Gulf Times
Mosley shows strength in fight for F1 future
AFP/Monte Carlo
Max Mosley is showing strength as the president of the governing motorsport body FIA is determined to succeed in the power struggle over the future of Formula One and in the fight to protect his privacy.
Mosley, in an interview with the German Press Agency DPA, said he was “perhaps almost as strong as before” at the top of FIA, more than a year after a British mass circulation paper published details from his sex life.
The London High Court confirmed in July 2008 that Mosley’s sex play with five prostitutes made no reference to National Socialist contents and behaviour.
Meanwhile, the outcome of the Formula One rule dispute between FIA and the teams led by Ferrari remains open.
Formula One without Ferrari would be “poorer,” the FIA boss said in the interview conducted in his Monte Carlo office. He said he was ready to get through the conflict, even if the Italians really quit.
“If you are convinced, and I am convinced, that Formula One cannot survive on current levels of expenditure, then you have to,” Mosley said.
Mosley, 69, said that the FIA is doing everything to convince the teams to stay on, but warned that “in the end you can’t let them dictate.”
The teams and FIA have been at odds for weeks over the rules for the 2010 season and a budget cap of around 45mn euros.
Looking at the massive budgets of the teams, Mosley said: “It’s just that the teams are used to this way of life, but you can’t do it.”
Mosley said that manufacturer teams like Ferrari, BMW and Toyota invest 300-400mn euros each year into their Formula One projects.
Mosley named the sums “unsustainable” and said that radical cost-cutting was inevitable in the wake of the world economic crisis and a sharp fall in sales for the carmakers.
He said that such measures were also in the interest of shareholders and tax payers, whose money is currently thrown away for F1 teams by the manufacturers. “If we make this reduction there is some chance that these big manufacturers will stay in. If we don’t make the reduction I see no chance of them staying,” Mosley told DPA.
The fear about the future of Ferrari has added to the pressure in the dispute between the teams and the FIA.
Mosley named Ferrari’s “image and name and brand” the key value of the famed team for Formula One. He also acknowledged that “among all the teams Ferrari is the number one brand, no question.”
But Mosley said that Formula One can survive without the current constructors’ world champion.
“It would be poorer. But you see, when poor (Ayrton) Senna got killed people would think: Oh, this is the end of everything. It just made no difference. Because the sport is always bigger than the biggest player,” he said.
Mosley said that the planned budget cap has in fact led to more potential newcomers into F1 racing, which was good for the sport and its future.
“No sport is healthy without new people coming in ... If you stopped those new entrepreneurs coming in Formula One will die. You can’t have just a lot of old men running it,” said Mosley.
Looking at his personal future, Mosley said that he has not yet made a final decision how much longer he aims to rule the FIA and its politics.
Mosley said under pressure last year that he would not seek a fifth term, but by now he is considering it.
“Just about everybody in the FIA is urging me to stay. Some of the Formula One teams are not, but that doesn’t matter, they don’t have a vote. So it’s a difficult decision,” he said.
Mosley also said that his future will not be tied to the current rule dispute because that the issue will “certainly be resolved one way or the other before any election.”
My predictions were pretty accurate that this break away exercise would crumble exactly as the previous one. The reasons are all the same. The F1 teams never realistically had a chance to do what they said they were aiming for, taking commercial control away from FOM. It took them quite long to realise it, but in the end they had to pack in as GPMA did in 2006. So what is the upshot of all of this?
Bernie has secured his grip on F1 for 3,5 more years until the Ferrari, Williams, Red Bull and FIF1 contracts expire. The other teams will jump on the band waggon and sign a contract with him as well to that dead line. The FIA will sign as well but it is irrelevant since they have sold the series to FOM for 100 years anyway. So only the teams signature on these contracts really matter. I will bet on eating my old sock again, that this "Concord Agreement" has no veto right for any team. The published rules of majority rule making will apply with the sole veto by the WMSC.
What is the result for FIA? They have kept the air superiority over the rule making for another extended period. If FOM looses the plot to FOTA in 2013 they will still saction the series but may not have the rule control any more.
What is the result for FOM? They will continue to rake in the money for some more years and should take care to shift the risk to new deptors and investors fairly soon unless they manage to secretely contract some substantial players again ahead of 2013.
How about Fota? They need to take a long view and make sure that Bernie buys their president not a second time.
