Lauda Pushed as Replacement For Bernie

[John S]

Whoever runs the FOM should also put the gun to the FIA's head to sort out the sporting side, or explain the FIA that their services will no longer be needed. 

Can't ever happen, FIA owns F1 and has just leased the commercial rights to FOM for a hundred years or so. The European Union authorities caused a defined split between the rule making and commercial aspects of F1, so they are unlikely to stand by and see all the power back under one absolute master or company.   

[Scott]

FIA owns a letter and a number...big deal.  As a fan I couldn't care a less what it is called as long as it is open wheel and the highest tech in the world on the greatest tracks in the world.  All that can be called G1 or D1 for all I care.

[Monty]

There is a big difference between a Corporate owning a team, and a Corporate owning a series. Owning a team is pure business; you invest in the best talent, you build a brand, etc. However, many of these teams (particularly Premier League Soccer) actually run at a loss. The owners just use the team to further inflate their massive egos.
Running a series is more difficult because you have got to please all the people, all the time; teams, tracks, governments, TV companies, spectators, etc.
We all love to hate Bernie but actually, if we are all really honest, we know he has done a good job. Yes of course there has been massive controversy, corruption and we have been left with a race series that isn't competitive but the circus has survived difficult times. Much of the blame sits with the FIA, Max Mosely, Jean Todt, shadowy characters in CVC Capital Partners - generally lots of people that do not have the best interest of 'racing' at heart. None of this will change so F1 needs a passionate motor sport fanatic leading the whole sorry bunch!

[Scott]

Even if a die hard F1 enthusiast is running the show, there are two massive hurdles to bring the sport back imo. 

1)  The money bleeding from F1 into CVC's accounts/mortgage and Bernie and Paddy's pocketbook is insane and must be stopped.  The teams and track promoters should share track advertising and Paddock Club revenue.  Pay FOM a fee to run it profitably.  Whoever takes over should also carefully scrutinize the FOM books and stop the leaks.   

2)  The regulations are a complete mess.  They have to be fixed for 2016 that prevents teams from any kind of innovation, and then blow them open completely in 2017 - bring back V8's and even allow V10's.  Throw away the aero templates and let the teams bring cars that they think will go fast as long as they stand up to the latest safety standards (and I still think some sort of roll cage would be ok in F1 to protect a drivers head a bit more).

[Jericoke]

There is a big difference between a Corporate owning a team, and a Corporate owning a series. Owning a team is pure business; you invest in the best talent, you build a brand, etc. However, many of these teams (particularly Premier League Soccer) actually run at a loss. The owners just use the team to further inflate their massive egos.
Running a series is more difficult because you have got to please all the people, all the time; teams, tracks, governments, TV companies, spectators, etc.
We all love to hate Bernie but actually, if we are all really honest, we know he has done a good job. Yes of course there has been massive controversy, corruption and we have been left with a race series that isn't competitive but the circus has survived difficult times. Much of the blame sits with the FIA, Max Mosely, Jean Todt, shadowy characters in CVC Capital Partners - generally lots of people that do not have the best interest of 'racing' at heart. None of this will change so F1 needs a passionate motor sport fanatic leading the whole sorry bunch!

FOM being an owned company is indeed the problem.  FOM should be shared by the teams as equal partners.  It still needs to be run by a 'Bernie like' figure, but the sport shouldn't answer to FOM, FOM should answer to the sport.

I don't know why motor racing is still run under this old paradigm, because NASCAR and IndyCar have the same problem.  (They don't have the problem of FIA/FOM being separate though, which is an advantage)

In North American sports, the NFL, NHL etc. all are owned by the teams collectively, and they share certain revenues equally.  TV contracts are split evenly, it doesn't matter that everyone watches the Yankees and no one watches the Rays, they all get the same slice of the pie.  Teams are free to make their own sponsorship deals, keep ticket sales etc, so success is rewarded. 

I know that FOM started out as an organization that represented the teams.  It wouldn't be hard for the teams to get control back, but Bernie knows how to press the right buttons so that 'rich teams' feel like he's the one keeping them rich.  As long as Ferrari is happy with the biggest piece of a small pie, it will be hard to reform FOM

[Willy]

Seriously Jeri....Trump? say it ain't so.
I would love to see Sir Jackie but I'm sure at this stage he does not want that aggravation.

I'm sure there are deal makers out there who could step in but just a bean counter is not what is required. It must be a fan 1st and foremost.

[lkjohnson1950]

Doesn't have to be a fan or an insider, just someone who understands the importance of fans and tradition. The LPGA was on the ropes and they hired a guy who knew virtually nothing about pro golf, but he understood what makes a pro sport run. He has rebuilt the LPGA into a solid business with a million dollar prize at the end of the year tourney. He understood he needed players, fans, sponsors and venues to grow the sport. F1 would be lucky to land someone like him.

[cosworth151]

Sounds like apples and oranges to me. F1 is all about technology, speed and most of all passion. I would be hard put to think of anything more opposite to that than golf.

[Jericoke]

Sounds like apples and oranges to me. F1 is all about technology, speed and most of all passion. I would be hard put to think of anything more opposite to that than golf.

And yet both sports run under the same paradigm.  There's a rules maker, there's a promoter, there's individual courses, and the players only answer to themselves.

Golf is more like F1 in terms of fans too.  Very few NFL fans are going to strap on the pads and play, but golf fans are much more likely to grab their clubs and play a round, just as most F1 fans are going to sit at a red light and floor it the moment it turns green at least once a week.

[lkjohnson1950]

Sounds like apples and oranges to me. F1 is all about technology, speed and most of all passion. I would be hard put to think of anything more opposite to that than golf.

The point is the guy understood that he had to play up golf's strengths to it's fans AND it's potential sponsors. He understood what makes a sport successful, something I don't think Bernie or Lauda have a grasp on.

[Alianora La Canta]

FIA owns a letter and a number...big deal.  As a fan I couldn't care a less what it is called as long as it is open wheel and the highest tech in the world on the greatest tracks in the world.  All that can be called G1 or D1 for all I care.

Under the Nice Agreement of 2000, any international motor racing series needs the blessing of the FIA (as it was recognised as having an unusual position regarding safety and thus partially exempt from the usual competition laws). The FIA would be quite entitled to refuse any competitor to F1 the right to race in Europe unless that competitor could prove to the court that it was safer than the FIA competitor version, and even then it would probably take a couple of years for the Nice Agreement to be unravelled and the F1 competitor to come into existence. This is being proven since the suspected breach of the Nice Agreement concerning the 2012 negotiations is only now being forwarded and is likely to take 1-2 years to come to trial (itself at least half a dozen months to receive testimonies and another few to decide a conclusion). The other suspected breach regarding the FIA selling some of its powers to FOM at the end of 2013 hasn't even hit the proposal list yet, and probably won't for at least a year.

Of course, there's nothing stopping a series that never visited Europe. But then you're leaving half the possible tracks and most of the possible non-US teams on the table, making the task even more difficult.

[Jericoke]

FIA owns a letter and a number...big deal.  As a fan I couldn't care a less what it is called as long as it is open wheel and the highest tech in the world on the greatest tracks in the world.  All that can be called G1 or D1 for all I care.

Under the Nice Agreement of 2000, any international motor racing series needs the blessing of the FIA (as it was recognised as having an unusual position regarding safety and thus partially exempt from the usual competition laws). The FIA would be quite entitled to refuse any competitor to F1 the right to race in Europe unless that competitor could prove to the court that it was safer than the FIA competitor version, and even then it would probably take a couple of years for the Nice Agreement to be unravelled and the F1 competitor to come into existence. This is being proven since the suspected breach of the Nice Agreement concerning the 2012 negotiations is only now being forwarded and is likely to take 1-2 years to come to trial (itself at least half a dozen months to receive testimonies and another few to decide a conclusion). The other suspected breach regarding the FIA selling some of its powers to FOM at the end of 2013 hasn't even hit the proposal list yet, and probably won't for at least a year.

Of course, there's nothing stopping a series that never visited Europe. But then you're leaving half the possible tracks and most of the possible non-US teams on the table, making the task even more difficult.

THAT certainly explains why there are more Asian and American races and fewer European ones:  Bernie can ditch the FIA.

[Scott]

FIA owns a letter and a number...big deal.  As a fan I couldn't care a less what it is called as long as it is open wheel and the highest tech in the world on the greatest tracks in the world.  All that can be called G1 or D1 for all I care.

Under the Nice Agreement of 2000, any international motor racing series needs the blessing of the FIA (as it was recognised as having an unusual position regarding safety and thus partially exempt from the usual competition laws). The FIA would be quite entitled to refuse any competitor to F1 the right to race in Europe unless that competitor could prove to the court that it was safer than the FIA competitor version, and even then it would probably take a couple of years for the Nice Agreement to be unravelled and the F1 competitor to come into existence. This is being proven since the suspected breach of the Nice Agreement concerning the 2012 negotiations is only now being forwarded and is likely to take 1-2 years to come to trial (itself at least half a dozen months to receive testimonies and another few to decide a conclusion). The other suspected breach regarding the FIA selling some of its powers to FOM at the end of 2013 hasn't even hit the proposal list yet, and probably won't for at least a year.

Of course, there's nothing stopping a series that never visited Europe. But then you're leaving half the possible tracks and most of the possible non-US teams on the table, making the task even more difficult.

The irony would be that the FIA could only prevent European races at historic F1 tracks, while a new series could race anywhere else in Asia, Africa and the Americas...