Read around the Internet headlines, one gets a very negative view of Formula 1. Yes, the sport has to face some challenges and make some important changes in the way it is run, but the picture is nowhere near as negative as all the stories suggest. F1 is still a great show and a great advertisement for brilliant automotive technology. The primary problem, when you boil it all down, is that the sport is without proper leadership. The commercial side has been tied down by its many side deals, the regulatory body has (disgracefully) sold its ability to govern and the teams cannot agree whether today is Wednesday, because on an obscure Pacific Island, it’s already Thursday. What is required is for two of the three parties to get together and get fixing the mess that has been created.
In the meantime, two of the three parties do nothing to promote the sport and instead lets the negative voices run through the corridors, screaming whatever they want to scream. Some of it is just over-excited fans, some deliberate stirring of trouble and some because the people writing the stories have not the faintest clue about the sport, but can claim to be F1 writers if they write about it… Is it a surprise that people forget the good things in all of this? It is true that most news is negative by nature. Good news is always outnumbered by bad but F1 does nothing to help itself.
The teams and manufacturers do what they can to highlight the good elements in the story, but the media in general does not care and writes whatever appears elsewhere. The Formula One group does nothing and the FIA sends out press releases about road safety.
I heard the other day that the Formula One group has hired a press officer, but we’ll have to see if that is effective. The FIA meanwhile, which used to employ the aforementioned PR man, has done itself enormous damage in the last 18 months by abdicating its position in F1 – and it is so lost in its logic that it has yet to realize what it has done. It still does the organisational stuff but otherwise it is utterly invisible. The big FIA news in recent days was that the President and various hangers-on were not killed in the Kathmandhu earthquake. They were gathered there for a motorsport conference. Motorsport in Nepal? I couldn’t even find a hillclimb championship. What are they thinking when the federation’s flagship series is under constant attack? The FIA has its name on the series and it provides all but a sliver of media coverage (not to mention money) about the organization. What has got into these people? If F1 is seen to fail, the FIA is seen to be incompetent. Right now, it seems that the tail is wagging the dog to such an extent that the beast is utterly confused and wandering around in circles, organizing motorsport conferences in places where motorsport will never be on the international radar, while back home in Europe, the talk is of Monza being ditched from the World Championship.
I’m all for promoting global growth in the sport, but you don’t promote long-distance raid rallying in Gibraltar, do you?
You play to your strengths. Things are not going to change until we get new leadership, so here’s hoping Jean Todt is made an ambassador for road safety… And then someone can get a grip on what really matters in the FIA world.
Hi Joe, I find it mystifying that a man so ruthless and effective as an F1 team principal can be so invisible as FIA president. Why is this?
Because he has bigger ambitions
You could do worse than throw your own hat in the ring Joe!
I read about the “safety” of officials in Nepal….. “WTF” went through my mind. Sounds like a vacation on the federation’s dime to me.
Well said Joe. Utter madness reigning at the minute but hybrid engines and two huge beasts in Ferrari and Mercedes fighting at the top amazing stories to promote
Joe, I don’t know much about the automotive world outside of F1 (and FE) since I doubt I’ll ever drive a car while I’m living in an ever so congested city, but isn’t “International Automobile Federation” supposed to be governing automobiles in general, not just the entertainment part of it? Sure, motor sports and especially F1 are the primary money sources for the organization (if I understood correctly), but looking at its name I can’t help but think that promoting road safety should be one of its primary reasons of existing. Press releases about safety are exactly what they should be putting out. F1, at least as far as the TV coverage goes, doesn’t really work towards that goal and there are many news outlets doing a good enough job of covering it already, your blog and GP+ being one of the finest examples.
There are many more cars on the roads than there are on the racetracks and I can’t help but think that maybe a completely separate governing body altogether should handle the latter, if there is a need of better control and media work.
I realize that I have a wrong idea here somewhere, but that’s just how I see it from the outside.
…and I posted that before reading your last post which was covering exactly this, never mind then.
I do think that FIA/FISA separation would be a good thing, though. One could fund the other but they wouldn’t meddle into each other’s territories except for maybe some promotion cooperation.
If ever the teams decide to genuinely act in concert as a bargaining body and none of them do ‘side-deals’ with FOM things will change.
Otherwise, forget it – the FIA is just a side-show.
I guess Max got a little distracted by the photos of his dungeon being made public and the following crusade through the courts.
Based on previous form I give Norman six months. What think you, Joseph?
amen to that
Joe, glad to see you made mention of the FIA president in Nepal…on reading about this yesterday I was astonished at the bizarre and inappropriate choice of location for their inaugural Asia Pacific regional congress attended by 45 delegates. Despite hoping that Todt becomes an Ambassador for Road Safety this seems unlikely given his partner, actress Michelle Yeoh, already has the honour of this role and having two ambassadors from one family might be a bit much…. Here’s hoping that one day soon the FIA will get its act together for the good of F1.
Nepal probably was deemed to be an interesting congress place, bringing monetary blessings to the local economy – after all, F1 pays the costs of such congresses with their hefty FIA contributions. And Nepal is one of the aspiring next countries to host a Grand Prix – isn’t it?
No.
Two great blogs that perfectly sum up the current state of play. I agree wholeheartedly that from 2-3:30pm on Sunday, GPs put on a pretty good show. Charlie FIA, Bernie ringmaster and the teams all sing from the same hymn sheet.
I am sure the Rio Olympics and Doha World Cup will go down well, but meantime the bad news fills the column inches, so it is unlikely to be different with F1. Bad news sells, but in F1, there is just too much of it.
Between Balestre interfering in all aspects and Jean Todt doing nothing, Max was probably the perfect foil to Bernie’s excesses. The current show is the credit of their achievements, but perhaps we just did not realise it at the time. Bernie’s excesses, the bad deals that screw genuine race circuit businesses in favour of despotic dictators should rightly be vilified in the sporting and General press.
Bernie’s masterpiece of forming a democratic strategy group from people who never agree is perhaps is cleverest piece of mischief. It ensures that FOMs cash just keeps rolling in.
I really enjoyed the recent GP+ piece on Ron Taurenac, but I genuinely think that the era when you can modify a humble Olsmobile engine, call it a Repco and win a GP have well and truly passed. Race engines are race engines, road car engines are something completely different. So unless BMW, Toyota et al are going to dust off their old designs, I just don’t see where the small teams will get their engine supplies from to fulfil Max’s latest fantasy and still compete with 1000bhp Hybrids. The one thing we can be certain of it wont be Mercedes, Ferrari and Honda who will do any development for them.
Like all good ideas, it is destined to fail, but many column inches will undoubtedly be written sniping at the whole management of F1, and they deserve every self-centred piece of it.
Instead of looking for another 100 expensive horsepower for 2017, they should all be working for a sensible cap for all teams to work within, and a durable engine that does the job within the cap. Racers will race with whatever they are given, it is the notion that a new prototype must be developed each year and for each circuit that year that is the only flaw in the sporting regs.
To link your earlier piece with Max’s F Libre, I have a cartoon in my mind of a huge steam powered vehicle, so large, nothing can pass it. it does not wear out its tyres so wins when the Hybrid cars have to switch compounds.
How can it be that a person so actively steeped in rallying, sports car racing and F1 for the previous 40 years, can be so absent once he got his feet under the desk at the Place de la Concorde?
It leaves me shaking my head and wondering how much different things would have been if Ari Vatenen had won the vote in 2008(?)………but then he never had a chance as Todt was the annointed successor endorsed by Max and Bernie, whose persuasive powers would sway the important delegates from Burkina Faso, Cuba and Myanmar in the end.
There is no doubt who acts and thinks more like a racer – Mosley or Todt. Yes, sad, that Vatanen did not get the vote back then…
All very well for Max to sound off- Todt’s election to the FIA did have his support. Perhaps he’s like to be numbers man for Ari, at the next election?
Cheers
MarkR
I too thought of Ari Vatanen when I read Joe’s latest blog. Obviously I don’t know the man, I’m just someone who became a huge fan of his during his tallying days. However, I’m sure he wouldn’t have been totally invivible like JT has been since becoming President!
Does F1 need FIA?
No, but the FIA needs F1 – for the money
Yes but even before Todt sold the FIA’s soul, the FIA had adequate funds. That is for their normal operation and objectives.
Back then road safety was one of the low profile jobs of the FIA commission, or some other FIA body, before it was seized by Todt as a possible path to international glory, and status. Since then the $8.3m spend for travelling by Todt as revealed by an RAC investigation 2 years ago has obviously made a hole in the FIA budget.
Solution: It would be much cheaper for the sport if Todt left the FIA and the UN took on the financial burden of his ego.
No they did not.
Just what is it that international sporting bodies do that attracts such unwelcome chiefs? At least, to my knowledge, Todt’s not corrupt.
That is a very good point… football, Olympics etc etc
Power and influence without the same degree of oversight you would get in politics.
“so here’s hoping Jean Todt is made an ambassador for road safety…”
It’s done !
Well it’s happened! An FIA press release from yesterday at 16:02 BST
confirmed the appointment. Todt said amongst other things ““In my position as FIA President, with the backing of our members, road safety has become a key priority. I have been committed to bringing together all stakeholders fighting for this cause. This new role will help build an even stronger coalition for road safety worldwide” he said.”
This in spite of the fact that his girlfriend apparently already has the job.
No limit now to the pomp and self importance!!
This is not the case. Michelle Yeoh has no official status with the UN that I can find. She is am ambassador for the Make Roads Safe campaign. That is all.
is there anyone you would like to see as head of the FIA?
What is required is a professional salaried person. If there is a decent salary the job would no longer attract rich and dysfunctional people
You live just round the corner, you can have my vote.
Anyone second that?
It really is not complicated. You only need some vision to see what is wrong. It is not much, but it urgently needs to be addressed.
FIA parties in Nepal, World Cups in the desert, surely it’s got to be the boat race in a dry dock, and the mens/women’s downhill in holland next! what’s the world coming to!?
its long past due that someone with some real sporting insight takes over at the FIA and maybe just maybe if Joes suggestion is heard, that someone with the sense of a Wurz or a Berger would be inclined to take the role.
Won’t happen the candidate advocating a paid President -be it himself or some CEO-type- won’t get elected or even nominated, period. Just ask David Ward. Some might wonder David who?? Yes that NCAP David.
LOL! Bullseye! For my money, the best zinger I’ve ever read in this blog.
It puzzles me why a man who was instrumental (I assume?) In Ferrari’s domination of Formula One from many years seems to have failed to get a grasp on F1 – surely he must be interested in the series (or not?)
Joe, could that – in your opinion – go as far as somebody with no previous motor sport credentials?
Tony Purnell.
So, he’s UN-bound…lets just hope that means he leaves the FIA. Then again, who would replace him (after the usual politically loaded “election”).
I love the sport. The racing this year is entertaining and I have moved half way around the world to engross myself further in my passion. It continues to have great relevance and contribute to many aspects of society in a way which I find simply cool.
Yes more could be done to engage with the fan as I do believe the key to any sport being a world sport is for it to be a house hold name. “If you’re standing still you’re going backwards” could not better sum up the sports inability to capitalise on the 1.5 billions smartphones in peoples pockets through social media.
The sport will never be perfect, but for me the biggest issue is the ownership structure of the sport. It is the cause of so many of the problems, yet every week another story surfaces to draw attention away from this ongoing issue.
Irrespective of whether Bernie is in power or not $1.5m will continue to leave the sport each day, every day. Yet we fans pay through the roof, a successful track now breaks even, teams are hemorrhaging cash, others are dropping out and the driver market is to a certain degree an auction.
That might seem like a long list of complaints, but it all flows back to one transaction.
Too bad GP2 and formula 3.5 never appear on TV because they seem much more interesting as far as motorsports is concerned, than unfair F1 with its no-suspense racing. If one can still call it racing.
“FIA President Jean Todt has been appointed as Special Envoy for Road Safety by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.”
Read that bit elsewhere, what is unclear is whether he will keep his FIA presidency or resign to accept this role? Pray it is the latter and not the former!
As per my post on a previous blog a couple of days ago, my view is that if F1 is going to retain classic venues, such as France, Germany, Italy, and Great Britain, while expanding into markets that actually benefit the manufacturers and sponsors, they need to structure G.P.s so that the venues are not holding a charity for F1 and are able to make money themselves. Otherwise we’ll be looking at The Zulu G.P. replacing Silverstone.
The BEST blog….
France and Germany, or Azerbajian and Baku?
This is sounding like an off the wall stand up comedian that we’d all walk out on after the first few lines.
I do seem to recall the Grand Prix of Gibraltar…😉
Can I plead for someone knowledgeable and outspoken to run F1? Lauda.
should of course be for many years – typo
I don’t agree with you on a lot of things Joe, but this is a definite +1 from me. Introducing the most complex engines ever seen that cost a bundle while trying to keep costs down… let alone the lack of in-situ testing of these engines… let alone the lack of improvements available to be made… let alone the fact they have turned the sound of the sport into “sounds of Formula Ford track-days”. And that is just one component.
How can someone who was Ferrari’s messiah turn into a gutless bean-bag who’s focus seems to be on everything but motor sport and F1? The question now is not whether JT should be replaced, but whether his replacement can actually do anything to stem the bleeding?
Joe,
Given Todt has indeed been made ambassador for road safety – should we expect any changes forthcoming in the FIA leadership?
We can hope that we get a president
Joe, If the F1 teams/Promoter set up another governing body would they be able use the current tracks or are they tied to the FIA?
They could not use the term World Champion
How does that work legally.
I can understand not being able to use the terms F1 or FIA World Champion.
I’m reasonably sure the FIA has no legal claim on the generic term world champion. So once organisations loses their fear of any sanctions their consensus administrator might apply, I don’t see there’s much stopping them doing what they like.
See boxing…
Oh, yes. They can do it. Legaly FIA F1 Championship is only when FIA call it The FIA Formula One World Championship.
Legaly, anyone can make “Another” Formula 1 World Championship. And.
And no one, including FIA can not stop them or win at the court.
Just remember that there is two major World titles in box, not looks further.
Legaly, they can.
Question is if that will be same quality of championship.
If that was the case it would have happened years ago
Still interested in the legal underpinnings. I doubt the FIA have any legal exclusive right to be the global motorsport authority (who would have granted it to them?) – what they do have is near unanimous agreement from the national motorsport bodies. If that agreement were to crumble…
“FIA Formula One World Championship” is trademarked, although, ironically, the Formula One group does not own http://www.formulaone.com
Hmm – they’ve had trouble making their ownership of ‘F1’ as a trademarked term stick, haven’t they?
And that specific term’s utility relies on F1’s value. If its value were to fall further and a tempting looking ‘world professional drivers’ championship’ (ahem) were to be backed by VAG, FIAT-Chrysler and a few others…
Not that likely. But not completely impossible either.
So let’s say A Global Motorsport Body (GMB for argument’s sake) set up a rival championship, would they be able to call it “GMB Formula One World Championship” or would they have to resort to something like “GMB Grand Prix World Championship”? (I’m assuming the term Gran Prix is not trade marked given that it is used in other sports too).
Trademarking in this sport is a mess
Indycar officially uses the term “Grand Prix” ever more liberally these days. It was the Grand Prix of Alabama, Sunday-week ago; it’ll be the Grand Prix of Indianapolis next weekend (using a re-working of the F1 circuit, NOT a rebranding of the Indy 500 later in the month), and the term is used for many other non-oval races in their main championship series.
But what Indycar do not do, officially, is use the term “World Championship” nor World-anything, at least not in their rule book and not on the website, although you certainly hear the term used by the TV companies in their coverage.
And of course, quite naturally, the FIA Region 1 Spring meeting next week is in Tunis under armed guard of course.
Joe: “Read around the Internet headlines, one gets a very negative view of Formula 1.”
If you were reading a newspaper about motor sport 40 years ago, the coverage would be more varied. National newspapers sponsored big events, events big enough that other newspapers reported them. The World Cup Rally in 1970 was sponsored by the Daily Mirror but other papers had their names on cars. Going back further in time, the maillot jaune in the Tour de France is alleged to be a consequence of L’Auto sponsorship.
Changing economics mean that it is improbable that the Daily Express (insert national equivalent here) will ever sponsor a big racing event again. And I’m not trying to go back to the old days. But when a newspaper backed an event, it was guaranteed international coverage. There would be two journalists covering it, pushing good stories into Reuters et al. The job of the event PR person was to manage reporters wishing to speak to drivers with a good story to tell. The PR person did not have to sell the event, just talk about it.
The BBC sells its F1 coverage well. It’s reported on the radio and the website, with occasional serious journalism. I assume that other broadcasters do the same thing. Sponsors like Red Bull and Petronas promote their involvement on their web sites.
But motor sport reporting is not omnipresent. Newspapers love free copy from agencies. I presume that sponsors send out press releases which are ignored because they are boring. They are boring because drivers aren’t allowed to say anything.
Motor sport coverage needs to be more than F1, which means that junior classes have to be more than spec series with identical cars. And cheaper too, just like F1 has to be cheaper.
The FIA also has its name on WEC and that seems to be on the up, teams are coming up with interesting and different solutions. So there’s more to the problem than Todt?
I’ve been watching the WEC this year in lieu of F1 as they offer a decently priced package compared to the absolute rip off we are faced with here in Australia these days thanks to the Foxtel deal.
What a fantastic series! So much freedom on the tech regs and absolutely amazing racing as a result of the different strengths of the manufacturer’s various solutions.
Joe, I agree and I have been one of those distracted by off track events messing with the spectacle and I should grab hold and pull myself together. Then today I read the Baku GP being touted as European GP. It is written (not by Joe) that this is to annoy the Russians over gas being provided by the two countries to Western Europe. Can this be true, if so the politics are getting beyond a joke. However the FIA could be compared to school teachers, if they are absent the children will run amok amidst a lack of discipline, anarchy will reign. Looks as though the “little people”(BE) are causing chaos whilst the teacher (JT) hides in the staffroom !
What baffles me about Mr Todt is how someone who so successfully ran Ferrari F1, dragging them away from years of underperformance, on the basis of which he had my vote last time round (not that I have a vote) has been so completely unconvincing at the head of the FIA… Was my previous perception based on an illusion, or is the job too different?
In one job the person works for someone else…
Agreed. True fans will put up with alot and the FIA et al are either taking advantage of and/or for granted that fact. Yet, incompetence aside, if Monza is ditched, for many including myself, it will be the last straw and a time to take up fishing.
Where is the FIA? At least some of the negative Headlines are produced on purpose it seems, like many recent ex driver quotes about “real Motorsport”. Additionally, many negative comments seem to be Red Bull- bound. If you watch Red Bulls own TV Station “Servus TV” they frequently present People making negative remarks about current F1 regulations. Wasn’t there an Article of the FIA Sporting Code which should penalize “bringing the sports into disrepute”? I remember the FIA wanted to punish Colin Chapman because of such a verdict in1981 (Lotus 88 story). I think they should also do it now.
Surely even biased debate is better than censorship? In my opinion Red bull should get on with it rather than “moaning”, but if they can achieve some relative performance gains by getting some regulation concessions, who’s to say that’s worse than, say, racking up another €5million in the wind tunnel?
Not in the way like it´s done. Discussions over regulations are OK, they have always been there, but not constant whining over months, sometimes below the belt. That´s too much. Refer to Joe`s headline “Read around the Internet headlines, one gets a very negative view of Formula 1.” That´s the work of the “moaning”. Chapman was fined US $ 100.000 for remarks of “FIA regulations manipulated by lobbies missing any kind of sportsmanship”. What do you propose for various Marko and Vettel (“engines are s..t”) remarks? But it won´t happen, the FIA is not lead by Balestre or Mosley anymore.