The announcement of the FIA’s plans for Formula 1 in 2010 come as no real surprise. The federation has made it clear that it is not going to brook any argument over the funding of the teams because it believes that the economic crisis is such that small teams will be going out of business [...]
Archive for April, 2009
Battles for the wallet of F1
Posted in F1 politics on April 30, 2009 | 5 Comments »
The FIA explains
Posted in F1 politics on April 30, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Why does Formula One need cost capping? Formula One faces a period of great uncertainty during this harsh recessionary period. Funding a team is increasingly seen as a discretionary spend for the majority of team owners and sponsors. To ensure a healthy grid all are agreed that costs need to be cut. Two main philosophies have [...]
FIA announces its F1 plans for the future
Posted in F1 politics on April 30, 2009 | 4 Comments »
The Extraordinary World Motor Sport Council held yesterday in Paris has decided that applications for the 2010 World Championship must be made between May 22 and May 29 and teams must state in these applications whether they will compete under the cost-cap regulations or continue without any restriction on spending. The maximum entry will be [...]
The McLaren decision
Posted in F1 Teams on April 29, 2009 | 23 Comments »
The McLaren team has been given a three-race suspension from the FIA Formula 1 World Championship – but the penalty is suspended. At an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council held in Paris the team admitted five charges of breaching article 151c of the International Sporting Code relating to events at the Australian [...]
The McLaren decision
Posted in F1 politics on April 29, 2009 | Comments Off
At an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council held in Paris on 29 April 2009, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes admitted five charges of breaching article 151c of the International Sporting Code relating to events at the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix. The following decision was taken: “Having regard to the open and honest way [...]
The brave new world begins here?
Posted in F1 politics on April 29, 2009 | Comments Off
The FIA World Council meets today to discuss the McLaren-Melbourne problem and to move ahead with the plans for a budget cap in Formula 1. I expect that by the end of the day there will be plenty to write about. The McLaren punishment will probably have been deftly buried beneath other more important stories. [...]
The road to a new reality
Posted in F1 politics on April 28, 2009 | 16 Comments »
The last couple of weeks have been dominated by racing, with two Grands Prix and very little time for much in the way of politics. The FIA’s chief steward and presidential advisor Alan Donnelly has been doing his usual diplomatic work trying to make F1 a less dysfunctional world and he says that is hoping [...]
Groundhog Day…
Posted in F1 people, Personal musings on April 27, 2009 | 2 Comments »
There was a bizarre moment this morning as I was walking through Dubai International Airport when I found myself in the company of a relaxed Jenson Button and his travelling circus. It was, as Nigel Mansell once famously remarked, “like deja vu all over again”. We had done the same thing exactly seven days earlier [...]
Button walks it
Posted in Action at Grands Prix on April 26, 2009 | 9 Comments »
Jenson Button moved to the front in Bahrain after the first stops and never looked threatened, leaving Sebastian Vettel and Jarno Trulli to follow him home at a distance, while Lewis Hamilton finished a solid fourth ahead of Rubens Barrichello, Kimi Raikkonen, Timo Glock and Fernando Alonso. Nico Rosberg finished ninth for Williams, on a [...]
Fun in the sun
Posted in Personal musings on April 26, 2009 | Comments Off
Busy days in Bahrain… And it is hot. That is very pleasant on the one hand as it is a lovely dry heat but by the end of the day one finds that the energy has sapped away and one wants to curl up and sleep earlier than normal. We were out at the circuit [...]
