In my job, I am sometimes accused of not seeing things clearly. People say that I am “too close to the sport”. There is a nice idiom in the English language that suggests that people who are so focussed on the details that they can no longer appreciate he big picture, “cannot see the wood for the trees”. This means that they do not have the correct perspective.
I try to always take a step back and look at what happens in F1 with one eye focussed on the sport – and the other on the real world. I don’t always succeed, but I do try.
What I find fascinating this week is that there has been almost no reaction from anyone of note about a quite extraordinary attack launched against Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley by Sir Jackie Stewart. I am sure that you have all read what he said – and I am not about to get drawn into whether I agree with him or not because that is to walk into the No Man’s Land and risk being shot at from both sides – but what I find absolutely amazing is that no-one in the sport seems to have had any reaction at all to what he is saying.
Sir Jackie is one of the elder statesmen of the sport – one of just a handful of motor racing knights. If he were an angry old man then he could be dismissed as misguided or eccentric, but he is clearly not either of these things. No-one is saying that he is making the remarks for selfish reasons. Everyone knows that he loves the sport and will fight for it. And yet such incendiary statements created almost no interest. No-one has said that he has not earned the right to his voice. He has been in the sport in different roles for 45 years. He won three championships and survived at a time when many died. He fought an unpopular battle with the authorities to improve the safety for the F1 drivers, having seen too many of his friends and colleagues die. He set new standards in F1 in dealing with big business. He ran a circuit in his role as a leading light of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, which owns Silverstone, and he set up his own F1 team and made it a success. Those are some mighty qualications to have an opinion .
And yet inside the sport no-one seems to think it odd that there has been no debate about what he is saying.
And that lead one to a question: if a man like this can make these kinds of remarks and be ignored, is that a good reflection on the sport as a whole? I would argue that such statements should be examined in a very public way by all the stakeholders in the sport to see if they are warranted.
Instead there is just an eery silence. And that does not seem very healthy.
Do people agree with Stewart and are afraid to voice their opinions? Or do they think he has no credibility and there is no point in saying anything? ;That is what people ought to be asking.
Stewart made the point himself. ”The foundations are built on just this two-man working relationship,” he said. “This has evoked concern and apprehension on the part of those involved in the sport. When Max Mosley had the scandal erupt around him, how many team principals or owners spoke out? None. Why, you may ask? When McLaren were, according to some, victimised how many of the other teams thought, ‘That could be us, we must stand behind them.’ Who did? In fear of repercussions, nobody did.”
Stewart went on to say that Mosley “should remove himself from the FIA completely and from motorsport and the motor industry” and that he should be replaced by somebody new who has been head-hunted from the corporate world who can then build up an organisation that is “in line with modern practice to satisfy the investors in the sport and to give the FIA total transparency”. Stewart said that Mosley’s survival as the head of the FIA would not have happened in other sports because of the way things are now run.
He also attacked the way in which the revenues in F1 are divided up and argued that although the efforts of the two men has made the sport richer, “the balance of contribution within Formula 1 is absolutely untenable” and that the teams, which make the investments in the sport, get no more that 50% of the revenues – and that race tracks get even less than that.
To round off the remarks he said it was “ridiculous” that there is no Grand Prix in North America and that it was wrong that there is no succession plan for Ecclestone who is 78 years of age.
One may not agree with everything Stewart says and one may not agree with how he delivers his message, but what he says should have provoked debate.
It is just very odd, don’t you think? Rather disquieting. And very definitely not the sign of a healthy sport…
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There must surely be many people who agree with Stewart. His sentiments are certainly in line with those of a lot of people I know who follow Formula 1. And a lot of what Luca di Montezemolo has said recently seems to be broadly in agreement.
The question is, who is going to stand up for this point of view and challenge Mosley for his presidency? Last year’s Senate vote will surely have emboldened him to go on for another term.
Sadly I think that is exactly how Mosley and Ecclestone view him.
[quote]- and I am not about to get drawn into whether I agree with him or not because that is to walk into the No Man’s Land and risk being shot at from both sides -[/quote]
I find it interesting that you begin with this aside, and then chastise the rest of the F1 world for not engaging in the debate. I think it’s clear that Sir Jackie’s comments are on the mark, but he will remain the lone voice on the topic until either Mosley is deposed or a significant number of players develop a set of brass attachments all at the same time. My own aside: It’s actually quite fascinating that they — the attachments in question — are in such short supply among men who build and drive fiery death machines at preposterous speeds for a living.
Regardless of the size of one’s personal stake, it’s clear to this outside observer that one cannot afford to stand against the powers that be without risking being cut off from the pack and devoured like a sick wildebeest. Fortunately for Stewart, he either doesn’t taste very good or he’s got a mean set of horns.
I may have taken that analogy too far.
As one who can’t even afford to attend a race (particularly now that there isn’t one on my continent), I’ll say it: Stewart is absolutely right. The FIA needs transparency and credibility and will have neither as long as Mosley is in position. Furthermore, while Ecclestone does deserve a great deal of credit in bringing the sport to the masses, and making everyone wealthy in the process, it is absurd that 50% of the revenue simply goes into the pockets of the already very wealthy while the teams, particularly the small ones, struggle for their very survival. That said, the (big) teams are doing a fraction of what they could do in terms of merchandising and marketing their own brands and could increase their own revenues substantially by working in that direction — albeit at the risk of diluting the exclusivity of said brands.
But then, I’m just a fan. One who watches the world’s most glamorous and expensive sport in low-resolution mode on my HDTV, because that’s all that’s available to me. What do I know?
Hello!
Very Interesting post! Thank you for such interesting resource!
PS: Sorry for my bad english, I’v just started to learn this language
See you!
Your, Raiul Baztepo