There are many ups and downs in the life of a Formula 1 reporter. We don’t lead normal lives at all. It is anything but 9 to 5 and we get ourselves into all kinds of scrapes. In Bahrain, I ran into trouble because I had filled in the entry visa form using one of my two overworked passports, and then I tried to enter the country using the other. Passport-juggling is a complicated business when one has to waste a lot of time jumping through hoops for visa people. Anyway, a nice gentleman in a big hat finally decided that I was obviously not going to damage the state and allowed me to enter the country. I assumed that he would amend the computers accordingly, but when it came to leaving, it was a drama because I was trying to leave the country on a passport with which I had not entered it.
Fortunately, I keep copies of everything in my computer and so I was able to prove all the things that the immigration men wanted, so that they could tick the necessary boxes and finally I escaped to the departure lounge, where there was standing room only, it being a small lounge on the morning after the Grand Prix. There is a good thing about overcrowded airports and planes. It means that planes are often overbooked and when they are, the gold card holders get upgraded to the next class, and so I flew home in Business Class, which was a nice bonus. This gave me space to do some work, rather than watching movies…
First thing this morning, however, was a trip to the Chinese Consulate’s Visa Department, a place where I have had many adventures over the years. Each year I go fully prepared, armed with far more documentation that they require, but each year it seems the system changes, so I never seem to get an easy run. The rush to get there today was due to the fact that I need the passport back again, in order to get into the Russian visa process, hopefully before I leave for China next week. When the people putting together F1 calendars have Australia, Bahrain, China and Russia together, they don’t take into account the legwork required for media visas. They don’t care.
Anyway, the good news is that I am able to drop into the Café George V for coffee and a croissant, as this happens to be opposite the Chinese Visa Department, which is above the Hugo Boss store, something I am sure that Chairman Mao might have creaked an eyebrow at, back in the day…
Back to the point, the powers-that-be in F1 wish that the media would go away and leave them alone. They always forget that the reason that F1 has grown is because the media has helped. Now, I admit that at the moment there is a lot of negativity in the press about F1. This is unnecessary, but to a large extent it is self-inflicted. The powers-that-be do nothing to promote the positive aspects of the sport, indeed minds are left boggling by promoters saying that the sport is rubbish, or meddling with things that do not need fixing. All of these activities highlight the complete lack of respect that they have for the fans and the traditions of the sport.
The teams clearly understand that we live in the world of social media and they can hear what the fans think. But others have no clue what this even means. Social media does not mean what is written on websites and blogs. It means interactive things, notably Twitter, where fans can react to what is going on. These heavy-hitters may read this blog, but do they read the comments from the fans saying nasty things about them? I doubt it, the big bananas is F1 politics are surrounded by people who I am sure are very selective when it comes to what is printed out and shown to the great leaders. I am not kidding, entire forests are cut down to enable them to be able to say that they keep up with electronic media activity. But, of course, they don’t.
FIA President Jean Todt said in Bahrain that the sport should not be run by social media opinion. Translate that into real world terms: We should not listen to our customers. Or, to put it another way. “Get lost fans. This is our business”.
I hear that the meeting on Sunday in Bahrain to discuss what to do about qualifying , concluded with the same message being delivered to the teams. “Get lost teams. This is our business.”
But is it? I would argue that these people are supposed to be custodians of the sport. They don’t own anything. They make money or get off on power trips using the sport, but it does not belong to them. It belongs to us all. The FIA President had a press conference in Bahrain. Sitting in front of a suitably limp FIA flag, without a microphone, he tried to put forward the case of the FIA’s recent activities: notably the madness that has been going on over qualifying.
Bad news folks, I think we are going to see the same thing happen again in China, because the powers-that-be do not want to back down and be seen to be defeated. They would rather go on driving away fans than admit that the idea was stupid and does not work. There are some who might argue that this behaviour is prejudicial to the interests of motor sport, and there is an Article in the International Sporting Code (151c) which could be used to get them to stop messing about and treat the sport with the respect it deserves. However, the age-old problem remains: who polices the police?
I was tempted to ask Jean during his press conference if he would be good enough to explain how the FIA was established. I presume he would know the story and be able to tell it. For those who do not know, let me quickly explain. In June 1904, before even Bernie Ecclestone was alive, representatives of the six nations taking part in the Gordon Bennett Cup race at Bad Homberg, near Frankfurt in Germany (France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Austria and Belgium) met and agreed that it would be a good idea to have an international federation of motor clubs, to organise international motor sport events.
Yes folks, the FIA began as a club organising motor racing. It was only later that some of those involved decided that it should try to turn the role of President into that of a kind of Road Safety Batman with a reflective cape and underpants, who must rush around the world, painting zebra crossing in Uganda and putting up traffic lights at crossroads in the Sahara.
Jean Todt is not good at communication, particularly with the media, and when he tried in Bahrain to explain the FIA’s position relating to the question of Formula 1 qualifying, it was inevitable that the discussion would turn, almost instantly, to the question of governance. The message Jean delivered was that the federation is powerless, unless everyone agrees to abolish the current governance structure and start all over again. He said this would only be possible at the end of the current Concorde Agreement in 2020 because getting unanimous agreement on anything in Formula 1 is a task of Sisyphean proportions, even if it is deciding whether they should have Rich Tea or Ginger Snaps during the coffee breaks.
Todt argues that when he agreed to give up the regulatory body’s right to regulate Formula 1, he did so because he had no real choice because previous administrations had left the federation weak. So he signed a document called the Concorde Implementation Agreement in July 2013 and since then nothing has worked properly because the Strategy Group is an oxymoron, along the lines of vegetarian meatball, athletic scholarship, civil service, military intelligence, business ethics, a fine mess, a little pregnant, a young 85 and so on…
Why did the FIA put itself into a situation in which it cannot regulate the sport for which it is the regulator? The answer, inevitably, is money. Before the deal, the FIA was getting around $24.2 million a year from Formula 1 and about $3.67 from all its other activities (no I did not miss out the word million). I don’t know about you, but I could run a sporting federation on the measly stipend of $2 million a month. It would not be hard. One just has to cut the coat according to one’s cloth. Does a sporting body really need a jet, First Class travel, red carpets, flowerpots, road safety campaigns, tree-hugging initiatives and car washes for caravans? No, the problem is that the FIA now consists of a lot of mobility clubs which do not have sporting roles, so one has to suck up to them in order to get their votes in elections. It is not a coincidence that the Concorde Implementation Agreement came just a few months before the FIA presidential election.
The deal Todt struck was to hike the FIA revenues from F1 to $43.7 million per annum. This broke down as an additional $4.7 million from entry fees from the teams, a further $13.5 million in regulatory fees from the Formula One group and an additional $1.3 million in Superlicence fees, from the drivers. In addition, the FIA was granted free allowances for freight and air tickets, a one-off contract signing “bonus” of $5 million and the opportunity to pay $460,000 to acquire a one percent share (and associated loan notes) in Delta Topco, the Formula One group holding company, which had a notional value of something in the region of $60 million, depending on which evaluations one wants to believe. Whatever the number it was a good deal, except that the money cannot be accessed because the share cannot be sold until CVC Capital Partners sells its own shares in the company. However, the value of the shares can be put into the balance sheets of the FIA and make them look healthy.
Todt’s suggestion that this might one day be fixed is, I believe, misleading. If there is to be revamped structure of sporting governance in F1, with the FIA doing what it is supposed to do, there is no reason (nor justification) for the other parties to pay as much as they do. The diamond-nosed financial attack dogs at CVC (and their hired hands) want two eyes for an eye and two teeth for a tooth. Handing out money is something that causes them physical pain. If the money coming in to the FIA from F1 reduces, who is going to pay for the tea and biscuits for the Kangaroo Island Penguin Crossing Sub-Committee? Todt has a marketing plan to try to increase revenues from all the other FIA championships, in order to reduce the power that F1 has over the federation, and to help fund his other ambitions, but it is struggling to find promoters willing to pay what he wants. You may not have noticed, but the subject of Formula 2 has been quietly shuffled under the carpets because no-one wants to pay for it. There is a stand-off at the moment over the fees that GP2 and GP3 should pay the FIA to act as the regulator for these F1 support races.
The only way out of this mess that I can see working is that the manufacturers and big media companies form an alliance in 2020 and say that they will not be involved unless the Formula One group agrees to take less, which it cannot afford to do because of its colossal debts, which have been created because CVC and the other shareholders have gorged themselves on money taken from the business. If that happened there would then be a period in which they would all throw lawyers at one another (sadly, not literally) but if the teams hold together, the Formula One group no longer has a product to sell. The 100-year commercial agreement with the FIA would then be difficult to sustain. The FIA would then be left with no choice but to scurry along behind the manufacturers, yapping occasionally about how it can give “World Championship” status, and begging for money, in much the same way as the Football Association had to do with the Premier League.
In the interim, nothing will change in relation to qualifying and we will go from one race to the next with the daft system that was agreed until either all the fans have left or someone backs down. The purpose of changing qualifying is to spice up Saturdays (how about more support races?) and to disrupt the grids so that there will be better races on Sundays. The bad news, however, is that the racing in F1 is now fine. We have had two consecutive good races with tons of action. This is due to two things: there is a convergence in terms of performance between the teams. OK, it could be better, but it is enough. The other thing is that the new three Pirelli compound structure, rather than two, has opened the way for different strategies and better racing. The lap times are getting quicker and quicker (so we don’t really need all this negotiation over new rules in 2017) and those who think that there were better times in the old days ought to go and look at the overall quality of F1 fields a few years ago. Today, the teams are better, the drivers are better and not only do we have a really quality field, but we also have plenty of exciting young talent, breaking into the sport and looking to challenge the established names. What is wrong with Formula 1 is the decision-makers, not the product. It is muddle-headed thinking to say that the glass is half full, or half empty. The glass itself is a thing of beauty.
Others stories kicking around relate to these basic core questions. Why is the Formula One group trying to stop Lewis Hamilton posting video footage of himself in the F1 Paddock on Snapchat? Control. Why is Fiat’s Sergio Marchionne apparently trying to buy Sauber? To add to the strength of the manufacturers in the sport. The killer blow now would be for Marchionne to find a decent manufacturer for the two Red Bull teams. If that happens, then the Formula One group will be trying to buy paddles at the Shit Creek General Store.
Elsewhere, there is talk of a new race in California, which would explain Bernie Ecclestone talking about Las Vegas. He often uses a lever in a negotiation and if there isn’t one available, he invents one. A bit like the two parties who have agreed to pay the price being asked for the Formula One group. That would be Invisible Industries Inc and The Non-Existent Investment Corporation of Qatar…
Time to return to the croissant.
joeblogsf1 
If the FIA is so powerless what gives them the power/right to prevent a change to the old qualifying system?
Because change in the same year requires 100 percent agreement from the stakeholders and the teams just want to go back to what worked and do not want to go on making experiments that will piss off the fans.
Joe, I am getting old and don’t remember details like I used too, but did we not have a quali system before the most recently retired one (please bring it back from retirement!) that lasted like 5 or 6 rounds and was booted because the TV companies quit carrying qualifying live?
Surely that is where the power is to get change? If the biggest and richest media companies (payment size to FOM) say no live coverage because that product is crap then FOM will be forced to back down in a hurry because of the impact on advertising etc?
The teams can also sabotage this till the cows come home by ensuring it always ends minutes before the end with a dull thud. I am not sure how the FIA rail roads through aggregate quali without the teams buy in? So the power really rests with the TV companies and the teams to make sure quali is a bust. If the FIA force through aggregate times then it will be limited by tires so is also likely to end early. Why risk another run that causes your average time to go lower? One banzi lap is the safest strategy. Unless they force you to do six timed runs…. cant see that working though.
I am not sure that Bernie and Todt are that Teflon. But the media needs to start focusing article after article on fan rage! If the leadership in F1 was compared to ability to run road safety change will come quickly. Threaten the empire and it will fold, reluctantly. I honestly believe that Bernie has “jumped the shark” and is in dire need of a retirement homes services before those hardened arteries cause even worse issues. Someone please take the Keys to F1 away from this guy, he is no longer fit for leadership!
Since Messrs Todt and Ecclestone have ignored/dismissed “social media” and more important, the opinions of fans re the new qualifying format. Perhaps someone should get all those who commented on social media plus those who voted on numerous website surveys all over the world to write a letter (the sort where you put a stamp on it and stick in a letter box) and send to Todt. I pity the FIA postman who has to deliver what would be tens and tens of thousands from all over the world. Would they then sit up and listen? Probably not.
Do the Tweeters know what a letter and a stamp is? Probably not!
“Do the Tweeters know what a letter and a stamp is? Probably not!”
Wow. That is the exact same sort of ignorance that leads people like Bernie to ignore Social Media. The false assumption that everyone on Twitter is a misguided child who doesn’t understand how things worked in “Ye Olde Tyme”. It’s a bit offensive.
Well Dale D from The Austin Community Collage my two sentences are a parody of Michael’s last two. And it was meant as a light-hearted dig at those who make “false assumptions”. Might I suggest that if the The Austin Community Collage does a course called “How to spot a joke” you pop along and enroll.
PS No offense meant 🙂
You could consider signing up as well. Perhaps at the end of a few courses you’d learn how to spell “college”.
PS – No offense meant 🙂
I think you will find The Shit Creek General store is on the outskirts of Hinwill. ….
Very good, but sad reading.
Many thanks for your efforts on behalf of the fans.
Great piece of opinion and analysis, as usual so thank you Joe. I have been a tifoso for more than 30 years so as both a Ferrari fan and a French guy it is extremely painful and even embarassing to listen to Todt’s lectures those days. You can’t act as if nothing was your responsibility at such seniority level, yet it’s all he does (that + proving whatever point with this quali drama). As you suggest I see no other escape road than an alternative independant single seater championship. I wasn’t aware of the Sauber buyout discussions but if Marchionne can do it that will certainly give headache to Montezemolo who threatened a lot on the same topic. One last point, I believe a third reason that explains those 2 races is Hamlilton’ poor starts.
Beautifully written Joe.
I completely agree. I always read Joe’s blog but very rarely (almost never) comment. On this occasion though, I felt compelled to do so. I know some of the subject matter was a bit depressing but the way it was written was just brilliant.
A depressing read – but thanks for a clear picture.
In essence it appears that 2020 is the target year for positive change –
But fans might not want to wait that long.
Years too long. Needs to be seen in 2017.
Needs to be seen now –
But ‘management’ is unable or unwilling to get the picture.
I agree with your suggestion that the manufacturers are the key to bringing real change to the current calamity of Governance and ownership, but surely the key to all of this is for Ferrari to go along with it?
Despite the gazillions being spent by M-B and other manufacturers, Ferrari still possesses a clutch-hold over what happens in this Formula, due more to their brand and history even more than their money. Is there danger that Bernie Ecclestone will not do what he has done in the past and isolate Ferrari onto specific terms in private to get them onside before lumping a pretty much fait accomplit onto everyone else?
Do you think that Ferrari – now a public company and under refreshed management – will act in a different way when the new Concorde Agreement comes for negotiation, or will they just chase the best deal for themselves financially and politically all over again?
It is a different Ferrari
Incisive and observant as ever Joe. Some of the people/organisation wouldn’t last a year in real global business, although even some team directors fail as well!
While you have my sympathy on the passport/visa side, I’m sure the teams just add the cost of a specialist visa agent to the expenses, We (I) did with similar problems with some of same sorts of countries in oil /gas industry.
Great stuff! Thank you for this !!
Greetings from Germany
I first really fell in love with F1 during the short close-season between 1981 and 1982. The sport was in crisis. Alan Jones had just retired, Mario had returned to the States, Carlos Reutemann was umming and ahhing, ground effect was killing racing, the turbo engines were going to require colossal investment and we had just had a Grand Prix in a hotel car park.
The ‘papers carried stories of how ‘unnamed’ teams had offered fortunes to Jackie Stewart, James Hunt and Niki Lauda to make comebacks, but Stewart and Hunt had turned them down as F1 was apparently now untouchably bad.
Then we had 1982, which was, in the opinion of many, one of the greatest seasons ever. There was grumbling at the time because Keke only won a single race all season, yet still became champion, but if driving a car that wasn’t even one of the three best and taking the title wasn’t astounding, then I don’t know what was.
The racing now is every bit as good as it’s ever been, and better than a lot of eras. People wax lyrical about Senna v Prost in 1988, but it was mind numbingly tedious, in many ways: the two best drivers in the best car versus the rest. Every race won by miles. The TV coverage used to focus almost exclusively on the leader, the rest of the field was ignored and half the time, races were interrupted to cut to an exciting couple of frames at the Welsh snooker open.
The only worst thing is that the politics is repellant now, fuelled no doubt by money. I read an old Grand Prix International interview where Keke said that Alain Prost and Nelson Piquet introduced the ‘nasty’ politics into F1, but nowadays, it’s gone hyper. Balestre may have been an imbecile, but taxing drivers $1.3 million before they’ve even turned a wheel is low. Todt has managed to destroy his legacy. I honestly thought when he got the job he’d do well; keep out of the way, basically. Instead, he’s feathered the nest of an organisation that should have a dozen administrative employees, a couple of decent lawyers and a tailor who can knock out cheap blazers and polo shirts.
There are so many opportunities to cover F1 better: drone racing is fantastically exciting to watch, so why not have a drone follow every car? Oculus Rift will allow viewers to experience HD virtual reality: what is F1 doing to ensure fans can feel they’re in the car? Why aren’t all radio communications tweeted? Fans could pore over data for hours, keeping the conversation flowing between races? Drivers could effectively tweet live during the race! Could be fantastic.
Premier League football provides 30 hours of new TV content every single week. F1 can only provide that in a year. A dull race is like a month-full of 0-0 draws. To maintain interest between races, F1 needs the fans to be engaged, and involved. Reading print outs of pages from random blogs is so clueless, it’s ridiculous. But not as ridiculous as Todt telling the press as evidence of being in touch.
Oskar, great comments that I agree 100% with. The slow death of F1 is starting, but hopefully the Old Order will die away (very soon) and new bright, forward thinking will have a chance!
I agree 100% as well Oskar, I often wonder why there is so little to follow/read between races, there must be a million stories to tell.
It’s all about money and power, I’m sure Bernie is worried about the off shore financial leak. Seems anyone who moves into a place of power is a thief and a cheat or is that not the case, I would like that person to stand up. I’m so sick of this crap. I’ve been watching F1 since the 70’s. Great first two races but the quali is shite and no one can change it?
Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda and Renault should band together and just say we will not be at the next race unless we have 2015 qualifying. Bet you would see it changed pronto.
Sorry for the convoluted ramble, as a small business owner I’d better get to work and go screw my staff over so I can be important too!
“The slow death of F1 is starting” ????
It’s in its death throes now mate, no one really cares any more
I was looking at the possibility of going to Monza this year – happen to be in Europe at the same time – but quickly realized that a weekend there would cost me the equivalent of a week in Hawaii once airfares from Northern Germany, hotel accommodation and the ridiculous cost of a half decent grandstand seat was taken into account.
Lets just hope that the teams stay united for the greater good of the sport and one does not jump ship for the sake of a short term gain (looking at you Red Bull).
This all comes back to Bernie getting a 100 year lease on F1 commercial rights back in 2001. F1 has become so obsessed with monetisation that the purpose of the sports existence has become second fiddle to making a buck for a bunch that don’t give a toss about the sport.
$1.2m leaves the sport every single day of the year, and for as long as this topic isn’t discussed it will continue to happen. This is the cause of all the underlying issues within the sport, and ongoing issues are created by Bernie to ensure they are in the headlines and not a hedge funds greed. Does Bernie care about qualifying? No. Does Bernie care about who wins? No. Its just another case of divide & conquer so that he maintains control. Now that the teams seem to be united he puts the teams up against FIA. If everyone is looking to the right, no one has a clue what is occurring the the left.
Put it this way – If fold-up seats for a pit team (I don’t know, lets say Sauber) during the race cost $1,000 thats what CVC makes in 1 minute & 12 seconds going off the $1.2m a day figure. And who contributes more to the sport?
I flew into Dubai for the 2014 Abu Dhabi GPon a different passport to that which I applied for. Wasn’t a problem. What was a problem though was my mate opening one of the ropes segregating the queues in order to walk a few metres to a much shorter one. (We were at the rear of both queues anyway, so weren’t trying to jump anyone.)
A minute later some officious young clown in white robes and mirror shades clocked what we’d done, quizzed us, and ended up detaining us for nearly an hour in an ante room surrounded by more spectrally-clad cohorts. It was comical yet deeply offensive to me; I ended up whispering to my pal ‘I don’t care if they deport us, it’s only money, but I ain’t bowing down to this power-crazed idiot’. Or words to that effect. Eventually he gave up trying to convince me that I’d threatened the security of his country and just abruptly spat the words ‘ok go’, turned on his heel and vanished.
Fun and games in non-democratic states, eh?
Another masterly summary of the situation, Joe. F1 has become a battleground for the control freaks and huge egos that try to run it. Let’s hope there are still a few fans left by 2020
Indeed. Lets hope there are some fans left by the end of this season.
What would happen if nobody drove out of the garage during Q1 next Saturday?
Great article Joe. You made of a sad story a hilarious report on today’s absurd reality.
Hey, that’s starting the year with a lot of enjoyable punch!
Do you think SkyTV must feel a little miffed? They’ve organised a massive deal with F1 and a week later Bernie and co are doing their best to take the value and appeal out of their new investment.
Bernie also mentioned that SkyTV were planning a new way of broadcasting, have you heard any details on this? Here’s hoping for direct to consumer online streaming ala NBA.
I hope FIAT pick-up Sauber… I can’t imagine a grid without them. Even if they are always the last team to spring to mind.
(Also, terribly sorry to break the news to you that the SA gov mothballed all the penguin centres last month! The general store is still doing a roaring trade though.)
Sound bite of the Bahrain GP:
“What sort of interest do they have, the drivers, other than taking money out of the sport?
No comments…
I think you might have missed one essential point: winning. Not everything is about money.
Agreed – however the short one can’t understand when individuals have different motivations to those of his own.
Which short one?
🙂
Yes, I agree, but I think the point was missing by the person who made that statement.
Crumbs!
Hi Joe, can you see Sauber morphing into Alfa Romeo in the near future?
Yes
That was my thought when I read that Marchionne was sniffing around Hinwil.
That explains where Me. Kaltenborn was last weekend, then. Well, I hope it comes good, for the Hinwil team’s sake.
But Sergio Marchionne seems like more than a match for Uncle Bernard and Jean Toadt, and I’m not sure that I relish the thought of an F1 in which his iron fist controls two teams outright, with a third as a puppet, and a fourth as a vassal.
Do you mean Marchionne could find FIAT-group engines (presumably Alfas alongside a renamed Sauber team) for RBR, or a new manufacturer?
No any manufacturer will do.
Chrysler power for Toro Rosso. Whoo hoo…….
“Chrysler power” is another one for Joe’s list of oxymorons, if the last Chrysler I had the misfortune to drive was in any way typical of that company’s products.
It may well be one for the list but like Infiniti powered by, only a branding exercise……
Excellent piece. I’d back Mr Marchionne against the Formula One Group. I think he will have them completely tangled up. I look forward to the coup (assuming that it “saves” F1).
Try autoextremist.com for an interesting point of view on Mr. Marchionne.
Dear Joe, all
Phil, thanks for tip off, haven’t gotten to Sergio yet, have been too enthralled by every other posting.
Cheers
MarkR
How acute is the Sauber funding situation Joe? A friend said there were rumours they couldn’t even make China, but then I realised those rumours were partly based on a Reddit post…
It seems they have some financial difficulty, but there is too much money wrapped in the team for it to fail. Watch out for new investors…
One could argue that if Ferrari invests in Sauber it doesn’t buy a team so much as the manufacturers having a much stronger share in F1.
Would almost be worth Mercedes making an offer for Force India.
Ferrari and Fiat are now separate
They’ll be just fine, they’ll just promise race seats to more drivers who can pay millions up front, they won’t small things like only having two cars get in the way of this.
Despite what it looks like, that’s not actually what happened. Van der Garde wanted more than just a drive at Sauber…
Correct
And Sutil too? Whatever she did, she got off lightly.
Hi Joe,
Great read again, I was surprised to read that Sergio Marchionne is trying to buy Sauber. I would assume to establish a Alfa Romeo F1 team?
It is sad to hear that they are in dire straights as I heard that MK was not in Bahrain I would think they are looking for cash to keep racing.
Any idea how bad it is for them?
Joe, thanks I grabbed a coffee, read your wonderful words and stories and started to look forward to 2019+ as everyone starts to position themselves….
Assuming that the team do get together and hold tight do you really think we break away will happen or just a more sensible deal with me agreed?
Steve
sorry Will be agreed….
It would help if comments in this section made sense: sorry Will be agreed…. can mean any number of things.
Sorry Joe, was trying to correct my bad typing..
I was wondering if you though that the teams will truly hold out to form a new world championship or that a deal, albeit better balanced, will eventually be signed.
Am I right in thinking that if Bernie cannot get them all signed the rights revert back to the FIA?
They do, but if the team’s say they don’t like the terms on offer, the FIA is screwed.
Don’t worry Steve, people only read their own comments. At least I do 😉
Brilliant piece!
surely our best hope is for todt to achieve his REAL objective …replace francois hollande !
or am I alone in thinking that he has a napoleon complex ?
And to highlight how out of touch with effective use of social media BE and co. are, CNN reported this morning that the NFL will broadcast it’s Thursday games on Twitter. They understand the future of broadcasting and getting their content to the younger generation. I predict they will see no fewer than a million views each week, which is more tha Sky got in either race so far.
I teach middle school students and am now at an age where I am older than most of my students’ parents. This is the first year in which 25% of the families I have contact with have no form of satellite or cable tv. They watch everything in combinations of free over-the-air and online services for which they’d rather spend $8 a month vs $200-300 a month for tv crap.
The world of broadcasting “tv content” is rapidly changing by the day. In the F1 world, Mr. E needs what…five years to change his views on tv delivery. So, at his current rate of change, F1 should reached 2016 standards of online broadcasting around 2032?
Brilliant Joe. So good i read it twice while waiting for food at the Black Country Arms, Walsall (plug plug). Ive been hoping for the EU to knock the FIA on the head but the way things are going the FIA might outlast the EU 😌
An absolutely brilliant article, Joe!
BE’s attitude when being interviewed by Sky Sports (about qualifying) confirmed what you say about CVC’s, FIA’s, et al’s position on who should control F1. It’s their sport and to he** with the teams.
2020 cannot come soon enough!
Great article. Thank you!
“A young 85” ouch.
Very informed Joe!
You say “These heavy-hitters may read this blog”..I’ve often thought that this was the case and some of the commenters here seem to be exceedingly well informed.
Are you aware of commenters real identities and of their origins in F1?
Some
Thanks Joe. Your notebook articles are always so informative! I am very pleased to read that Sauber will probably be saved by Marchionne. If the deal goes through, do you think they will stay in Switzerland or relocate to Italy?
Have you see the Sauber wind tunnel? It’s not going anywhere…
A great read Joe – thanks for sharing!
Exceptionally dry and cutting, I really enjoyed reading it. I hope Mr T and Mr E find it on their digest somewhere 🙂
So the good news is things might improve in 2020. Except there won’t be anybody watching it by then.
Wow, is there a Concorde Agreement at all?
You claim to be a journalist Gabor and to written about and researched the Concorde Agreement. You should know that the answer is ‘no’. There are currently a set of bi-lateral agreements between each team and the CRH. Each agreement has slightly different terms than the other and also different to the Concorde agreement.
If you want to be involved in the sport, please do throw your weight behind it and make a proper push. Bon chance.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a better article.
This x 1000 !
The qualifying format is embarrassing. How am I to explain this format to my non informed F1 friends? “Well, I know it makes no sense, but they do it because….?”
Could the current format at least be changed on safety grounds? Last Saturday I almost tripped over the dog as I raced to get the TV remote to change the channel to avoid watching the Grand Prix fiasco.
Oh the Humanity!!!
Myself and a number of friends refused to watch the qualifying session on Saturday, in protest at the farce it has become.
How long before C4, Sky, BeIn and other media partners – who are the customers of FOM – start complaining that viewers are switching off?
It will be interesting to watch what happens to Saturday attendances for the later races if this isn’t resolved, it must be pretty much impossible to follow at the track without access to the commentary. My local race is late in the season but I’m already thinking about the pointlessness of the three day ticket, when the wife would be much happier to see me on Friday and Saturday.
F1 and motorsport never used to under the direct control of the FIA. Until 1993 FISA (Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile) set the rules. It disappeared when Mosley won the top job at the FIA. Perhaps it’s time to rekindle FISA and get the sport away from Napoleon Todt and the caravan clubs.
Yes it was. It was run by a semi-autonomous division of the FIA known as the CSI or FISA for a period of time but this was taken over in the 1990s. If not the World Championship would have the FISA World Championship wouldn’t it?
Well i’d have to disagree on the racing, the qualy i haven’t watched as i didn’t see any point wasting my eyesight. As to the Bahrain F1 race, was it ever likely to be other than Hamilton or Rosberg for the win? I’ve won money on the first 2 races so far with Nico winning, but only because the odds were so stacked that betting on Lewis wasn’t worth doing!
In respect of the rest of the race, if i remember everyone past 6th was a lap down, and 1st to 6th stretched a fair way….i doubt Vettel could have done much better than Kimi did, so whilst there may have been some lower order skirmishes, at the sharp end it was still all about MB….and the explosion of noise over Vandoorne! Well , nice lad, probably a talent, but here he was in a Team that is one of the finest in motor racing for 50 years, with over 1000 employees, and matched to a power supply built by one of the largest automotive companies on the planet…..and he gets rave reviews for 10th!!!!!
Now, i think the points set up is demeaning, but just to put this drive in context, 40 years ago the lad might have been driving a Shadow and would likely have been able to challenge for a top3 position in the race……now 10th is regarded as astonishing….and people actually wonder why i don’t get “modern” F1 !
I can understand why you don’t get modern F1. What I don’t understand is why you watch it and then come here to complain about it. Go find something you enjoy
Jim Appell & John C, i don’t watch much F1 now, but then i’ve never regarded motorsport as being just about F1 as you might do, so i do watch other motorsport such as MotoGP, which i think Lewis Hamilton recently described as being better than current F1? And like you, i’m entitled to an opinion about how my sport is run!
And John C, the same comments apply but also, if you don’t understand my point then it is surely you that is being myopic! As for my ” whinge”, well i’m in good company at present with most of the drivers, some teams who are able to see the big picture, and commentators too….along with the reduced attendances that Joe has mentioned recently.
I’m not saying there were not some good drives in the lower positions, but the objective is to win, and unless you are in a Merc, the chances of that are remote. My point over Shadow, and anyone who is a true enthusiast should get this, is that a bloke with a shed load of talent like Tom Pryce, could be scooped up back then, put in a moderately decent F1 car and show that talent! If showing great form with a Mclaren of all cars, means screaming about 10th place, then there is obviously a huge amount wrong with the way the formula is currently set up…..if you can’t see that then i’m afraid you need to wake up and smell the coffee!
And for ATH, yes well it would be nice to have machines that were not so perfect that one could work out where they were all going to finish before the race starts….and just to say again, the simple and much cheaper bike formula delivers the same excitements of previous times, with youngsters in newly returned manufacturer teams getting up amongst the established stars, which is what people like to see.
It’s quite sad that someone who claims to enjoy F1 is so myopically fixated on just the winner. It is the clueless whinging of people like you, Damian, who are killing the sport. There was good racing all through the field on Sunday, and if you can’t see it the fault is yours, not the sport.
As for your daft Shadow comments, that happened maybe once a season. For the majority of the time the Shadow cars finished in lapped positions well out of the points. Ah now, remember that time Jackie Oliver romped home in 15th position at Watkins Glen, a mere four laps down on the winner? What about Tom Pryce in 1976, eh? Wow, one podium position, two fourth places, four retirements and nine lapped finishes outside the points. Great days. I can see that he was a real threat to Hunt and Lauda!
I’d get your glasses checked, their rose tint has become almost opaque.
John C,
Tom Pryce won a non-championship F1 race in a Shadow. Alan Jones won the Austrian GP in a Shadow. I believe that Jean-Pierre Jarier got a pole in a Shadow. So Shadow weren’t all bad. Unfortunately, Tom Pryce gave his life for Shadow in 1977 at Kylami.
But the odds are that the Shadow would have finished 3 laps down if it finished at all. Some of the good old days were great but lots were not much good. Lots of the different winners were down to the dire reliability cars had in the good old days!!!
….. but we can all agree that we have had two fabulous races so far this year.
It seems that a combination of the single paddle clutch and Pirelli finally producing tyres that are both safely robust but capable of degrading predictably seems to have had a really positive impact that the Strategy Group could only dream of creating.
For some odd reason, I had imagined that Gene Haas would be a YeeHa braggart, given what his team has now achieved, I have moved him into the “most modest American” slot. It is genuinely incredible. His route does raise a lot of questions as particularly Team Willy seems to be sliding down the field, while probably spending more cash.
While many seem to wish they would just burn in hell, I sincerely wish that RB had a half-decent power unit.
I remain very worried about the long term effects of the McLaren Honda relationship.
And back to the FIA. What the hell were the stewards thinking with KMag’s penalty. We were told that Derek Warwick tried to point out their stupidity, only to be told “rules are rules!”
Well it seems its even more screwed up than we thought!
Now is the time to buy your BESC membership, this together with the monthly fees will buy the right to rent paddles at a future date. The cost of paddles will vary with market forces, currently the low demand enables a very reasonable half million a month debited direct to your Panama based account.
Canoes are available to rent if you have opted for the “Canoe supplement” in your monthly subscription fee, after all a paddle by itself is not of great benefit. Canoes are… well if you have to ask how much, then you can’t afford one.
The rights to operate as BESC were leased from the owner BESC holdings (A subsidiary of GammaArseco) for £1 for period of 999 years (the £1 has not yet been paid)
Media companies may, for an exorbitant fee, use their own vessels for access and filming of the forthcoming disaster scenarios, all rights to sell such footage automatically belong to BESC.
Great opportunities are open for advertisers to buy fixed length contracts for the rights to position their banners, hoardings etc on the slippery banks of the creek. reasonable rates apply.
Betting will be available via SCOnline Gaming, a subsidiary of GammaArsco.
Most eloquent and spot on as always Joe.
Joe, je crois que vous avez besoin du piston.
These desk wallahs would try the patience of a saint. No wonder travelling is stressful.
Thank you Joe, excellent work as usual.
Good luck with the Chinese vice people, I have endured the process in London a few weeks ago and it felt like a battle, the outcome is I have my visa and will be at the Shanghai race. Shame the qualifying is likely to be a bit crap.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the people running F1 are not very clever. They are rich, and in a world where the Holy Trinity is sex, celebrity and money that buys a lot of clout.
The FIA’S revenue stream looks like something out of a fund manager’s portfolio. Money is generated from fees rather than investment.
Bernie’s approach to social media is to paraphrase Hermann Goering; ‘ when I hear the word culture, I reach for my revolver’.
The real shocker in Joe’s brilliantly-written article is the revelation that, apparently, Bernie wasn’t born yet in 1904…!
Every year I look forward to reading about the saga of the Chinese visa and you never disappoint. As for the location..
Anyway I had written what I thought was perfectly sensible article for the magazine I work for suggesting a GP -Watkins Glen style ambiance at Sonoma raceway. SF 45 minutes away, Napa and Sonoma wineries just up the road. Track and paddock would need some work but it could become a permanent feature on the calendar. They already host races with about 100 thou people attending and the roads are fine. Of course there would be some traffic jams but the same goes for every circuit. As for direct flights-how about London, Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Seoul and HK to name but just a few. Furthermore Northern Calif in not exactly a banana republic.
Does the Sears Point/Sonoma track meet FIA requirements? They’ve bulldozed everything in sight but I didn’t realize it was ready for F1.
I’ve raced there in the past and was at the last IndyCar race which was pretty fun to watch. Traffic and parking were fine, facilities were great and well organized, good air show and the weather was beautiful.
Fan access was amazing. While I was distracted trying to nab interesting images one of my kids somehow ended up inside tech two feet from the winning car while it was getting the final ok by a very serious fellow. The team kind of adopted him since he was asking such good questions for a little kid so everything worked out. Obviously that won’t happen with F1.
I prefer Laguna Seca as a track but apparently that isn’t going to happen with the problems they’ve had at the Corkscrew
F1 would be very popular around here if properly promoted. Techies love to race but the general population barely knows what F1 means. On spring days in Silicon Valley amazing numbers of super cars come out to play in the hills. On race day many head for the track – always interesting.
San Francisco would be a great home for F1 in the U.S. There are some seriously deep pockets around here – good things might happen. The Monterey Historics have always done really well. Assuming great promotion – including the hybrid aspect – it seems like it would be a winner here.
/Does the Sears Point/Sonoma track meet FIA requirements?/
As of 06.02.2015 it had FIA grade 2 license, valid until June 2015. Can’t find on current FIA site…
This is a good story. I have to admit that personally I’ve always felt at risk on certain areas of the track because the speeds are high and the runoff room is minimal down the back esses although IndyCar uses a horrific chicane to keep the cars from launching into the sky now. That’s in an almost stock 911 – 200mph in a formula car would be a serious commitment. I assume it could be done if the desire is there.
The Sonoma raceway is 30-45 minutes from SF depending on your commitment level and traffic, and Napa Valley has plenty of places to spend money fast if that’s your thing.
If one can’t enjoy Northern California the problem is yours.
https://willthef1journo.wordpress.com/2012/08/28/california-dreamin-indycar-impressions/
How many Rolex class hotels are within a short Helicopter ride?
You must not think of a venue as being solely for the entertainment of fans and race drivers.
Great article.
Problem is Ferrari as ever. They will always want more of the pie. They don’t believe in the idea of a cost cap or fair distribution like the premier league.
‘In June 1904, before even Bernie Ecclestone was alive’ = Haha 😀
Great article, Joe.
Re: Bernie’s recent comment that drivers shouldn’t talk, they should just drive:
Picture this: the drivers get together and agree that they won’t say ANYTHING at all to the media? Just shrug their shoulders, hold up their steering wheels and pretend to be driving? Maybe tape their mouths and hold up a sign that says:
“Bernie says we only care about money: will answer questions for $1000 per word.”
Great notebook. But your tease. California? Any details? Or is someone smoking medical marijuana?
A fine piece Joe. Warning though….you must be rapidly approaching a point where despite having accreditation, it won’t be recognised and you’ll be looking at the event on a TV screen in a hotel room.
That would not be clever
Indeed. LBJ’s maxim re. J. Edgar Hoover about tents and micturation comes to mind. Also used by John Major about some of his cabinet, I believe.
Not to mention the EU’s policy on restraint of trade…
And by Max Mosley…
…about Bernie €cc£e$tone.
Really?! I missed that…
Always good to keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.
Perfect
Elephant in the room.. what happens when Bernie dies or is too sick to work. At 85 this is going to happen at some stage soon. Someone or some entity will fill the power vacuum. I’m sure this has been a press room topic several times 🙂
I guess we readers can all be thankful that the customs departments did not require 100% unanimity among all the agents to accept Joe’s visa / passport explanation in the middle of his travels.
They did!
Would it not make more sense for Fiat to purchase Scuderia Toro Rosso and try and convince VW or some other European giant to invest in Sauber rather than the other way round? Fiat, other than Lamborghini runs the Italian automotive world and could easily fit Faenza into its operation.
Talking of Red Bull’s, I heard Aston Martin are now stuck between the main Red Bull Team and Manor. Can you shed any light on that? We know Force India are out of the picture but what’s the next move?? They now have a relationship with Red Bull but the bosses at Mercedes apparently want them to secure Manor!
I was grimly amused when Lee McKenzie on Channel 4 asked Jean Todt flat out “Who made the decision not to put the 2015 Qualifying Format as an option on the ballot?”. The shifty-looking eyeballs and a reply that entirely avoided answering that question said it all.
As usual, I’m in awe Joe! Viva la revoloution…
Grand Prix racing began as a venue for different manufacturers to compete with their products. In between it became a scintillating playground for engineering sportsmen to have a go as best they might. Now it is reverting to it’s original roots. Fiat v Mercedes v Renault v Honda etc. Once they have control of the grid they can, and will, take their toys and play in their own playground and leave the FIA to wither on the vine.
Even when Grand Prix racing was about the manufacturers they came and went as it suited them. The racing carried on. The manufacturers are not anybody that F1 can rely on. They don’t NEED F1 and can survive without it – and when it suits them too they will. Look at how quickly BMW, Toyota and Honda upped sticks when it suited their strategy. Honda are back, but they’ve come and gone before and they will go again. Max Mosley was right when he warned about the fickleness of the manufacturers.
I am picturing M. Jean Todt making a face like an old coal scuttle and muttering “Bof, zeese Engleesh media types! Always zey are complaining!”
Did I imagine $TEAM_PRINCIPAL once telling a journo “We make history, you only write about it!”?
Maybe something more along the lines of “Greengrocers writing F1 blogs, what next!”
No disrespect intended toward Joe or his continued outstanding commitment to open and honest journalism, for which I am grateful on a nearly daily basis. If anyone is offended, particularly anyone English or French, please let me know, and I will apologise and try to explain my attempt at humour – or if necessary apologise and accept the error of my ways.
Please note I am aware that Joe resides in France, not England, and this makes my “joke” weaker and hopefully offsets any opportunity for unintended offence.
Ron Dennis once uttered those inflammatory words during a press lunch at McLaren Towers. The much lamented Alan Henry paused for just long enough to put down his glass of Dennis’s Cabernet Sauvignon (a decent enough drop, grown in McLaren Vale, and I’m not kidding) to mutter, “Yes, but we have the last word.”
A silence fell on the gatheroing …
Nice story but not quite the truth. I recall the rejoinder coming from Foges.
Like the analysis Joe. The racing has been exciting so far and the young guns do look promising for the future. Only trouble is by the time they come of age and the various parties have sorted out their little tiffs most of the audience will be doing other things on Sundays because of the paywall.
BTW Mr. Saward, Uganda had zebra crossings before your pal JT came to office so if could pse stop going on about it every time you feel like ranting about JT’s road safety campaign.
Get a life…
And they had Zebra’s as well, these being much more interesting than the road paintings……..
Zebra were probably wandering everywhere at some point in time….bound to have been some crossings………No?
where’s Mad Max when you need some good firm discipline
(annnnnd did I just say that without any hint Irony)
On the subject of social media… I’ve been an f1 fan since I was small, over 30 years. And I’m active on Twitter. Partly that’s cos I’m physically disabled and no longer get out much, so I rely on Twitter to interact with the world from bed – but I digress. The point is, I’m nobody. I’m just a fan. A knowledgeable, enthusiastic fan who has been to many motor sport events over my life, but there are millions of me. Individually I’m nothing and nobody. But together, we the fans should be everything.
****
As an aside… I know you, Joe, and the media, and everyone, are very busy and don’t necessarily want to spend time on activities that don’t pay the bills. But also, you (plural) are good at understanding the whole point of fan engagement. And the fact that sometimes good ideas come from the fans, so we should be heard. Or at least not dismissed. Anyway, I wanted to say… Two of my favourite and most memorable encounters recently were last year, when Graeme Lowdon told me that as a fan I really matter. And then Gary Hartstein replied to a request positively too. And they get it. They gave their own time to interact with the people who love F1 like they do. Just a few seconds to send me – me! A nobody! – a comment. And look how it has stayed in my mind. How it mattered to me. A second of theirs. A long-standing memory of mine.
Yes, the powers that be are very busy with Busy Things. (I won’t say Important Things, as it’s all relative, right? 🙂 But a few seconds, here or there, to acknowledge us as fans, listen to our views, and maybe even say thank you for being there? well, it would make an impact, and mean a lot.
And for what it’s worth, Joe, personal replies from people like you mean a lot too. I know you’re media, so you’re sometimes and somewhat on an opposing side, holding people to account – as you absolutely should – but from a fan perspective you too are in a really privileged position. Even though the trekking to races costs you a lot of your own time, money, energy and frustration (especially around visas!) you too can help by interacting more with the fans and setting an example of how social media should be two way.
Anyway, thank you for raising this. I wish Jean et Al would understand. Have a great trip to China. Thanks for your wonderful, informative and impartial blog, from one fan to another.