cooks in the kitchen.  American sports have one governing body which answers to the competing teams.  In F1 you almost feel like the FOM, FIA, race promoters, track owners, team owners, sponsors, various suppliers are all at war with each other.  They're all partners but they don't act like it, and it costs all of them.

[Irisado]

Jeri, how would you cover the costs to enable privateer teams to compete?

I agree that the current system of cost cutting hasn't worked at all, and has made the sport far less diverse and interesting.  However, the way in which the manufacturers keep spending money needs, in my view, to be curtailed somehow.  I can thus see both sides of the argument here.

[Scott]

Sponsorship?  Quality and quantity need to be improved. 

The best way to do that is to take the snobbery out of F1.  Charging Ģ400 for a weekend of F1 is stupid.  Cut it in 1/4 and build 4 times the seats.  Stop blocking off every decent angle for general admission customers, so they can actually set up their lawn chair and enjoy a good race.  Bring F1 back to terrestrial TV and bring it to the internet for a reasonable price.

Then you will draw in sponsors.  For one thing, Coke, McDonalds and their ilk have no interest in the sponsor targets that UBS and Rolex have.  They want everyman/woman taking their families for a weekend of good fun that won't bankrupt them. 

And its not just price, to get everyone to go to an F1 race, you have to make it more interesting and accessible for people.  If Hamilton is making $30million/year, then can he not be expected to shake some hands and sign some autographs, and not just for those lucky enough to have access to the paddock club??  Open up pit lane to the entire crowd...charge an extra $5 to walk the length, but the garages have to be open!

blah, blah, blah...You could do a university thesis on how F1 could be 'fixed'.  First thing is someone needs to push Bernie in front of a bus.   

[Jericoke]

Jeri, how would you cover the costs to enable privateer teams to compete?

I agree that the current system of cost cutting hasn't worked at all, and has made the sport far less diverse and interesting.  However, the way in which the manufacturers keep spending money needs, in my view, to be curtailed somehow.  I can thus see both sides of the argument here.

The same way that American teams compete:  franchises.

Each team in the NFL is basically a subsidiary of the NFL.  They compete on the field, and then cooperate behind the scenes.  Because each team is required to fulfill a specific framework, it puts all teams on even footing.  Yes, some teams make more money, but they can't use that money to become better, just line the owner's pocket.

There should be one organization running all of F1.  It sets the rules, it is responsible for safety, it negotiates all commercial rights.  It is funded by the teams (not the other way around).  Most importantly, it answers to the teams. 

[Irisado]

blah, blah, blah...You could do a university thesis on how F1 could be 'fixed'.

Well, maybe maybe not.  I'm more inclined towards the latter option .


More seriously, I think that you both have great ideas .  The trouble is that I cannot see the powers that be going down either route in Formula 1, because they're all too tied to narrow self-interest, and cannot see the wood for the trees.