If Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne says his team has achieved its first victory of 2015 by finding a loophole in the regulations to allow it to apply some of its in-season engine development work later in the year, rather than at the end of February, he has a pretty strange view about what success really is.
It is pretty doubtful that Ferrari will win races this year even with this advantage and given the team’s form in recent years the advantage of the loophole will probably be better used by Red Bull so that Ferrari will probably still be looking at fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
The only sense where one might call it a victory is that by trying to nobble the McLaren-Honda challenge, Ferrari may avoid the disgrace of slipping to fifth in the Constructors’, which would be the team’s worst result in the title race since 1981. And that would be really embarrassing when one considers the amount of money that Ferrari is paid in addition to its prize money. And remember, that is not a meagre sum. Ferrari gets about $120 million from the Formula One group before there are any other prize fund payments. In theory this is because the team has been around longer than all the other teams and has more fans. This is true, but the payments are not really because of that, but rather because Ferrari’s popularity gives it perceived importance and so Bernie Ecclestone has always paid the Italian team first in order to divide and conquer the teams. The idea that Ferrari should stand on its own two feet and fight on equal terms seems to be beyond the comprehension of these so-called sportsmen.
When you stop and think about it, a decent European Commission investigation into the sport could easily work in favour of the Formula One group. If the extra cash that is given to the big teams was redistributed on a fairer basis, it might be possible to end up with the Formula One group actually getting MORE money than it does today, although that might require some concessions such as actually promoting the sport, rather than just taking money from it. A fairer distribution of the money in F1 would solve the problems of weak teams and bring an end to all the time-wasting quibbles between them.
That would be good, although one can see why it might also be dangerous because they might one day unite against the commercial rights holder and demand a great deal more money.
joeblogsf1 
Joe
I see some logic in paying a team for the length of time they have been in the sport, after staying alive each season is a challenge in it’s own right. But equality is king…. Every team should bet a Share of the money based on length of service.
On many of your posts I think about NFL and how much effort they take to make it fair. They specifically let the weakest team pick the strongest of the new players (perceived by their previous years standing) and these ‘picks’ become collateral and bargaining chips.
From memory this was achieved by each team having an equal say in the management of the sport through the federation.
So taking your experience and thought process what would be the 3 things you would change to truly level the playing field in F1.
Steve
So, you’d still be paying a film star who is past his/her sell by date?
Sorry: ‘Every team should get a Share of the money based on length of service’
I wondered at this statement myself. Does this give an indication as to what Marchionne might resort to in order to move forward. I hope not.
Excellent Article, and great point
Given the way they have been treated I would love to see honda cancel their f1 programme, pull the engine, announce an LMP1 effort with McLaren, who also leave f1 and pull the standard ECUs leaving the sport with no driveable engines, causing the first three races to be run with spec gp2 cars, and leading Bernie and Jean to finally get fired.
THAT is winning!!
I would not say that Ferrari are trying to nobble McLaren Honda’s effort, and finding a loophole is certainly not a victory, particularly when everybody can take advantage from the same rule’s interpretation. So let’s wait and see if – like in 2014 Renault, or Mercedes – will better profit from the ability to spread engines improvents through the season (or part of it). And let’s also wait for the FIA final interpretation of how, if and when Honda has to homologate its engine and how they will be allowed to improve it.
As for money , Ferrari (same as Mercedes or McLaren) are a business company. It seems they sold their good will to the commercial right owners. As for the sporting rules, everybody agreed, Unlike earlier years there seems to be someone tougher at the lead of Ferraris, who may be ready to discuss how money is shared, if the sporting rules will also be discussed…
PS… and lets wait for the races to see who will be winning, Ferrari are the underdogs in 2015…
The whole thing is utterly ludicrous. Maybe a poor choice of words, because it’s not actually that funny.
Ahh Joe and his Ferrari rant.
Mclaren has not got a winning car since 1999 and the only winning car since that time was a copied Ferrari. So please stop with the nonsense.
Is does not matter which team you are…if you are not Mercedes you won’t win the championship….so will you write about those teams also? Guess not, because there is only 1 topteam really….and that is the team you like to rant on.
Good luck with Honda and the spanish donkey this year….hope that english soapbox makes 5 laps a race!
You think it is right? You think it is sport? If you do, then you have no idea what sport is.
There are elements of sport but also elements of business. Ask CVC, they make a lot of business with F1. As it is business as well, it is normal that those who contribute more to the business by bringing more fans get a bigger slice from the business revenue.
Totally agree. I respect history, and the place of Ferrari in F1, but it is about time that this favouritism stopped. F1 without Ferrari is still F1, it’s a fickle sport, Ferrari would all but be forgotten in a few seasons.
I always hate it when people go out about Ferrari being passionate about racing and F1, because it’s rubbish. Ferrari are passionate about Ferrari. They wouldn’t care if there were only 10 cars on the grid, as long as 4 of them were Ferraris, and they won every race.
The thing is, it is a victory for them. Ducati in bike racing are the same. If they aren’t winning, they get the rules changed. I supposed we should just put that down to ‘cultural differences’…
“Cultural differences”… ?
Talent makes the good guys, rules make the bad guys. Any sport worth watching needs both.
Imagine how dull last year would have been if Rosberg hadn’t trashed Hamilton’s lap in Monaco or indeed bashed Hamilton off in Spa. Marginal gains on the track need to be supported with marginal gains off it.
Irony abounds when Ferrari are paid for their “special position” in Grand Prix racing and, as you say, having the most fans. FIA/FOM seems to have little or no interest in fans for the rest of the time.
Mr. E is probably basing his considerations on money distribution on his long experience. Divide and conquer has pretty much always worked. But today, most F1 teams have many diverse interests, for example, McLaren’s name change this week. So revenues from FOM aren’t as significant for some teams as they once were – obviously more is better.
The biggest issue facing all the players here is : the FIA, FOM, CVC, F1 teams: past, present and future can debate in the minutest detail the division of TV funds and commercial rights – but that money itself is under major threat as races are spun out of traditional motorsport heartlands and into barren stadia in countries with no interest in motorsport. Fans interests are ignored while opportunities to engage fans in fantastic technologies like the 2014 hybrid power units. And fans really hate reading about long detailed agreements not having dates added that ends up disadvantaging a new manufacturer and the oldest team happy to get one over on the sport by taking advantage of the gaff.
F1 has always been about opportunism and someone has always had some advantage: examining rules, tweaking engines, finessing suspensions, better fuel use and so on. Although they have all sailed close to the regulation wind, but there was always the sense that racing was fairly prominent in their priorities. Now it seems like teams employ more lawyers than engineers.
The sport is failing to attract sustainable sponsorship, teams are dropping out, everyone is under threat despite receiving hundreds of millions in revenue and spending that as quickly as it arrives. Sponsors aren’t interested because the fan-base is dropping. These are the issues Mr E and the FIA need to resolve, not worry about divvying up prize money when that money may in fact run out!
I guess Ferrari have to get in as many ‘wins’ as possible before the racing starts. Quite embarrassing really.
This made me think about the comments Marchionne made when he replaced Marco Mattiacci after very short tenure with Maurizio Arrivabene. He said the latter is much better suited to managing the political aspects of the FIA and ensuring Ferrari’s best interests were put first.
There had been suggestion that Mattiacci was more willing to make concessions for the wider interest of the sport, whereas Ferrari clearly thinks that’s entirely the wrong approach and needs to ensure its secret deals, political bias and capacity to suppress competition is a more effective ruse than building a fast car and a more appealing sport. “Gestivo Sporting”? I think not…
I certainly think, that Marchionne might take a cold look at this subsidy payment, and consider how it inevitably tarnishes his brand. Imagine: would you trade the money, for something that cuts a couple of years out of your return to a race contending car? Marchionne didn’t like Luca aiming at FIA positions. He said coldly he doesn’t like Todt’s connection, in almost as many words. Is all this why Gene Haas is sitting pretty cool, for a man about to climb a mountain, who doesn’t seem to have prepared so much as a billy can of beans?
Keep banging the drum Joe. You’re absolutely right. I love this sport of ours, but the distribution of revenues is not fair and needs significant reform. Having read your blog for 2 or 3 years now, I understand the positions of the vested interests and how they keep the revenue flow, power and influence they have. Bernie hides behind terms such “commercial arrangements”. It should come down to the right thing to do, rather than what makes the most money.
Would Ferrari leave Formula 1 if they didn’t get that extra $120 million? Almost certainly not.
The only times I’ve cheered on a red car, were because of the driver. Plus natural underdog sponsorship, that possibly every Brit donated for a fair while… I wonder how many others have been “Ferrari fans” in this same default fashion? It’s quite the opposite of Mr Enzo’s, to me, objectionable, famous pronouncement… I wish there was a way of discounting such things, to whittle down the real numbers of “tifosi”. That might be sobering for our victorious Mr Marchionne. And something doesn’t sit well with Marchionne saying that, it’s really unlike him, I mean the guy is as implacable as his black jumpers, in public at least. Was he wearing a red one, and the excitement got to him?
There was a time I was passionate about Ferrari….the drivers were Jacky Ickx and Clay Regazzoni and the car was the 312B. Over the years I have become ever more disillusioned with the team particularly for the way the second driver has been treated. Your analysis Joe is correct and I would love to see all teams treated equally regarding core funding. There would, however, need to be much better governance over the teams to avoid the corruption and siphoning off of funds that seems to take place so that we can have our sport back.
Ah, common sense! Totally lacking in F1.
fully agree with this analyse … brilant
Was there a meeting this week to re-discuss the Honda homologation date? (There was one reported elsewhere, in the unreliable zone.)
There is currently the inequity of a date of homologation imposed upon Honda but removed from the rest of the engine suppliers. Charlie was presumably being strongly advised on the end of a stiletto here.
Because as I see it Honda are caught in an endless loop of Appendix 4 and article 28.5 which refer to each other. However while Honda does not fall into any of the named categories of Appendix 4 Article 1, it most definitely comes under Article 28.5.
All the other PU suppliers fall into Article 1b. or possibly 1c. Their PU were homologated last year.
The regs are written to specific fully defined dates and not relative to number of years as a supplier, it is clear that no thought was given to new entrants in the PU field.
The only surprising thing so far is that a hidden commercial agreement has not been revealed overriding the sporting regs in yet another instance. So it is comforting to see that still present, unaltered are:
5.4 The maximum number of Events in the Championship is 20, the minimum is 8. and
5.7 An Event may be cancelled if fewer than 12 cars are available for it.
We older fans long ago gave up wondering it Ferrari would ever sink to competing on equal terms with other teams, mind you it won’t stop us carping about it.
Yes, but let’s keep carping on about it, because whilst the sport is in a mess, we might get something done about it, if only by virtue of it being a easy finger pointing exercise for others to follow.
Cynicism aside, if it possibly can be, it isn’t altogether so very long ago that Ferrari didn’t have this subsidy, and enough of us can remember that time. So, maybe we have a little return to our childhood values, still on the horizon?
It’s ironic that Ferrari’s current road car sales performance is inversely proportional to that of its F1 track performance. However, it’s been pointed out on this blog by others that Ferrari owners are ‘intelligent enough to distinguish the two’.
So I wonder how many of those Ferrari owners actually bother to follow F1 –
And what proportion of ‘ordinary’ fans would be dismayed if Ferrari left the sport.
My guess is it would be a minority in both cases.
Well, I know a Ferrari driver who sold his car, in disgust over Austria, back when! But then he only had the one… Ferrari’s market really seems to be those who own a few. Or aspire to own several. I often think they get as much out of people like Nick Mason, drummer of the Pink Floyd (in case anyone visiting here wouldn’t know that, which I feel is rather slight chance) being a aficionado, as they do out of any other marketing ideas. And I’m still convinced that Ferrari’s image is inextricable from sports cars racing, for those truly passionate about the marque.
We must forget, surely, that, in the negotiation for any subsidy, someone must have said to Bernie, that the sports cars heritage counts for a lot, and that they might just go back to it?
I don’t know the workings of the Maranello marketing machine well enough, to make good guesses, but I do imagine any fresh hand at the tiller would search for inefficiency, overlap, excessiveness, and wonder just how much the marque can rest on its laurels, and still never satisfy demand.
One thing I would love to know, is where the money actually goes. Does it stay in Maranello? There’s also simple calculations to be made. Sure, it’s a cool billion and a bit, over a decade. But then apparently MB can make the equivalent of twice that, in advertising impact, in one year. So, what do they want most?
Possibly, Marchionne’s cold comments about not liking Ferrari (at least old guard) influence in the FIA, presages a deliberate campaign to cool reactions to a horse trade for rule changes, that allow their race team to compete the quicker.
I agree that their strongest connection from a sales perspective is probably their sports-car racing heritage. So I assume the new regime will be actively analysing the potential benefits of making WEC LMP1 their prime marketing display window.
I wonder if any of the other dominant marques are considering the move.
Is F1 living on borrowed time?
Did you notice the Porsche evasiveness reported by Motorsport magazine?
Or the fact the rather sweet looking new Ford GT has a V6 Turbo?
Hmmm!
Ferrari may need to make a move in sports cars, to prevent itself being hemmed in. I am certain that by doing so, especially if they are serious to compete in the USA, they will receive a refreshing influx of thinking. I hope so, anyhow, because that idea if made real, would endear them to me, whilst nothing has endeared Ferrari to me, not since I was a little boy, anyhow. Not since.. Luca came to run the show, before I got up and running from the living room rug… I have such professional admiration for him, and yet nothing he did, as to the brand, is what I care for. I think he did what was necessary, forcing the marque into a financial trading position, both in showroom sales, and commercially, and bloodyminded applied his newfound clout, right in F1’s face. Poor move. You have to look at these things, as taking thirty years, or so. Anything gong on now, is, in management terms, as primitive as trepanning, blood letting and applying leeches. When you have a wholesale change of management (and I know this, accompanied by excruciating pain, from my own life), you cannot tinker with the details. Fine tuning strategies … well someone more than moved your cheese, you’re drawing MBAmumbo on invisible whiteboards, nobody can see what you mean. Believe me on this, it takes time, and a considerable deal of intellectual honesty.
I have been a Ferrari Fan since my childhood, and an f1 fan since 1994 (dire times for Ferrari), but I keep wondering why, as they seem so unsymphatetic and political. And the new Boss is even worse than the last.
I would love to see them get back to winning ways, but through actual hard work and innovation on the race track, not through lobbying and politics.
I guess if Honda would lose interest in the sport, even before they started this paints a poor picture of the political forces that define the “sport”
Heres me hoping for some real change in the structure of the sport, commercial, money distribution, rules, budgets and all… But I am very sceptical this will happen as it seems no one in F1actually WANTS this? Should it really come down to the EU to change all this mess, and what will be the concequence of that?
Joe, you really don’t like that whole Ferrari 2.5% + 2.5%, do you ya?
I don’t much like it either to be fair, but that hot little topic seems to be mentioned by you, with disdain, in the same quantity as your favoured subject; Hack Internet Journalism, Trolling Commenter Behaviour and of course, Bernie’s Immediate Downfall – which has of course been coming for 10 years now.
Well there is hope, I suppose. We must always have hope.
Perhaps one day we’ll both live in a world where Ferrari get equal amounts of opportunity to earn and be successful as Force India, where one must be physically present on the scene to report on anything, where the Internet has become respectful and courteous and last but not least, Bernie hands over the reigns to a team made up of the FiA, a Sports Marketing company and the teams stake holders equally whilst CVC shovel all that loaned money back into F1 to pay for said marketing.
Don’t hold your breath though. But do hope. We need that, don’t we?
Scuderia McLaren
Yes wee need that.
Someone has to keep reminding people of these things. I only don’t like the thought of Joe being treated as a single issue protester or narrow obsessive, as these things bounce in the echo chambers of the internet, when that might detract from so much else of value. People _are accustomed to bloggers taking single issue stands: it’s very common indeed. Bloggers get pigeon holed too quickly, because they – in my opinion – actually too frequently are in reality single issue lobbyists. Single issues are very frequently why people start blogging. I don’t think it will cause such effect, but it’s only the pigeon hole risk, that concerns me.
Perhaps Ferrari’s incoming shareholders will realize that they would make more money if they ditch all the F1 expense, and just sell SUVs to Chinese housewives. Financial people do like a short term view.
The best minds are currently saying, along with Joe, that Ferrari are facing no wins and 2 to 3 more years of slog to catch up with Merc. Maybe.
But I would like to predict here and now at least one win in 2015: It will be Spa!!
Nothing wrong with optimism
We had some fantastic other winners, last year. Up with the optimism!
Honda have been surprisingly vociferous about feeling “cheated” by the new rules. Given their historical tendency to lobby privately rather than whine publicly (unlike Ferrari), do you think there’s any danger that they’ll simply decide to walk away from F1?
I don’t see that happening
It’s interesting that someone thinks that possible, though.
How does that reflect, on the public image, of respective teams:
Ferrari: spoiling the game for everyone and running off with a sack of cash.
Honda: too principled to go on, even despite enormous investment, if they think they might not be able to win fairly.
Wow.
When you put it that way, that’s a pretty stark view of how effective Ferrari’s advertising is, against Honda.
Not that Ferrari advertises, but I’ve always found that a suspect approach. My dad ended up working for a thrift – some switch from adland -that advertised itself as “the largest in the world” in less than a column inch, ignominiously in back pages; he had to ask his boss what to do about such a claim. That was the Halifax Building Society. They have historically been both the biggest, or close enough, and given such poor rates that my dad, fifty plus years in service to them, never kept but a token account.
It’s hard to say what to do, with any company that doesn’t advertise. Or doesn’t spend much. Obviously if they spend “below the line” or on PR, then they’ve established a channel. And companies new to advertising are always interesting to get to the point where they understand how to use that for them, rather than blurt out statements.
But there comes a point, at which – in my experience cold calling to sell advertising positions, from major sports tournaments to obscure trade quarterlies – when you find yourself reversing the question of suspicion some pose to the question of whether they will advertise.
At what point, really, do customers think there’s something not quite right, or not good enough to proclaim? The idea can be applied very usefully, in a structured way, to all parties in the ad game, and I developed a guidebook to using the answers you find. But, to me, the broadest market struggles with ex ante definitions, which big powerful marketers like Ferrari, ought not to. And yet, I find these elementary questions coming to my mind.
Never mind this joe! What about a nascar wife being outed as one of the Penelope’s !!
As long as half of the money goes out of the sport the Ferrari money situation is irrelevant.
Beides that, why should Ferrari receive less money than they actually do? There is a reason why they get paid the money they do.
I’m sure Ferrari attracts much more viewers worldwide than any other team. So they certainly deserve the money they get. If they wouldn’t deserve it, they wouldn’t get it, I guess.
If You want to create a better money income situation for smaller teams, go and get the money from CVC. They made enough return on their investment, don’t You think so?
banteamorders, I can tell you that there are many people on the verge of giving up on F1 as the result of Ferrari’s long-term manipulation of the ‘sport’ by underhand means. It’s not without reason that the FIA have been known as Ferrari International Assistance on many occasions (though I have to say Jean Todt’s FIA have been less active in this area …. but then they’ve been less active in ALL F1 areas, so maybe that’s just coincidental).
Ferrari are NOT seen as a paragons of F1 competition. They are not universally attractive to the viewers of F1. In fact I (for one) would not miss them for a moment if they DID pack up and swap to LMP2 (where they can do less harm).
Classic case of “Ferrari? Don’t let the door hit you in the arse as you leave! kthxbai!”
I think it maybe more accurate to say, that many will attribute to Ferrari the straw that broke the camel’s back, in terms of their love for the present sport. The conditions for dissatisfaction with F1 are replete with a variety of excuses, as well as firm, sound, arguments. But the way excuses go, this is a highly effective one to provide, especially to non fans, because the argument against sporting integrity is so strong, it won’t get lost among the usual F1 shenanigans our non fan friends switch off tom when we speak to them.
Is that a moniker that Marchionne wants to gain, even as a inheritance?
He has to actively avert this eventuality, not treat it as a statistical loss of marketing efficacy.
How is it a victory?
So Ferrari delays the 2015 version and uses the current PU until Spain. This puts them behind the Mercedes engined teams, even if Mercedes teams use the 2014 PU, and probably the Red Bull for the first 4 races. Force India always build a good car for their budget and Lotus-Mercedes should be a stronger package than last year. The McLaren-Honda might be a Brawn but expectations from “The Warren” are for a learning year. So 7th at best for Kimi, more likely 11th and out of the points.
All Arrivabene has achieved is to give Mercedes the luxury of another 2 months to bullet-proof their 2015 PU.
!Revolucion! Stick it to the (old) Man! (Sorry. ’60s flashback. Won’t happen again. I’m leaving quietly.)
Lol! I’ll go with the next decade: Rad, man, far out red dreams!
Here is my prediction, Ferrari get fifth place this year. McLaren started there rejuvenation plans before Ferrari and have the changes in place. Honda had a year to figure out how to get close to Mercedes. Maybe not past, but they knew how high the bar was set last season, so they had to want to clear that with at least some margin. Biggest concern is reliability, but I suspect many of these engines have been run well beyond what is going to be asked of them on track in Japan. So unless the Honda engine is a complete chocolate tea pot then Ferrari are going to be working hard for points. Lotus with a Merc, assuming they also have the money to run well this season will further erode the points haul.
This will be the only victory Ferrari has this season and claiming it is a sign of the poor management of the team for several years. They let the cash come in and figured that was all it would take to stay ahead and forgot about recruiting the best and brightest and how to retain and motivate staff to excel, not just show up to work.
I think it’d be really cool, if we could have a predictions thread, opened before the season starts in earnest. Optimistic predictions, order of the day, by preference. There’s such a fun crowd here, but I do sense there’s a collective cynicism the kind of which comes from longer experience. I’d love to hear invited everyone’s upbeat predictions.
I think that Mr. Marchionne has shown over the years that his forte is running automobile companies. Running a race team is quite different however. The exodus he’s created at Ferrari is close to rivaling the one at Lotus, who’s end results were ominous.
If he doesn’t fire some people its “How do you expect to win with the same bunch of losers”. If he does get rid of people its, “he’s created an exodus, no one wants to work here anymore”
Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t.
Claire Williams seems to have turned her team’s direction about, with far less fuss.
Others are involved in the process and dont forget FW is still tje team principal
True, and I didn’t forget FW, or others in the design shop, e.g., at all, Joe. But I thought about it, and preferred to give credit to the boss, who being female I worried might be more often receive qualified praise, (generally, not by present company), when attributing success. If I thought it was Claire, alone, I would be very vocal indeed. No (good) boss will claim sole responsibility, but however things are working, they have fared well under Claire, and I hope that’s a developing, improving, situation. I hope that _more_ credit will be due.
I think the argument is against “How do you expect to win with the same bunch of losers”. Pat Symonds has made some good remarks about this – improving how people work together.
You, losers do have something to prove, and you can often attain that, with the right moves, right treatment.
Wish I could edit, that was “yup, loser do”, not “you, losers do”, sorry
Total agreement over here.
When I heard what he said I lost whatever little respect I had left for Ferrari.
Where would the sport have been if Ferrari and Red Bull didn’t look out for their selfish unsporting needs a few years ago? Perhaps FOTA would still be around with a grown and decent influence for the better of the ‘sport’.
Oh, the irony. Mercedes got shafted by the ‘deals’ and now they’re doing their talking on the track, as it should be. I know they ploughed a lot of money into the new regulations but still, they ‘played’ by the same (not really) rules.
I would love to see a fair and allround competitive F1, however, I hope the Mercedes teams along with McLaren Honda wipe the floor with the Ferrari and Renault teams.
But, general question: do we need to hold in respect, team bosses, when we want a driver – supposedly, usually anyhow – to win, and – again, usually – stuff the color or creed of the car?
I reckon that having technical prowess that delivers a WDC, as opposed to a WCC, is the icing on the cake. And any respect we may or may not have, for team bosses, and their machinations, merely toppings, like Dr. Oetker sell, for making fancy buns.
Mmmmm, buns!
No, but seriously, anyone commenting on the state of the F1 business world, for general fan consumption, ought to be seeking to write themselves out of a job, having drawn attention to what is wrong, and gotten that fixed by public opprobrium. There’s much more to be made, writing up these nuggets, when relievers in a business newsletter. Consider that, also, when you wonder the sources of who proclaims themselves as understanding a bit of company account filings, as revelatory. What, honestly, is their real job? The Financial Times doesn’t think it worth the bother, and yet they normally do pay attention to big business like this… If someone came up to you and told you that a special enzyme used in manufacture say of a antibiotic (or any really obscure thing like that) deserved your attention, because it salved a cyclists’ scrapes the better, would you turn away from watching a sprint or climb? You see, the level of attention given to all this is all bent out of shape; but then so is the organization of the sport. Just you’d double take the faster if someone wrote on a random cycling website, posing as having a doctor’s insight, without the title, I’d hazard. We’ve a few too many doctors, mostly none of them even selling any cures. To be clear, I don’t mean to detract at all from what Joe writes, he’s alone in trying to provide a service others pay handsomely for, more freely. The same people who pay, he comments upon, even. But, absent a fatal prognosis, I hope all is not lost, and too much is not tarnished, in how you feel about a racing car’s distant supposed commander’s blurting.
Okay, sorry for getting on my high horse, I’d better get off on case it prances.. ugh, time for bed and cocoa.. but we do have a almighty level of dissonance as to values and reporting and speech, right up and down this sport. I think the radical solutions are simply to start prizing eyelids open, and maybe jimming open a couple of windows, also.
Brilliant piece Joe! “So-called sportsmen” indeed…
Sounds more like Charlie Sheen version of ‘winning’!
I don’t think this is really the road to winning, if it provides a benefit it’s just a one off and doesn’t mean the team is any better or lay any foundations for future success. I get the impression Ferrari are going to get tough with their employees and start pointing the finger when quick results don’t come, resulting in heads rolling and the team getting nowhere due to too much disruption and discord.
I used to kind of think F1 needed Ferrari but now perhaps F1 would be better off without them…
I think Ferrari would also benefit, from attacking the WEC and other series, in particular I’d love to see them race in the US sportscars prominently, to build a fresh talent base. Maybe they should just hang a little more easy with the Haas proposition, and see what comes from that, but be mindful that ambitious young talent doesn’t want a CV dominated (virtue of youth, curse of youth) half hearted ventures. This is something that I am sure would never fit with a LdiM led Ferrari, but is entirely possible with the Marchionne / Arrivabene Ferrari. Pity that Arrivabene’s name always reminds me of a much maligned public bus transport group in the UK… One thing is certain; the shakeup is bound to provide fresh opportunities for people to rise up within the ranks, and even from without. But I think it is a generational turn; Luca di Montezemelo procured a transformation that can only be measured compared with Enzo’s tenure itself, and maybe longer term, a complete change of the guard is the healthiest. But I doubt that will be comforting to those on F1 calendars, at all.
Would be great to see Ferrari doing other series especially going to Le Mans at the top level, they surely have the resource and talent available to have a go at it and would give them something to talk about other than 5th place in F1!
While dethroning Mercedes is a very long shot, perhaps it’s better to reserve predictions for at least the end of the first day of in Jerez.
I have great faith in James Allison vut engines are important these days.
There’s certainly a clamor to produce more HP from the ICEs, as opposed to hybrid electric chain. That makes me think that some feel they can deliver a lot, quickly, to satisfy F1 needs. And fuel efficiency is still on the march, whilst technology for energy recovery is a very expensive component, especially in smaller cars. Further, constraints on hybrid tech are vulnerable to vital “rare earth” metals supply, and critically to political support, none of which is more racing than politics and broad scale macro economy, as opposed to technical innovation. I love the new formula: it has provided the beginning to a new era in design thought, and I think, maybe, it will not turn out in the end to be the bell that tolls for aero designers that Adrian Newey pronounced. But, I read from the clamoring for ICE advances, a more important thing; the idea that there’s renewed interest and focus on this sport that I feared was waning. That supports my gratefulness for the new formula, but we need ears and eyes and minds to be open.
Great post, Joe.
As my Bubi used to say, “From your mouth, to God’s ears.”
But, as the cynic in me says, “I’m not holding my great.”
ooops. Should read, “I’m not holding my breath.”
When clawing upwards from mediocrity one takes “victory” where ever it can be found. Or construed. Or fantasized.
Hi Joe – I think the concept of the F1 group, owners or whatever they are called actually uniting and agreeing on anything is about as far away from reality as a weekend trip to Mars and back…………..
Exactly the sort of comment one would expect from a marketing man with absolutely no engineering knowledge. In engineering terms, the man who took over part way through last season, knew nothing; the present incumbent even less – When this season goes belly up, they will probably sack the lady who makes the pasta, after all, they are running out of other people to blame…
I think they sacked her when they closed down Di Montezemolo’s executive dining room!
Agree with everything you have said.
Ferrari again. At a rate of approx $120 million dollars annually they will have taken in around a billion Dollars in the last decade alone! What have they achieved by doing so? Well, whenever a Ferrari car appears on the screen – its exactly the same thoughts that go through my mind. Its crazy even by taking all this money and so arguably skewing the championship in their favour – they still can’t win. Even given all that money and therefore engineering potential – they still can’t manufacture a car that works. Then when they do win, I think – so what, with all that money! Its seems a lose,lose sales proposition.
What a huge, huge terrible shame that they should go on mindlessly devaluing a once glorious and truly wonderful racing brand. Shouldn’t they rethink this?
It is also agreed apparently that some other teams should also be given extra money/development potential and therefore a start much closer to the championship finishing line – than all the other entrants thus presumably skewing the results … surely that’s fair; surely the fans will like that…..sigh!
I believe my sport has been ripped away from me. I believe that what I am watching is an auto series where some individual competitors have been placed, by prior agreement, in better starting positions than others, much nearer to the finishing line. I believe I am now just watching a carefully managed exhibition of recent engineering ideas packaged into and sold to me in the form of a so called sporting Championship. This used to be my Championship. It was a sport.
My Sport; my passion, lies broken and bleeding at my feet. Electronic wallpaper. And when I look for help in the direction I should be able to find help from – the organizers perhaps…?
– Or more particularly, the FIA who, acting on my behalf, as trustees, are the my protectors and champions of the basic sporting principals and values of motor racing – as a sport – I find nothing. When I turn to them; they who, as Trustees, manage and protect the sporting principles of the F1 Grand Prix Championship,in trust and on my behalf – when I turn to them, I find nothing. A mute terrible silence.
Shame; shame on them.
My Sport has been taken away from me and it hurts – that is why I have taken the time to write this. I want someone to know – even if it is only one other person – to know how badly I feel. I may even be wrong but at the moment its how I see it and feel.
Finally, just consider this. Before the flag drops on Melbourne 2015 some teams will have been given and taken an unreasonable advantage, by way of money and therefore an enlarged technical/developmental potential. That translates, directly into ontrack performance and therefore a possible skewing of the championship results. In other not all contestants have any chance of winning. That’s a direct attack on the sporting principles of our sport and fatal undermining of the sporting standing of the Championship. That’s before the flag has even dropped on the very first race folks. That is why I think its currently just an exhibition, lightly describing what this sport once was.
I am a fan. I Am Trying to be fan; I am going on trying to be one. But somewhere, somehow I would like someone else to see, through the eyes of a very small fan, the damage I think is being done.
Which,incidentally, quite openly and honestly, is why I frequent and support Joe’s blog which I just regard as a haven of genuine sanity, of reason and actually of hope in all of this.
Don’t worry I do appreciate this is nothing more than one fans vent. I also accept one can’t create a global event which is completely free of some compromises. I hope I haven’t trod on any toes, too hard anyway…
Iain
Well said
I to some degree echo Iain.
Where does one apportion blame for some of the more farcical attributes of F1 and to some degree other sports where there is a less than fair playing field. (it’s hard to think of any sport in the US, Europe or the World, either professional or amateur where there isn’t a degree of gaming the system)
Joe you deserve both credit and blame for some degree of cynicism. Only in that some of your more regular readers, having an interest in this “sport” seek more knowledge and information, come across your excellent reporting and analysis, which exposes and sheds light on these corrupt dealings. In so doing, if we don’t ignore it and put our heads in the sand, can’t help but become a bit more disenchanted, jaded and frankly pissed off at how those responsible for this grand sport and tradition have turned it to some degree into a rigged cabal for the fortunate few who were able to get their sweetheart deals, sustainability and fair play be damned.
Damn, as I get older I am presented with more and more reminders of the truth behind the phrase “Ignorance is Bliss” for if you don’t know about the misdeeds, corruption, and lack of fair play, you can more easily enjoy things.
Maybe I need to try to utilize more fully the concept of “Selective Apathy” I came up with the term somewhat tongue in cheek while at University, but realize each of us does it as a survival mechanism in day to day life.
Sometimes blocking out the stupid gossip rags, and pop culture ephemera, other times, ignoring our personal health, financial, or other issues in denial, and other times ignoring political, global, inter-faith, or environmental challenges/conflicts/problems because they seem so daunting and not possibly affected by our individual efforts.
But I would hope there are ways that on some of those challenges and problems, sometimes our small individual efforts, or cries of BS, or frustration, or wanting better, can be heard, or sometimes, make some positive difference, no matter how small.
That was classic Iain. You nailed it well.
My thoughts too. Well put.
Wow … and thank you. You have so eloquently expressed exactly how I feel, after so many years of passion, for increasing amounts of time these days. But, being our own worst enemies, we will be back loving the remnants in March and feeling great whenever the racing is good. The broader concern has to be whether (and how many of) our love affairs could survive a bad season.
Iain,
Thanks, better words and all the emotion I feel.
Cheers
Unfortunately very few people know that Ferrari are subsidised – so does them very little harm in PR terms.
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. The majority of fans have no clue that this is going on.
“Unfortunately very few people know that Ferrari are subsidised – so does them very little harm in PR terms.”
Agreed. However the internal torment that Ferrari visits upon itself during poor years seems punishment enough…
You might be surprised at how many people know that Ferrari are being “subsidised”. I’m surprised at how many people don’t realise that they aren’t the only team being subsidised anymore. Perhaps I’m wrong about this, but I’m sure Joe will correct me if Ferrari are the only team receiving a bonus just for being there.
Yes Ferrari are the worst in this respect but they aren’t alone and I always shake my head when I see people falling over themselves to attack them yet letting others slip through as if innocent.
I don’t agree with the bonuses. I think the money should be distributed fairly but also I think the complaints about this system should be distributed fairly as well. Also, i believe that most of the teams hold some responsibility for this ridiculous state of affairs. If you really want to sort out this sport you will need to go further than ending Ferrari’s participation bonus. Yes I am are Joe does go further than the Ferrari situation, I’m not so sure about some others at times. Indeed, as I’ve alluded to before you all need to accept that F1 isn’t just a UK versus the Continent sport anymore. Seriously, so much of the sport gets drawn through that filter it’s hard to take some attitudes seriously.
My comments aren’t directed at Ian, his post seemed a good point to jump in and express an opinion.
Iain, that sums it up brilliantly.
First and foremost, this is a sport that began from people doing something they enjoy in the spirit of competition. It’s a shame that today it’s biggest “competitors” don’t treat it that way. As for Ferrari, it seems that recent changes in its management were intended to strengthen its political influence rather than its performance on track. They fired two team principles last year who seemed genuinely interested in the sport and the competition. Says it all doesn’t it…
Well Iain, I can’t disagree with you, and it is sad indeed, and I say that from the viewpoint of a motorsports fan who has been an avid follower since 1964/65…when it was a sport.
While F1 disintegrates and reforms into something we fans can really love again, may I suggest that you look to the WRC for pure sporting entertainment this year?
True it is currently dominated by a massive German financial investment to make the best car to dominate the series. However, it also features a great array of very different events, with different challenges and no events are at venues designed by one man!
It also allows great drivers to buy the current latest spec WRC car, and so Robert Kubica will be driving the very latest, Factory Spec Ford Fiesta this year. Wouldn’t it be nice for Fernando to buy a Factory Spec Merc F1 car???
And there are 4 teams that can win events, even if the Germans are favourites every time!
Also, British drivers and other young drivers from other countries, can get a top seat at a Factory Team, without paying for the drive, e.g. Kris Meeke, who is rapidly making himself de facto No1 at Citroen. On top of all this you get 3 days of sport for a maximum ticket price of about £30-50, and you can stand opposite the Pits all day if you wish and watch the show on big screen tv, while seeing service carried out only 6-7 metres away from you. If you get up early each day, and go to Parc Ferme, you can talk to World Champions and top drivers and take their pictures, and they will be happy to talk to you too. They will tell you that this is because You Pay Their Wages, and Without You and All the Fans, as opposed to Celebs, there would be no WRC!!
Refreshing, and also heartening, to go to a motorsport event where the Fan is catered for and looked after and regarded as Important to the Event.
Give it a try, I did 15 years ago, and never looked back! Strangely enough, when you chat to spectators at these events, while there are hardcore rally only fans, there are also huge numbers of F1 & MotoGP fans who attend….motorsport is not all about Bernie & his Circus…thank God!
Iain
Bravo, totally agree with you.
Well said, Iain, and large parts of it are how many of us feel (especially about the unique sanity of Joe’s writing). The best way to end the current unfair distribution of funds would probably be to widely publicise the money Ferrari gets and the little good it does them. That should give them a Testa Rossa (red head) – of shame, that is.
One qualification I would make is that politicking and unfair advantages (and the outrage that follows the discovery of said advantages) have – in my opinion – always been part of the spectacle of F1: a spectacle with a sport hidden somewhere in the middle of it. But these days the sporting side has been a veritable needle in a stack of marketing bluster and political hay.
+1, and an it’s not just many fans that echo your thoughts; many employees feel the same way. Those who come and work in teams (the young and nor so young) soon discover their rose-tints fading. For the seasoned of us, very sadly it’s not about the power, passion, and speed anymore; more like “well it pays more than in the real world, so we’ll put up with the aggro and BS”
Totally on point Sir, superbly said.
Iain..I think you’re mistaking a big watch-advertisement-for-pensioners for a sport!
To me, F1 is scandalous gladiatorial combat in an arena filled with cash. It’s all there, goodies, baddies and crazy ring-masters. It’s an entertainment business based on greed where tragedy and, mostly, unintended comedy are handed out to the spectators in huge lumps.
Heresy? Flippancy? Perhaps. However, it’s the way I have to view F1 if I am to enjoy it.
No, the only hope for F1 is for Joe to take Bernie’s job. But we’d need an adversary, a pantomime baddy at the FIA…Max..are you busy these days? Two mature, battle hardened warriors for the arena and no more invisible FIA..formidable! 🙂
“Don’t worry I do appreciate this is nothing more than one fans vent.”
Iain this is the only sentence from your post that I disagree with. There are many of us who feel the same as you and I suspect that the number grows with every daft new rule, self-serving edict or blatant fix.
Maybe if we all shout loudly enough, just maybe, someone will hear and actually listen.
Verily. When the “silent majority” speaks, it has something to say!
I know Iain is not a complete stranger about here, but a less frequent contributor of his thinking, and yet he nails it, beautifully. Those of us, or maybe just myself, concerning themselves with the intricacies, rarely speak so well.
Excellent post, Iain,
I am going on trying to be a fan, also.
So well put.
I keep thinking, slightly askance form your thoughts, but along the same lines, I think, that Ferrari have been stashing this $120MM a year, and that it’s been propping up something else.
Tin foil hat firmly donned: could that be the reason Marchionne has stripped the upper ranks at Maranello?
The one thing he strives for immediately, everywhere he looks, is reporting clarity.
And, despite I am a genuine admirer of Luca di’s obvious talents, I do not somehow imagine he was a technocrat, in basic management terms, finessing financial reporting and accounting.
Marketing, oh boy, does he know his stuff! As mentioned by a older writer, elsewhere, for whom alone I visit a otherwise dubious outlet, noted, maybe Luca’s aristocratic family background (that “di” is real, and you find his forbears in direct line, in positions of political power, often enough) is why he innately understood, or appreciated how to form the brand’s modern exclusivity. Certainly, that, he did very well, beyond any peer. Even Rolls and the now separate Bentley, play catch up.
But, a tight technical financial ship? Even putting aside any national stereotypes, I believe that would have been far from his forte. Indeed, I think he wielded political power as a means to bridge accounting gaps, as a default reaction, rather than address fundamental problems.
In the final analysis, which I doubt we shall ever see, I imagine, without hint of daydreaming, I pinched myself this moment, to be sure that if I am deluded it is not for lack of awareness, that there will be efficiencies to be found, in abundance.
Maybe the simple root cause of the Ferrari malaise, is that they need to tighten their operational ship.
Maybe even the gross subsidy provided to Ferrari, is more the exegesis of a management style, and bargaining opportunities, than it is something that is needed by either party, once cooler, fresher, minds, are applied.
I hope very much that my appreciation for the situation, will not turn out to be significantly otherwise.
Because I do see how Ferrari could be a genuine positive for F1, shed the mantle of unsporting behavior, and contribute to this sport’s recognition, even political standing, in ways that the later daydreaming of pseudo political F1 has not the maturity to attain.
Meanwhile, the harder daydream, as Iain has so eloquently put, it the private struggles around the world, to remain a fan, true in one’s heart.
My, is that a challenge, so in need of remedy.
“The idea that Ferrari should stand on its own two feet and fight on equal terms seems to be beyond the comprehension of these so-called sportsmen.”
Spot on. The financial inequality is on a scale with football – can you imagine Chelsea glorying in a win over Wycombe Wanderers? Ferrari ought to win every race. Presumably Ferrari’s preferential treatment is not just a perk but a necessity – we can only suppose that without their unfair advantage Ferrari would be back-markers. The poor red lambs need this leg-up to just to survive and save face!
Joe, I like your ideas regarding how F1 should be run. Do you get the feeling that any of your ideas and articles have any influence on the decision makers in F1? Why doesn’t F1 hire you to make decisions?
LOL
ROTFL!!
Amen, so hope on public tv you get to post that very question to sportsman Sergio. The BBC and SKY folk never will. Wake me when the EU does something.
I’ll be honest..I have never succumbed to the Ferrari mystique. Ensuring that their cars submitted to magazine tests are “optimized” to generate the best lap times and performance speak to a corporate culture of insecurity. From the little I’ve read it appears Enzo was that way too.
Seems to me they need and demand an unfair advantage with both their road AND race cars. I kid you not, Chris Harris, a popular journalist had large enough attachments to publicly berate this practice on the Jalopnik website back in 2011.
I do not live in the EU and am generally wary of bureaucrats getting involved in anything as they bring their own problems with them. However I wonder if in this case, their interbention or an investigation might be beneficial to expose the greed and save the sport I have loved since childhood.
The mainstream media is so clueless that to the average fan consuming their fodder we must be the lunatic fringe. Sigh !!!
VeeFour, may I suggest a short break to Northern Italy, and a cruise around Modena area….2 large factories nearby, and an In house racetrack too. One can sit in a very Italian restaurant over the road from the F1 facility and breathe in the mystique of decades of participation in the WCD/WCC and positive hordes of famous drivers who have sat at the same table that you can sit at, and just take in the atmosphere….there isn’t any F1 team like it on the Planet and that’s a fact. Yes they have had and continue to have, huge flaws, but that is just part of what makes them so different to the standard F1 team from GB. They are easy to love, easy to feel frustrated with….even easy to hate, and anyone with an ounce of motorsport passion in their soul would agree with that analysis, but no one who loves motorsport, or who is enraptured by the awesome history of motor racing, could truly say that they would rather F1 was held without Ferrari involved….that is on a par with saying, ” I really love MotoGP. but it’s such a shame that Valentino Rossi has a Works ride”….. It is also true that they made some terribly unreliable cars, but they also made some superb ones, and still do.
Modern F1 has lost a huge amount of what made it the great series it was in the past. No Alfa Romeo, no Maserati, no BRM, no Cooper, no proper Lotus, no Matra, no Tyrell, etc etc….losing the Scuderia would be the finish of it imho!
Quote from Forbes:
“Mr. Marchionne is a chartered accountant and lawyer who, since beginning his career in 1983, has held executive positions at several firms prior to assuming his current positions”
Also but not from Forbes:
“Arrivabene comes from a marketing and sales background. In 1997, he joined Philip Morris…… ”
I don’t have anything against either type of career but victories take place on the last lap of a race, not in some seedy backroom hustle.
If it is in Forbes, can it be trusted?
or are they just sylting up the information highway again?
Curious question ..
Once upon a time, maybe. But you also had to allow it was a boardroom mouthpiece, and as such a lot of preening went on. Just as, sadly, Fortune magazine, declined from its once higher goals, even allowing the title stated its world view was promotional a little more than analytical. I was saddened, the other day, when Robert X Cringely*, a notable computing journalist, responsible for some very good long form, and involved himself enough to know many important characters, wrote for Forbes on the (latest) IBM decline. The result was far far below his ability, clobbered the nuances his blogging has tried to grasp, and smacked of the sub editor being asleep or absent. I think his blog needs a injection of editing, also, but I would not that let detract from his insights which are well worth a look, beyond the fluff that is usually the thing of “IT journalism”.
* his nom de plume when trading magazine employers back in the days computing titles had real influence, the temporary name stuck.
I think people are making too much of the top management at the Scuderia. Briatore was a clothes shop salesman, but he did a stonking job for Benetton, and copped 2 WDC as well. His secret was simply put the right people in the right jobs and let them do what they thought was the best way to win. It remains to be seen if the Marchionne approach works, but if he and Arrivebene leave the team alone now, it could well be that Vettel, Kimi & Allison surprise us all.
True, engines are key now, but better aero and mechanical performance can help ease the engine pain, and in general at least the engine was reliable last year. The other thing to remember is that this type of engine is not likely to be in use for very long. It’s way too expensive and the Merc Board will not see why they should spend so much beating everyone so easily, and not getting a decent ROI on the deal. The engines to come will be simpler and Ferrari & Renault will be back in the game again.
Flavio was well qualified in one area I think every team ought to have advice: what clothes salesman does not know the venality of his customers? He also came in, as a lot of money flowed, suddenly, a fact which had a effect on many people, for the worse. Flavio took advantage of that fact, that distraction of money and how it takes eyes off the real prize, in actually assembling what became the Benetton team. In this way, in understanding the vices and vicissitudes of human beings, he had a functional advantage in managing, once, as you say, he got the right people in operations below him.
But, as I originally posit in this observation; I think it better to have someone who understand human nature like this, advising, and not actually running a team, over any significant period of time. I believe such advantage as can be found, in what I relate to here, is of real advantage usually only in quite narrow or temporary circumstances. But I am certain, both from experience of having my hand come back a few fingers short, with some customers, and observation of men and money generally, that there does exist a particular talent, that seems usually packaged without the necessary detergent to dispose of it once purpose served.
F1 is not a sport as its players are corporations, it is an entertainment show and as such different rules apply.
Great teaser. When can we expect the full article about your view on entertainment, corporations and different rules? Can’t wait to be enlightened as to what I have probably missed the past years…
F1 is also a business.
The problem is that the FIA did unprecedented business deals, itself, and continued down a path of abdication from being a sporting governor. Ironically, this was the acceptable answer to investigation of business overlapping sport, in a investigation. Has any other sport befallen such a renowned unsatisfactory arrangement? As a fan, I have to take that as a positive, but of other notable values our beloved sport still has.
Still annoyed that after years of underperformance, Mercedes get it right for ONE YEAR and the others, rather than rising to the technical challenge, just instantly go political. I know there has always been this side in F1, but nowadays it is the reflex move. Red Bull’s stance particularly, after winning four on the bounce and 3 grands prix this year, is particularly sickening.
Isn’t Arrivabene’s appointment openly acknowledged to enable Ferrari gain a political and commercial advantage, not a technical or sporting one?
Ferrari are not even hiding this fact anymore.
I think Sergio Marchionne has realized what a devilish genius he has in Mr. Allison.
I wonder if the european commission will look into the betting market that is available to European consumers with regards to F1 races.
Hypothetically, should I choose to place a wager on a Williams driver winning a specific race, and the outcome is that he is beaten by a Ferrari driver, then I must accept that in this FIA governed/sanctioned/regulated ‘sport’ that all the competitors had a ‘fair and equal’ chance of winning and that I have fairly lost my bet by backing the wrong competitor.
This financial loss is the risk I must accept when I choose to wager on the outcome of a sport where all competitors are competing on a fair and equal basis.
However, what if the result of an F1 race can no longer be considered a ‘fair and sporting competition’. Whilst it is true that all of the competitors must comply with the same sporting and technical regulations, some teams are more involved than others in drafting / approving / vetoing those regulations.
And whilst there will always be some teams that are better financed than others,
that must surely be as a result of the resources made available by their owners and sponsors, not as a result of additional payments being made available by the sports governing / commercial bodies.
Just as the payment of PPI (Payment Protection Insurance) in the UK has resulted in tens of thousands of people being refunded a total of several billions of pounds worth of premiums that had been paid, I can envisage a time where people may be able to claim that the funds they lost whilst betting on the outcome of an F1 race or championship should be refunded.
With all of the secret agreements in place, regarding payments, veto’s, rules on third cars Etc. the public can no longer be reasonably assured that the competition is ‘fair and sporting’ – it has instead become a form of entertainment, the outcome of which can be manipulated to favour a specific outcome. And whilst the spectacle can be truly entertaining and compelling, can it still be truly called a sport?
The IOC (International Olympic Committee) sanctions the way the FIA runs F1 as a ‘sporting’ championship. Therefore I, like many others, shall continue to place bets on the sporting outcome of F1races/championships,
The results of an EU investigation into the running of the sport may take several years to conclude, however, we are able to place bets on the outcome of races/championships NOW, and have been for many years.
There is a simple, and almost immediate remedy for this, either;
1: Publish, immediately, all of the secret agreements that are in place between the teams, the FIA, FOM, Etc and let the chips fall where they fall.
2: Accept that F1 is now more of an ‘entertainment spectacle’ than a ‘sporting spectacle’ – that it’s rules and regulations are weighted in favour of the most popular teams and as a result the outcome of races/championships cannot always be considered to be ‘sporting and fair’ and on that basis request that companies such as ‘BetFair’ cease to accept bets on the outcome of these races/championships.
Since I am able to wager a financial bet on the outcome of a race/championship that may in the future be found to have been ‘open to manipulation’ then surely the likes of Bernie, Todt, MacKenzie and all of the other signatories to these ‘secret agreements’ are all aware of this, complicit in this, and may one day be found to be criminally liable for this.
As an EU citizen I would expect to be protected from any losses incurred as a result of legally betting upon the results of a sporting competition that was later deemed to be corrupt, as with PPI, the total payouts could be vast.
All bets are a gamble, eventually I think the only looser here will be F1 itself.
Your comment about PPI, reminds me of the fact that it was the banks, who wanted government regulation, to instill confidence in their failing throng, starting with the SEC. Anything set for “consumer protection”, not arranged by true consumers, is nothing of the sort.
Well said, good comment. I think your betting analogy is just a bit too thin a wedge (actually it’s exactly the kind of argument that I would throw at economics tutors, to their exasperation, so I like it a lot, as well see the limitations) but it does get to the heart of the matter, that a simple wager is a true test of a sport. Come to think of it, if you look a little deeply into anything to do with financial trading, just about everything is accommodating for how things are imbalanced or skewed, not theoretic perfection. I wish writers for newspaper sports pages would come up with not even half as good a argument.
Hear, hear Iain. Thanks for taking the time to articulate what many of us sense.
You have underlined why I find I’m less interested in F1 these days and becoming more interested in tractor pulls and LSR racing- in these the personalities are more real and approachable, the cars and their performances more amazing, explosive and varied, and thus the triumphs
and tragedies more authentic.
I hope that Ferrari get the smug grin well and truly wiped off their face this year. I cannot STAND their arrogance, their so blatant with it too. Ugh.
It’s a sad fact that F1 these days that the racing just seems to be a tool to drive making money rather than the way it should be where the money generated is used as a tool to further the racing. Every time I hear mention of decisions being made to “improve the show” it’s like a stab in the heart for sport and what it should stand for. You get the impression that quite a lot of the players (Ferrari and Bernie in particular) who would like F1 to be nothing more than WWE – a scripted event where they control the narrative, whilst dollar signs light up in their eyes coming under the vague banner of “sports entertainment”.
Ferrari themselves have such a commercial advantage over the other teams, even without the “loyalty” payment, that they should be winning every season.
I agree with everything you’ve said Joe, but until it gets mentioned in every report in F1 and becomes mainstream knowledge I fear that nothing will change.
Rather monotonous (meaning everybody agrees on the same opinion) comments … reading them all I remembered a quote from The Blues Brother movie… I found it on the net, and here it is ; ” Yeah, I got one more thing to say. I’m just talking about the music, people, and what it does to me. And that is, as you look around the world, you go to the Soviet Union or Great Britain or France, you name it, any country… Everybody is doing flips and twists just to get into a genuine pair of American blue jeans! And to hear this music and we got it all here in America, the land of the Chrysler 440 cubic inch engine!… ” now just replace “american blue jeans” with “Ferrari”, find “America” and replace with F1…
people and teams whine and cry and complain.. but lots of people are watching F1 and everybody would like to seat in a Fezza…
I dont want one. Your theory falls apart…
Sometimes I think Ferrari has lost too much, in terms of broad constituency, as it focuses on F1. Days of the Targa, Mille Miglia, red sports cars of astounding beauty and real danger to unsuspecting drivers… it is not entirely a loss attributable to nostalgia: the F1 focus detracted from a much more impressionable heritage, and the marque has failed to grasp a connection to the modern life of motor cars in general aspirations in a way I am not certain they are alone, but by which they certainly lack a vibrancy that I think would attract many more than they do now, despite unquestionably they are better cars in every way. I think sometimes the question is not whether I want a Ferrari, but, were I in the market, or had the spare money to run a genuine supercar, would I want any of them? But I do desire a Porsche 919 hybrid, maybe in more modest guise and output. That seems to me to reflect where personal transport has attained true innovation. I feel that would be a statement car. Yet none of them make me year to drive a fast car like they did when I was a boy, and I wouldn’t step into even a concourse example of my lustful boyhood’s yearning, save for a very short drive, safety coming to mind as too dramatically improved. Maybe what you should get, Joe, being flippant, is a modern “Q car” one you can call a turdbucket but which has the licks?! I keep nearly going for a VW Phaeton, for the Q Car ticket… but I want a new hybrid, one that really uses that, not a pure gas drinker, for a long time now.
Well JoJ, I had a Toyota Auris Hybrid hire car in Spain back in October last year, and I can honestly say ( and I have owned several Toyota cars and trucks in the past ), that it was the worst car I’ve not had the pleasure of driving, since 1986 when I had a 1000cc BL Metro on hire for a week!!!
That says a lot…..it was truly awful in every single aspect. The last time I was in Spain 3-4 years back, I had a 2000cc SEAT Leon turbo diesel for a week, and that car was just great! I owned a 2000cc Tdi Ford Focus at home, and the Leon was better than that, which I found hard to believe, excepting of course, that the Leon is a VW Golf in different clothes…
But the Auris Hybrid was simply awful to drive and the engine / hybrid system, stood no comparison with a well sorted Tdi engine.
+1, I agree with you Joe
I would say Mercedes now!
Ferrari – and for that matter, Renault as well – have messed up on the engine design since the inception of these new power plants. Because of that, they seek to change the rules, bend them, circumvent them in any way possible to counter the tight engine regulations *which they agreed to.*
You shouldn’t be allowed to change what you’ve agreed to just because someone else is winning.
I’m tired of Ferrari, and Red Bull as well, continuously whingeing about this. Would someone please tell them – put up, shut up, or get out.
Someone please call their bluff regarding that threat to leave the sport. And at the same time, ask them to leave that $90 million extra that they get than anyone else on the dressing room table if they walk out.
“When you stop and think about it, a decent European Commission investigation into the sport could easily work in favour of the Formula One group.”
If it only would happen…
Fake victories, pretty deceitful…
If only there was a way to force all teams to disclose their total F1 spending, month-by-month or race-by-race.
THEN a team could proudly stand up for what they might truly WIN… be that a solitary race point for 10th, an elusive podium, a victory.
Being so proud of prising open a loophole is embarrassing to watch. Claiming it as a first victory for 2015 may come back to bite, if it also turns out to be the last.
Plus, the ruling now that Honda can also avail of in-season upgrades, to the tune of the average no. of tokens left unused by the others, will probably result in Honda having MORE upgrade potential than whoever has had to use the most tokens to start 2015… I wonder who that will be.
Important question then: Will we be given public notice each time an engine maker uses up its development tokens during the season. I think that’s the least we should get, to understand what’s happening and who should honestly be proud of what they win.
My simple answer, strip all the electronic c#@p out, and put in racing engines, 3-4 lt capacity, naturally aspirated, 12-13000rpm rev limit, and open to V6-V8-V10-V12…Flat6, Flat8, Flat 10, Flat 12 etc how about H16s??
1 tank of fuel, qualy tyres, and wet/dry/intermediate tyres, minimum 2 tyre companies supplying, and no pitstops unless for a puncture, or other similar repair, or for splash and dash fuel…..ah…bliss!!!!
Scuderia Ferrari has, over a period of decades, been treated like a spoiled entitled child in Formula 1. As a result, they have come to expect continuing preferential treatment. Attempting to dial back that treatment will lead to all manner of foot-stamping, threatening petulance (“how are you NOT allow us a technical regulation veto!”. “What do you mean we won’t get money off the top before the other teams?”).
My personal view is that it is way beyond time that Ferrari was told that it is time for them to compete on the same playing field as the rest of the teams. Sure, they will huff and puff and threaten to leave. But, if you truly believe that no team is bigger than the sport, then they can leave. I predict that if they leave, they will be back in 5 years, having discovered that WEC does not provide them with the necessary promotional benefits.
Sometimes the only way to change the picture is to get tough and call the bluff of the schoolyard bullies.
Oh, those evil Ferraristi! As if ALL the other teams had not got political when they needed to. Does anybody remember that weird free tyre test for Mercedes two years ago?
I agree in that the extra money for Ferrari is unfair. But that´s what happens when Formula 1 is governed as a business. Supposedly Red Bull has an extra payment too (although they don´t get so much flak as the evil Ferraristi) because they´re funding the Austrian GP and lots of other FIA activities.