F1 breakaway series?

[N12ck]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formul ... ds-newsxml

what do you think? along with them being against the 1.6ltr turbos could this be a real threat?

[bhall]

Much like my runny, itchy nose heralds the coming of spring, so too do Luca di Montezemolo's threat of a breakaway herald the coming Concorde negotiations.

[HampusA]

Smack talk by Monte..

I think it´s fully possible but F1 will find a way to not create another "F1" series.

[N12ck]

its been threatened soo many times before its becoming an empty threat

[bot6]

Still, it would be great if it actually did happen, this "F1 owned by the teams" thing. If all the commercial rights money went back to the teams and along with cost cutting, the teams would be much less reliant on pay-drivers and corporate sponsors, and would therefore have a much more stable financial structure. It would also help manufacturers stay in F1 long term as the teams would have more say in how things are run.
The next step would be for the teams themselves, and not the FIA, to decide on sporting and technical regs, which would prevent the whole "interpretation" fiasco we have had with the double diffuser (slot not hole) and bendy wing (rules say not legal, FIA scrutineers say legal...?). I think F1 really needs to be more independent from outside structures in order for its specific interests to be preserved.

[Robbobnob]

Im not sure whether he is referring to a parallel series to a Formula 1 world championship, or a championship structure with the ownership retained by the teams rather than CVC. If the later is the case, i think it will be beneficial to formula 1 commercially, as the Fee for hosting Gran Prix's atm is colossal and countries, Australia for example, are weighing up the pros and cons of holding the event.

Also the retained revenue for the sport would then go directly into the sport and not into the accounts of some super Corporation.

And get rid of Mr E, hes stale and detrimental to the image of the sport

[Byronrhys]

Having the teams decide the regs would be disastrous, you would have aero guys such as Red bull vs the Engine camp Ferrari vs the cost cutter private teams, I can't see it working so having an outside party, the FIA do it is the correct way even if its not crystal. A GP hosting fee though is too much i agree, if it comes to a a GP not bringing you profit or enough then you should really rethink it, maintaining and building these tracks alone is not cheap, Bernie should know this and no threaten every track.

[donskar]

I'm all for the teams owning at least a significant % of F1.

A new F1 series to replace the old one, with the new series largely (or totally) controlled by the teams? Why not? The F1 teams are the heart of F1, not Bernie and the grey-suit money-grubbers he represents.

No danger of Ferrari dominating the new series -- McLaren, Red Bull, Williams and others are strong enough to see to that.

[Jeffsvilleusa]

Martin Whitmarsh is in agreement with Luca:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/05/0 ... Y420110506

This has also been discussed a little here:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9970

Personally I think the new regs are a disaster and I wouldn't mind seeing a drastic overhaul in F1 in terms of design freedom, like the possibility of a different chassis shape, as well as opening up engine development, bringing F1 closer to it's roots. Will a team-owned F1 create this possibility?

I couldn't pinpoint it, but someone said elsewhere on the forum that as things currently stand the teams basically set the regs anyway. Along these lines, supposedly ground effects were ruled out for 2013 (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91304) because they would be difficult to regulate in terms of monitoring performance- apparently the decision was made by the 'overtaking working group' which is composed of team members, so unless they are acting under the influence of Bernie or some outside group, I guess a change to team ownership wouldn't shake things up too drastically.

So if that is the case then a change to team ownership will just keep the money "in the family" which isn't so bad.

[Ogami musashi]

Those breakaway talks are imho nothing more than money related maneuvers..the F1 championship would run under dog driven, mice motored monocycle rules that teams would happily accept that provided they have sufficient income.

[andrew]

It is just posturing with the Concorde Agreement up for renewal, nothing more.

However, I would welcome a breakaway series if the rules and regulations were correct. For me F1 is going in the wrong direction and is becoming farcical. A chance to hit the reset button may not be a bad thing.

[Giblet]

The talk of a breakaway is always amusing, but Luca is talking more about taking over CVC, not splitting off into a new series.

He only eer complains when they are not winning. There was not a single gripe about the cars having too much aero when they were on top of it and winning.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Would've happened in 2009 if ever. End of the day the teams need F1, and F1 needs the teams...just a mater of jockeying for position and squabbling like kids.

Welcome to F1 politics and its dirty innards.

[Giblet]

They also need some other things that at the end of the day, like tracks that don't have exclusive deals with the CVC and world class marshals screened by the FIA. These are not small issues to overcome. This is why a takeover is the only real possibility, an even then, the FIA still plays a huge part.

People should look back at when Mosley actually formed a breakaway, and even hosted a couple of races. It ended with FIA officials being led away at gunpoint.

And if Mosley couldn't pull that off when he was on top of his game, how does Luca expect to pull it off. He's not exactly the leader that other teams look up to. He promised third cars before the split talks before to buff the field, and not even Fiat would sign off on the idea. He bloats and struts and grandstands, but he doesn't have the meat or the potatoes. Even the Fiat boss considers him a 'prima figurina'. I am not a huge fan of either, but I definitely think Max is a much sharper individual and if he was incapable of a split then Luca is incapable of successfully navigating an ice cream cone.

Now that the fallout from the new teams is basically over, we have Team Lotus. They have done an outstanding job, and go a respectable team in the second year, it might be time to actually thank Max for bringing enough teams into the sport despite all the resistance.

[gridwalker]

Joe Saward had an interesting take on the situation. To boil it down to its essence :

Luca's boss is part of the NewsCorp syndicate.
CVC will want to sell at the highest possible price.
Threats of a break-away bring down the value of the business.
If CVC want to sell for a profit, they'd be wise to sell whilst the value is high.

Essentially, Luca's posturing is a shot across the bows of CVC : they could sell now for a tidy profit, or they could hold on to their investment and watch the value plummet.

I don't know how much stock to put into that theory, but I'd say it is more likely than a break-away series under the current circumstances.