Opps Formula 1 on brink of collapse

[dizy007]

FORMULA ONE was in meltdown last night after eight of its 10 teams confirmed they are to form a breakaway series.

Their decision will cause the greatest controversy and upheaval in the sport's 60-year history.


Following a meeting late in the evening, the eight teams that currently form the Formula One Team's Association - Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Brawn GP, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso - have all declined to enter F1 for 2010.


The row started last year as FOTA disputed the FIA's plans to enforce budget and technical changes in 2010.


Despite weeks of negotiations with FIA president Max Mosley, the two bodies have failed to find a compromise, leaving the sport in total chaos.


A FOTA statement said last night: "It has become clear, the teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport.


"Since the formation of FOTA last September the teams have worked together and sought to engage the FIA and commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone, to develop and improve the sport.


"Unprecedented worldwide financial turmoil has inevitably placed great challenges before the F1 community.


"FOTA is proud that it has achieved the most substantial measures to reduce costs in the history of our sport.


"But these teams have no alternative other than to commence preparation for a new championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners.


"The major drivers, stars, brands, sponsors, promoters and companies historically associated with the highest level of motorsport will all feature in this new series."

 

[hoppy]

FORMULA ONE was in meltdown last night after eight of its 10 teams confirmed they are to form a breakaway series.

Their decision will cause the greatest controversy and upheaval in the sport's 60-year history.


Following a meeting late in the evening, the eight teams that currently form the Formula One Team's Association - Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Brawn GP, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso - have all declined to enter F1 for 2010.


The row started last year as FOTA disputed the FIA's plans to enforce budget and technical changes in 2010.


Despite weeks of negotiations with FIA president Max Mosley, the two bodies have failed to find a compromise, leaving the sport in total chaos.


A FOTA statement said last night: "It has become clear, the teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport.


"Since the formation of FOTA last September the teams have worked together and sought to engage the FIA and commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone, to develop and improve the sport.


"Unprecedented worldwide financial turmoil has inevitably placed great challenges before the F1 community.


"FOTA is proud that it has achieved the most substantial measures to reduce costs in the history of our sport.


"But these teams have no alternative other than to commence preparation for a new championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners.


"The major drivers, stars, brands, sponsors, promoters and companies historically associated with the highest level of motorsport will all feature in this new series."

How do mate.
Just a quick question, what source was this from fella?
Its a bit vague about the sponsors and how they will feature in this new series.

I cant blame the teams for getting fed up with the FIA,its June and they still don't have a scoobie at what next years rules are.
Bernie is a stubborn little power hungry freak show and his sidekick Mr Mosley is a leather clad, freak show.
Bernie will have to learn that dealing with big corporate teams is a different ball game!
They have the money to form a breakaway series and walk away.
With the majority on board it will be as popular as F1 but there is a lot more too it than that!

I still think that they will sort it out eventually, they need each other...

 

[DiamondGeezer]

Think it's a forum rule to link the source of your story

anyway here is the bbc's story

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula 1 | F1 teams drop breakaway bombshell

 

[dizy007]

How do mate.
Just a quick question, what source was this from fella?
Its a bit vague about the sponsors and how they will feature in this new series.

I cant blame the teams for getting fed up with the FIA,its June and they still don't have a scoobie at what next years rules are.
Bernie is a stubborn little power hungry freak show and his sidekick Mr Mosley is a leather clad, freak show.
Bernie will have to learn that dealing with big corporate teams is a different ball game!
They have the money to form a breakaway series and walk away.
With the majority on board it will be as popular as F1 but there is a lot more too it than that!

I still think that they will sort it out eventually, they need each other...

sorry mate i forgot to put the link but itwas a breaking news in mid night from BBC news

 

[hoppy]

sorry mate i forgot to put the link but itwas a breaking news in mid night from BBC news

lol, that's cool mate and it is pretty big news..
I just had a look at the article and it does look worse than i thought!
Its no suprise that Mosley has dug his heels in, he is a helluva guy that dosent like to compromise.
There are worries on both sides!!
The FIA will have major problems as they will end up with all the smaller teams and in reality it would be a very weak looking championship, i see Lola have pulled the plug as well.
Fota have talked about one set of clear rules and that there championship would be fairer!
Maybe so but who will police their championship.
There would be massive court battles and endless red tape and frankly i think both championships would fail.

It makes no sense at all for them to split and i cannot believe its even went this far.
The only people who would suffer is the fans.

 

[nara]

Stand off at High Noon! : gun :

I wonder who'll be first to blink?

 

[hoppy]

Stand off at High Noon! : gun :

I wonder who'll be first to blink?

Who is your money on Nara?

 

[Baaheeduk]

Mosley will buckle under the pressure! If he doesn't he's left with nothing so I can only see one outcome!

 

[rawsy]

bernie and mosley will back down they have no choice. they are just dragging it out to try and get what they want.

 

[krazylegz]

F1 is in turmoil as the FIA have announced they plan to sue FOTA (formula one teams association ), to me that w@nker Max Moseley is going to be the death of that sport and imho teams should be allowed to spend as much or little as they please

The FIA is to launch legal proceedings against the Formula One Teams' Association after the latter announced plans for a breakaway series.
After talks to reach a compromise on the FIA's planned budget cap for 2010 came to nought, FOTA's eight member teams - Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Brawn GP, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso - announced late on Thursday night their intention to pursue a rival series.
In response, following meetings between FIA president Max Mosley and F1 commerical rights controller Bernie Ecclestone at Silverstone - venue for this weekend's British Grand Prix - on Friday, world motorsport's governing body has decided legal action is its only recourse.
Confirming its intentions, a statement read: "The FIA's lawyers have now examined the FOTA threat to begin a breakaway series.
"The actions of FOTA as a whole, and Ferrari in particular, amount to serious violations of law including wilful interference with contractual relations, direct breaches of Ferrari's legal obligations and a grave violation of competition law. The FIA will be issuing legal proceedings without delay.
"Preparations for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship continue but publication of the final 2010 entry list will be put on hold while the FIA asserts its legal rights."




Sky Sports | Formula 1 | News | FIA to sue FOTA

 

[jaffa]

Mossley really has a strange way of trying to smother the fire.

He said he had reached an agreement with some teams, but "the others - what we call the loonies - tore it up.

Personally I have always thought there will be a compromise and this delay while they take legal action is simply a way of trying to get an agreement without losing face....the FIA had said the teams only had until today and if they didnt sign up unconditionally by that date then they were out.....well they are not out.

I think Bernie and Mossley are only in it for personal gain nowdays, I don't care how much money they make as long as F1 does not lose out, but Bernie has been a bit of a dictator with some of the tracks and increased the money it cost for the track to be in F1, we have lost France, Canada, Silverstone all because they wouldn't bow down to the mighty dwarf. I was sad to see Canada left out as I really loved that track, especially the wall where they are within inches of smacking it. Now we have tracks like Turkey which cannot get a crowd and Valencia which is an awful boring course.

Give it a while and they will have it settled, they both would do better with each other.

 

[hoppy]

Mossley really has a strange way of trying to smother the fire.



Personally I have always thought there will be a compromise and this delay while they take legal action is simply a way of trying to get an agreement without losing face....the FIA had said the teams only had until today and if they didnt sign up unconditionally by that date then they were out.....well they are not out.

I think Bernie and Mossley are only in it for personal gain nowdays, I don't care how much money they make as long as F1 does not lose out, but Bernie has been a bit of a dictator with some of the tracks and increased the money it cost for the track to be in F1, we have lost France, Canada, Silverstone all because they wouldn't bow down to the mighty dwarf. I was sad to see Canada left out as I really loved that track, especially the wall where they are within inches of smacking it. Now we have tracks like Turkey which cannot get a crowd and Valencia which is an awful boring course.

Give it a while and they will have it settled, they both would do better with each other.

Well put and i totally agree.
Its time up for Bernie and Mosley, as i said earlier they are not dealing with independent teams, these teams have power.
If an agreement is not reached, the blame lies with the FIA.
Mosley should have left when his bondage, Nazi antics were revealed.

 

[pinkhelmets]

For more than a decade F1 has needed a new unbiased governing body. Mosely really has tried very hard to destroy F1 for so many years, purely for his financial gain. The teams have been on the verge of breaking away from Mosley previously but they only lacked support from Ferrari. Now that ALL big teams have had enough of his mafia bully tactics (for his personal wealth) I really do now hope for a break-away league, without the FIA.

The sport may suffer for a year or two, it may even be without any racing all through next year, but without the FIA it really will gain so much more in the long run and fans will soon return in their masses. Force India and Williams will soon re-join the top league too, as soon as their contracts with a dead FIA expire.

If I have a choice to watch unknown names, unknown cheap brand teams, unknown drivers racing on all the current tracks with limited cars.... vs.... all big brands and manufacturers, with worlds best drivers, glitz glamour excessive spending and development, on unknown new tracks or even lost traditional old tracks....
>>> 100% I know which league I'd be watching, and I think its damn obvious. I say 'bye then' to mad Max and 'best wishes' to the top teams and their plans.

 

[jaffa]

Mossely has said he would stand down if he thought it would resolve the issue but he said the Fota teams would just be the same with the new man so theres no sense in resigning.....well Mr Mossley....stand down and prove you were right, I personally think he is full of it.

btw....as for his bondage etc etc....it was in private and not illegal so it should not be an issue but it didnt do F1 any favors though.

btw...bernie wants to bring back Montreal, I think he now knows he made a huge fek up by ditching it and months ago he realised what is about to happen and wants them signed up so Fota can't use it IF they break away.

I am with you Pinky...I know which one I would watch, if I wanted to watch cars with all the same specs I would watch A1..........yawn

 

[hoppy]

All thats required is a little common sense!!
Some think that F1 should be totally uncapped (terrible idea)
Some think it should be heavily restricted (terrible idea)
So where does that leave us?
Smack bang in the middle i think.
Costs in F1 were getting simply out of control so something had to be done, but not to the degree that the FIA are banging on about.

If the FIA do not bend in any way then it will be their loss.
Personally i am starting to really dislike the FIA...

 

[krazylegz]

why shouldnt it be uncapped??

IMHO it should be up to the team how much or how little they spend, its like saying in football that you shouldnt be allowed to spend say 10 million on a player or he shouldnt be allowed to earn more than 2k a week, its bollox should be down to the individual teams what they spend

 

[hoppy]

why shouldnt it be uncapped??

IMHO it should be up to the team how much or how little they spend, its like saying in football that you shouldnt be allowed to spend say 10 million on a player or he shouldnt be allowed to earn more than 2k a week, its bollox should be down to the individual teams what they spend

History has taught f1 that if you let it go uncapped, smaller teams go bust and when the big teams pull out the sport is left in a hell of a mess.
Big teams only stay in f1 when it serves their needs and then pull the plug when you least expect it.
The FIA have went over the top to the degree that they want to cap the budgets, but they do have to be capped to an extent.
Investing millions into f1 does not mean instant success, look at Toyata , BAR, and Ferrari to an extent.
Toyota have poured over a billion into f1 and not won a race.
Brawn have one of the smallest operating budgets this year but it has not held them back.
A few years back,Cosworth built one of the fastest v8 engines on the grid, on a tenth of the budget of Ferrari.
With sponsorship getting thin, smaller teams cannot survive but thats not a problem for bigger teams with a huge operating budget.

 

[pinkhelmets]

The teams are not saying they dont want budget caps, or dont want to reduce the sports costs. The arguement is how to impliment it and who has the say or control of the cap. Fota want all teams to have a say and also want budget cuts 'at source' rather than at the end figure. {at source such as wind tunnel funding, further developing in season, tyre budgets, overall parts for the season, how much for future research, etc.}
FIA dont want anyone to have a say whatsoever -what FIA want will always be the right decision, if you dont like the rules 'f*k off' is what they are saying. FIA also want the cap to be unrealistically slashed with immediate effect, on the end budget figure. Remove glitz and glamour, remove the 'draw' of F1 and replace with cheap racing teams. So the easy option rather than bring in more technical ways to reduce cost in the areas that need reducing. Race with unknown brands rather than big name world manufacturers.
Obviously, none of the teams believe this is the best idea, including those who have agreed and signed up. Its not good for sport, its not good for racing to push limits, its not good for the motor industry developments and future of economy 'going green' blah etc. The problem isn't really about lower budgets, its the way Mosley mafia seem uninterested in 'governing the sport' and more interesting in controlling teams financial business.

FIA talk big and publically make it clear their idea is brilliant for saving the sport, and that all manufacturers and racing teams are wrong. This argument is about power though. FIA.... vs .....all the teams and the sport fans. Legally, FIA currently hold the power and control, but the teams and fans dont want this to be the case anymore, imho.

 

[snapman]

This argument should never have gone public at this point, in my opinion.

Get all the FIA, FOTA, everyone involved to discuss this in PRIVATE, as going public only damages the sports reputation.

Bernie Eccleston has been diplomatic in his public profile (from what I've seen), while Max Mosley has been the complete opposite.

Very unproffesional for him to claim that the so-called 'F1 rebels', "Loonies".

These guys are very intelligent, highly skilled and professional people, and this will seem as a targeted insult to them.

KEEP THE IN-FIGHTING INDOORS UNTIL THERE IS NO COMEBACK!

 

[steer]

Been a fan of F1 for quite awhile (15+ years) and i can not see the major teams splinting off. F1 has too much history to leave behind. But i wish the FIA would listen to FOTA, whats the point in having a sport where most of your teams get to a point where they publicly say they want to leave, its crazy :/