Yesterday I spent the day on the road, winding my way from Beaulieu sur Mer up to my home, just to the north of Paris. It was around 1000km and after a long night on Sunday, it was a very long day. But, it is such a pleasure to wake up on the Riviera, have a leisurely breakfast and set off at 10, rather than having a very short night and getting up at six and trying to avoid traffic. It was a beautiful day and France at this time of year is always beautiful, even if one has to stick to the autoroutes, because of time restrictions. With the iPhone, I could at least, knock out a few lines about the Williams F1 decision to enter the 2010 World Championship. No surprise there. Frank is the last of the truly independent teams and he has to worry about the company piggy bank. He is not one of these corporate types who will shrug if his company cans its F1 project and go off to sell cars in Mexico, or wherever. Frank is a lifelong racer and he has learned the hard way that you always go where the money is. You cannot rely on the promises of anyone in F1, unless it is written in a contract form. I don’t know the details of the deal he has done but you can be sure that Bernie Ecclestone will be looking after Williams. One owuld expect to see some of the other teams jump ship now while saying that they still believe in the aims of FOTA and will still work in that direction. There is a certain inevitability that one day the teams will get proper control of the commercial rights. It may take a long time, but one day it will happen.
The abiding feature of this year’s Monaco weekend was the fact that Monaco – F1’s jewel in the crown (so they say) – was short of people. Everyone had stories to illustrate this. One could drive through town when one should have been sitting in a traffic jam. People showed up with boats and were able to get berths; hotels were charging normal rates and even threw out the six-night minimums. The top hotels had to learn how to say “Sea view?” without wincing. The crowd figures are difficult to assess in Monaco, but the rumours said it was down 40%. I heard from the Paddock Club that the VIP hospitality was down 70%. The trackside advertising featured a lot of Casino and Societe des Bains de Mer (which is the casino), which indicates that no-one else wanted to buy it…
Losing audience is never a good thing. Perhaps the team principals should be discussing that a bit more than they are.
joeblogsf1 
So it’s Toyota and Renault who everyone are betting will pull out of F1?
I can understand Toyota, they haven’t really done anything of note in F1, but Renault have won championships. I don’t think they should leave and I hope they don’t.
Renault F1 was Benetton back in the day so Flavio could conceivably buy it back and rename it Briatore GP or something, but Toyota basically started from scratch so if Toyota pulls out, will they just fold up the team or will they sell it? Howett Racing?
Any bets on who’s engines Williams and Red Bull will be using next year then…?
Williams-Toyota
Red Bull-Renault
Otherwise they will have Mercedes engines funded by the above
“Losing audience is never a good thing. Perhaps the team principals should be discussing that a bit more than they are.”
Joe, you’re right. Even if it is the TV and advertising that makes real money (for Bernie and the teams) they should not forget the public out there in the sun or rain.
There is no sport which would make great show (and income) on TV without having spectators on the scene. Just cannot imagine a high profile football match on an empty stadium.
Surely the blame for lack of bums on seats must lie with the race promoter(s). How can the price of the entry ticket be justified against the (lack of) show laid on.
To spend hundreds of pounds for a ticket to see a Grand Prix with little or no support racing, or access to drivers or teams is simply insulting to the true fans.
One must admire Frank Williams for his longevity in a sport where a privateer team is now something of a quaint novelty. To remain truly independant in a world of corporate giants is admirable, I agree that he should not be blamed for looking after his own best interests.
Let’s hope that the manufacturer teams learn that they can pull together effectively for the good of themselves, the fans and the sport.
You must ask why the promoters have to charge what they charge… Who do they have to pay? Answer: Formula One Management, which then gives 50% of the money to the teams and keeps the rest to pay its debts etc. The reality is that you are paying for a bunch of investors to have a nice life. Good, huh?