G.P.M.A. Selfish.

[Scuderia_Russ]

Jordan: GPMA selfish and greedy

Tuesday, March 7th 2006, 16:10 GMT


Former team owner Eddie Jordan has hit out at Formula One's manufacturers, branding them as greedy and selfish.

Renault, Honda, Toyota, McLaren-Mercedes and BMW-Sauber are still to commit to Formula One beyond 2007 as they seek a better deal with Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

The carmakers, through their GPMA company, have threatened to create a breakaway championship if their demands are not met. A solution, however, seems to be close after Ecclestone said this week a new deal was almost imminent.

Jordan, who was forced to sell his Formula One team to Midland last year, says the manufacturers are not thinking about what's good for the sport.

"The manufacturer teams have really lost it and left me disappointed," Jordan told The Daily Express in an interview.

"They have had no consideration or regard for the individual teams. They have come into a championship which was created and run by private teams and with their cash have totally abused it.

"At the moment they are throwing away $500m in testing behind closed doors. They need to get a grip on this immediately. It is impossible to consider a team without the right budget could win a race. It is not so long ago that a private team could win - Jordan in 1998 - but those days have gone.

"We have seen Alex Shnaider and Dietrich Mateschitz, who are successful and reputable businessmen enter F1, but can even they succeed?

"Now the manufacturer teams go there, write down what the requests are, take it away for corporate discussion about how it suits them. No one thinks of the good of the sport. What they are doing just now is nothing short of madness, it's greedy and selfish," Jordan added.

"The manufacturers will go, it's in their marketing strategy, and what will be left? I applaud Ferrari, who have a long, hard continuous involvement. Anything they get they deserve.

"But I am aggrieved that no young person can afford to get in as I did. If the lunatics can be controlled I would have every reason to come back and look at F1."

Jordan also said that the manufacturers should focus on improving the show for the fans, instead of spending their time thinking of how to get more money.

"No one sees a better race, nobody. The guy in the stand doesn't see anymore excitement," the Irishman added. "If anything it is worse because of the sophisticated aerodynamics they work on in testing which makes overtaking impossible.

"Fans want an exciting race and half the time they are not getting it. I say 'Guys get real and be responsible'. This is now the biggest budget championship. It is a joke."

And although Jordan admits he loved being a Formula One team boss, he claims he is not missing being around in the paddock.

"I loved being in it and I'm loving life being out of it, but I have to say in the current environment I don't miss it," he said.

"I know the circumstances have changed so dramatically so much in the last few years that I would not have been able to continue, never mind compete."

[West]

He makes some good points, but in the end, the desire to win requires money. The factory teams obviously don't want to blow so much money on F1 that it reduces advertising and production of their cars, so they want to lessen the budget hit. Motorsport in general requires a grip of money.

It's up to the commercial body to make the scene more entertaining. F1 was always about top line racing, back to when anybody can join F1 to today. It's still exciting, but the gap between the haves and have-nots is so great these days. In general, more money may help bridge these gaps, but intellectual prowess is better.

[DaveKillens]

Isn't it up to the organizers and rules makers to establish and maintain the spirit and credibility of the series? If big money is taking over, and the teams appear selfish, then lay the blame on Max's feet.
Manufacturers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars because to them it is a business investment. They put a lot of money in, they intend to get something out of it. If they appear selfish and greedy, it's because to them it really is all about money.
I don't blame the manufacturers, I blame Max.

[RacingManiac]

But manufacturer do not have long term interest in F1. They drive the cost up because they can, raise the spending mark to a unreasonable height, smaller teams are forced to quit. And when they can no longer justify the spending, they leave the sports. Since they won't all leave at the same time(loser leaves, winner stays), the cost stays up. Small team can't afford to return as no sponsor will want to be on the dull end of the grid. Then the grid gets smaller and smaller. Look at sportscar racing and how the car companies's commitment to it were like. F1 have always been about the McLaren, the Williams, the Tyrrell...etc. The teams stays the same, maybe the car company or engine supplier is different. This is why something like GPMA's GPWC series will never fly and be sustainable, because car companies have to justify bottomline, and when thats no longer the case, they'll be out the door quicker than you can yell "wait".....

[DaveKillens]

I agree with you maniac, totally. But please look at it from the perspective of the manufacturer, be it BMW or Toyota, or anyone. They most probably love and enjoy racing. But they also invest a huge amount of money each year. Hundreds of millions of dollars. And to justify such a huge expenditure, it has to be for a very valid reason. And it is, marketing, prestige, advertising. And yes, manufacturers can come and go, leave at a moment's notice without regard for the results in the racing community. Renault are presently making such noises, and no one would be surprised if they left in a few years.
My point is that it is up to the people who oversee the racing organizations, like the FIA, to make sure there is continuity. I hate to make comparisons to NASCAR, but that is what they do. Manufacturers come and go, but the show stays the same.
So, IMO, if a big bucks manufacturer shows up and outspends every one else, then leaves a horrible mess after a few short years, shame on the race organizers, shame on the people who control the event, for allowing it to happen. But no shame on the manufacturer, they are just doing business.

[RacingManiac]

But that does not mean they can use this as a bargaining chip to blackmail the sanctioning body, as is the case with GPMA's attitude in recent years. No one dares to do that to NASCAR. In my view there are too much room for political manuvering in F1, unlike NASCAR's "their way or the highway" attitude.