2010 regulation row on £40m budget cap

[Scotracer]

Wont happen.

[xpensive]

I agree with donskar, that we should hope that Ferrari's threat gives enough moral support to the other teams to stand up for the ultimate goal of breaking up the EvilTwins lock on formula one.

One way or the other, because this profiteering and erratic rule changing has gone out of hand.

Is Balestre still alive?

[Conceptual]

Who cares if Ferrari withdraw from F1?

The many fans that became Ferrari fans because they won all the time will just jump to the next front runner. And the long term, die hard Ferrari since the 50's fans will still watch because they have been watching for 60 years already.

In the evolution of nature, sometimes even the strong die, and sometimes they die from suicide.

Do not mourn them, there will ALWAYS be a winning team in F1, love them or hate them, they will still draw audiences from around the world.

The FIA should issue a press release stating that any withdrawls between 2009 and 2010 will be considered permanant, with no recourse for re-entry.

Call their bluff, and get them into innovation mode instead of payout mode.

F1 will be better for it, either way this turns out.

[RacingManiac]

2 tier system is ridiculous anyway, no governing body ever gets equivalency right, never mind FIA. And seeing exactly how political this sport is, it'll probably be purposely skewed to FIA's benefit in manipulating the power balance.....FOTA need to be more hardline and Ferrari is leading the charge right now...

[woohoo]

Well, now we just have to look at who blink first.

Will Bernie back own on his threats, or will Ferrari and the other teams back down first ?

[Roger the knife]

I'd have to admit to not being much of a fan of Ferrari in gerneral, but on this one I think they have made a brave and correct announcement. F1 should not have two sets of rules, the budget cap can be negotiated, but the twin rules NEVER...
I supect now that Ferrari has nailed it's colours to the mast, a few more will join in Toyota, Mercedes, BMW Reanult and Red Bull. This is FOTA telling Max that he's got it wrong, and I think we all agree.

[modbaraban]

It will never happen plus the 40 million cap will not include the motor homes and all the corporate ---.

Funny isn't it? FIA are trying to make teams save money on racecars and racing itself, while still shelling out millions for the stuff that WE FANS don't care about.

[lucidcomms]

I'm not a huge Ferrari fan, but having watched F1 almost religiously for 20 years, I am thankful that perhaps the most powerful voice among the constructors has finally made a stand against the politics that have been eroding the sport into a made-for-tv soap opera, nascar with corners if you will.

Bernie and co have been making themselves look like a bunch of grand prix for long enough F1 is dead, long live F1.

Phill

[donskar]

if Ferrari or anyone else does leave, Bernie will go after them with great determination. He has to, because if enough big name teams leave, then it is a real possibility that Bernie's entire financial house of cards will come crashing down.

Dave, I do not mean to skew your post by quoting just a small part of it, but I think the excerpt above does stand alone as a discrete statement.

IF this mutual suicide dance continues, lawyers will be involved. Ferrari has already made public that they are ready to go that route and are beginning to build the grounds for a legal action against the FIA:

The Board also expressed its disappointment about the methods adopted by the FIA in taking decisions of such a serious nature and its refusal to effectively reach an understanding with constructors and teams. The rules of governance that have contributed to the development of Formula 1 over the last 25 years have been disregarded, as have the binding contractual obligations between Ferrari and the FIA itself regarding the stability of the regulations. The same rules for all teams, stability of regulations, the continuity of the FOTA’s endeavours to methodically and progressively reduce costs, and governance of Formula 1 are the priorities for the future. If these indispensable principles are not respected and if the regulations adopted for 2010 will not change, then Ferrari does not intend to enter its cars in the next Formula 1 World Championship.

Ferrari is telling Max and Bernie: "bring it on."

I know nothing of EU rules and regulations regarding business practices and agreements, but other posters have suggested that the FIA probably would prefer that its practices and procedures NOT be examined in a court of law. Ferrari's senior management would not suggest legal action unless they have thought out the ramifications.

[DaveKillens]

Currently, Ferrari are in a no-win situation. If they allow Max to have his way, these budgeted teams will become immediately competitive, and eventually beat Ferrari on a regular basis. And in racing, only one thing counts.. winning. You may have people of questionable character running a team, but if they win, everyone, the fans and sponsors forgive and forget. It's all about winning.
So Ferrari have to make a move, take a firm stance, and stand up to Max. I just hope that the rest of FOTA follow in the leadership of Ferrari.

[xpensive]

Hope you don't mind if I prefer to see it as a win-win situation DK?

[donskar]

Currently, Ferrari are in a no-win situation. If they allow Max to have his way, these budgeted teams will become immediately competitive, and eventually beat Ferrari on a regular basis. And in racing, only one thing counts.. winning. You may have people of questionable character running a team, but if they win, everyone, the fans and sponsors forgive and forget. It's all about winning.
So Ferrari have to make a move, take a firm stance, and stand up to Max. I just hope that the rest of FOTA follow in the leadership of Ferrari.

"no-win situation"? I prefer to take a more optimistic position. Great good CAN come out of this, if the playing field between the teams and FIA becomes leveled a bit.

Let's try to focus on what might be a central point (which Bernie wants to obscure): This entire budget situation would be much improved if the teams got a more equitable share of the proceeds. Think about it: it is reasonaable to assume that more teams would enter F1 if they knew they would get a larger share of the proceeds. Simply: giving the teams a larger share of the money would lower the bar for new teams. Except for greed, Bernie could set the budget at a level much more acceptable to the manufacturers (say $100 - $150 million / 50-75 million pounds or so?). Small / new teams could still be competitive IF they got a larger share of the take.

I could go on, but I'm at "work"

[bhall]

This should be settled with a good, old-fashioned (literally) bar fight: Max Mosley vs. Luca di Montezemolo.

[Vasco]

I wonder whether Mclaren will follow in Ferrari,RB and BMW's footsteps and threaten to quit F1. They do have the suspended sentence and basically the FIA have got them by the balls.

[DaveKillens]

Currently, Ferrari are in a no-win situation

And the emphasis is on "Currently". But the situation has to change before all the blood is spilled.