321apex wrote:I believe CVC is a legitimate business, so I don't buy your suggestion. What would you do to Apple?
Apple make mobile/cell phones, and have competitors that do the same. The CVC have a monopoly and don't really make anything. As a paying fan that goes to races, I am happy to see them make a
reasonable profit. They could support smaller/new teams better is all I am saying.
Nothing wrong with spreading development cost of created technology and in my view it has been done for years.
I agree, my point is that a budget cap will give car manufacturer teams an unfair advantage as they can potentially still develop F1 technology under a GT/Sports Car programme. To some extent this advantage already exists, but it will become more substantial.
Do you recall the times when F1 had pre-qualifying? In 1989 season there were 21 teams competing and all of them largely built their own race cars. In my view, the team constructor part is fine, but the cost to compete has escalated out of control.
YES, as a teenager living in Australia, my first exposure to F1 was that first "turbo era" in the 80's with Senna and Prost.
I was listening to a couple of podcasts the other day, and they had Emanuele Pirro on one episode and James Weaver and Andy Wallace on another. James Weaver was talking about testing the Benetton/BMW at the end of the '86 season chasing an F1 drive, that went to Pirro. That car apparently made something like 1100hp in Quali trim, 900hp in race trim and was so
horrifically violent on the driver.
It is a fact of life that cars will get faster and faster, why do the FIA feel the need to reduce downforce to slow them down, thereby making them less safe?
I am a big fan of Pre-Qualifying. In my opinion, drivers racing who either cannot put a lap together in Q3 or have cars outside of the 107% rule, have no business being in the race (a little harsh maybe...). All they do is increase the likelihood of one of the front runners having an accident by tripping over them during the race. During '89, there were teams that went to events and did not race.
(I do take solace in the fact that Maldonado is currently leading the F1 "Penalty Points" World Championship...
)
Limiting the number of sensors on board and fixing geometry of some parts of the car would render a lot of this cool engineering stuff useless.
I see your point, and it could reduce costs. I still think it will only force the big teams will put more R&D effort into trying to then automate systems (i.e. Double DRS) to get around the lack of sensors. The designers/engineers know what they are trying to make that banned sensor or part on the car do, and will find some ingenious way to get around the banned technology.
Unfortunately, we can't unlearn the concepts and technologies that make the cars as fast as they are right now. The FIA bans something to limit either cost or speed, and then the teams re-double their efforts to gain back what is lost.
If the FIA want to limit speed (for safety reasons), they should simply limit engine rpm and top gear drive ratios
directly, rather than horsepower and downforce.
The cost structure required to compete eliminates teams one by one. When Mclaren has trouble signing a title sponsor 5 races into a new season, how do you rate Marussia's chances? Who will keep paying their bills?
McLaren had a bad year last year, and I was hoping they would bounce back, but unfortunately I don't see an end to their pain in sight. For Marussia, the sad fact is the answer is probably their drivers! (There is potential for CVC to assist here, to a point... Chilton did get fastest lap in testing at Barcelona on day one, so his sponsors and Marussia's will be loving that!!)
I actually find myself asking how many potential current and future legends of the sport (the likes of Senna, Prost, Schumacher, Stewart, Lauda, Clark, Moss or even Fangio!) have not been discovered, because of how difficult it is now to get into this sport!
In my part of the world it is nearly impossible for anyone to make it into F1. Daniel Ricciardo moved to Europe aged 17 to compete in Formula Renault, Mitch Evans (in GP2) moved to Europe aged 16 to compete in GP3. Mitch finished second in the Australian Formula Ford series in 2009 (aged 14!!!).
In an era of limited testing, can anyone prove that Toro Roso IS NOT a Red Bull test team?
I had to consider this for a while to fully comprehend the enormity of the statement, and how far reaching the potential implications are. Red Bull have always called Torro Rosso (TR) a "development squad", but it is only when you contemplate the impact of potentially developing a WHOLE TEAM in the background to backup/assist your lead team, that you start to see what is possible (It's a whole
spare team!!).
Not only up and coming drivers, but designers, mechanics too.
The legendary Adrian Newey overseeing design on the lead team, with a separate "young guns" team TR, eager to design "that component" that gets them the desk at Milton Keynes...
Not sure how that upgrade will work in China? Bolt it onto a TR in Australia, and you have a whole race of real data!
The possibilities are endless!
This is all hypothetical obviously, but Mateschitz is a very shrewd business man, and this makes good business sense. What is having the ability to potentially carry out in-season testing to "significantly increase the chances" of you win the championship worth, in terms of global advertising and potential increased "soft drink" sales? $70-80m ?
(Sorry, just my cynical, bitter and twisted view of the world... There is probably NO correspondence or contact between Milton Keynes and Faenza. After all, staff of Italian teams
never pass design information on their cars to teams located in Britain do they?
BTW, as an aside, I do see the irony of Alonso now being at Ferrari...)
Unfortunately this scenario also becomes viable for the car manufacturer teams under a budget cap. Ferrari are limited to a workforce of say 400 by a budget cap. They simply start a second "junior team" (called say "Alfa Romeo") at a new facility, which would have a similar budget and workforce...