Will Formula One exist next year?
The Grand Prix circus is in turmoil at the moment and as so often the case it’s all because of money. There are currently ten teams in F1 and only two of them have signed up with the FIA, the governing body, to take part in next year’s championship. The major car manufacturer backed teams, Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault, BMW, Toyota, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Brawn are currently refusing to race next year.
Williams and Force India have agreed to race under the terms of the the FIA. The other teams don’t agree to the proposed budget cap of £40 million to run each team.
FIA President Max Mosley in talks with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone
The eight renegade teams do agree that cost cutting needs to be implemented in these austere times but feel that the proposed budget restrictions are too harsh to be put in place for next year.
They would prefer a more gradual reduction in budgets over the next few years so as to avoid unneccessary redundancies not only for the teams but also the peripheral companies involved. They may form a breakaway series of races and as Ferrari (the major force and crowd puller in F1) hold the ace cards, it is no idle threat. The FIA would be left to run the ‘official’ F1 series but without the star names.
The key to resolution is talks and meetings. The FIA and the teams must reach a compromise to avoid two rival devalued series of races happening next year. This would not work in the long term as has been seen in USA with their open wheel racing series becoming a shadow of its former self after an acrimonious split.
The brinkmanship on both sides will come to a head sooner or later and I hope a suitable solution will be found for both sides.
Sponsors and fans may become disillusioned with the whole affair and with the resultant loss of TV revenue (the major income source for the whole circus) the show will implode. Bernie Ecclestone has a major part to play now, he has to ensure there is no split and should protect the investment he has made over the last forty years building up F1 into the global brand it has become. There is a real danger that the the end of the road is nigh…