Suspensions and Budget Caps 29/04/2009 Well, after all that, McLaren has been handed a suspended three-race ban in the World Motor Sport Council hearing today. Effectively, this amounts to accepting that the team has been punished enough; all McLaren has to do now is be good for a year.McLaren in the desertCynics might think that would not be particularly easy, given the FIA's apparent eagerness to catch out McLaren at every opportunity, but the departure of Ron Dennis, coupled with Whitmarsh's abject apology, has almost certainly altered the political atmosphere for the foreseeable future. Martin Whitmarsh has already spoken of his team having a new and better relationship with the FIA and the leniency of the WMSC decision is the first evidence of this.We might think that this ushers in a new era of sensible and fair government by the FIA but that would be to ignore the tension between the ruling body and the teams' organization, FOTA. Although much is made of the two organizations working together to decide the future of F1, the reality is that the FIA sees FOTA as competition and regularly attacks the teams' unity. Even as we celebrate the decision on the lie-gate affair, the WMSC meets again to push through the contentious budget cap without waiting for FOTA's suggestions.It is this overbearing attitude of the FIA's that causes much of the legal and political arguments that dog F1 and bring the sport into more disrepute than McLaren could ever manage. Achieving consensus on changes to be made might take a little longer than the dictatorial impositions preferred by the FIA, but the sport would be a happier place for it.As I have pointed out before, it is not the budget cap itself that the teams object to; it is the arbitrary and extreme figure of $30 million set by Max Mosley that FOTA sees as unreasonable. There is no way that the larger teams, reputed to have spent up to $300 million per year in the past, can be expected to reduce their operation to work with just 10% of their previous expenditure.Some would expect that the manufacturer teams could take the option of unlimited expenditure with restrictions in technical areas such as engines, movable wings and floors, but this is an unviable alternative. The Williams FW31 demonstrates that smaller teams are quite capable of competing with the big boys within the same technical regulations and on budgets well below those of the manufacturers'. Given the advantage of technical freedom in areas where the big teams are handicapped, the minnows could make the giants look very silly indeed.So, if a budget cap option is imposed, the manufacturer teams would have to take it or leave the sport. With the cap set at $30 million, they would have to choose the second option - surely a situation that no one wants. And this is easily avoidable, if only the FIA would sit down with FOTA to hammer out a reasonable compromise on the amount of the cap.Perhaps common sense will prevail in the end and a workable figure for the budget cap be agreed upon. That would have to be high enough for the manufacturers to remain viable but low enough not to deter those teams currently considering entering F1. Judging by the figures bandied about in discussions on the matter, such a compromise would be possible and could include the option of reducing the cap further in future years.If that does happen, you can bet that all the teams, even the big spenders of yesteryear, will go for the budget option. As the double diffuser has so neatly demonstrated, technical freedom beats bags of money every time. And the goal of greatly reduced expenditure in F1 would have been attained (ignoring the problems of policing the cap).Surely so great a prize should be sufficient to persuade the FIA to be more inclusive in its rule-making process? Yet it may not be so. The FIA has a long tradition of high-handed decisions, established in the days when the teams were divided against each other and they may see no reason to change. The WMSC will probably set a silly cap at their meeting today and it will take a summer of confrontation for the teams to have it altered to a more reasonable amount. That is how Mosley works these days.Who was it who said, "Why can't we all just get along?"
Clive
aracerdude Formula 1 does not need any team to make itself look bad, it does a fine job of that on it's own. The politics of F1 are a joke and the worst part of F1. It takes away from the accomplishments of the drivers and engineers, which is what makes F1 so special.What McLaren did was wrong, yet it happens in all levels of racing on any given Sunday.Get over it and race! Date Added: 29/04/2009
Clive Agreed, Aracer. Date Added: 29/04/2009
michael 30 million Ds - serious?Max does a great job when throwing something really ridiculous out there so he can watch the "hungry" vent and bight and tear themselves apart over it and then in the end it is mighty Max who is named the man of the moment the inventor the visionary F1 fixture. I rather like that. what is so ridiculous about this deal? The offer to those who take the deal to be aloud to do whatever they want with their challenger. CONTRADICTION This is like the bible saying an eye for an eye etc blablabla and one page further down the alley I am told to hold the other cheek. Aren't the legal processions we have been witnessing so far enough distraction? Would more of the same not bring F1 as a business in disrepute? To be honest I don't even think cunning Max is seriously aiming for a 30 million cap rather what he wants is ACTION NOW and his way of forcing the Teams hands is by far the most effective and economic even if it wears and tears the viewers patience it actually gets the motor running. Imagine asking the teams to make a decision on how many light bulbs each should be aloud to utilize? It would take them YEARS especially Ferrari they would procrastinate by requesting a clarification as to what exactly qualifies as a light bulb. ;-) I think Date Added: 29/04/2009
donwatters Two things: First, I'd be very interested to see the details of how the budget cap will be monitored and what sort of punishments are planned for those who are caught going over. Second, while I think the FIA's suspended race ban punishment was probably fair, I'm still livid that that jerk Max accomplished his goal of running Ron out of F1. It's a disgrace. Date Added: 29/04/2009
Nick Goodspeed I wouldn't be at all suprised if Ecclestone and Mosley relish the thought of the big manufacturers leaving F1. If it weren't for these companies, with their huge budgets, Ecclestone and Mosley could bully the teams about to their heart's content. I guess Mosley won the last battle, however shallow it may be. Despite him and his cronies doing their best to make sure McLaren didn't win last year, they did! His vendetta against Ron Dennis is now complete. The good part is Dennis left with his dignity. Mosley stayed, despite having none. The charges of McLaren putting F1 in disrepute are farcical. Mosley's practises and demeanour are far more damaging to F1 than anything McLaren has done. John Cooper's book The Grand Prix Cerpetbaggers (published circa 1960) has several anecdotes of the same sort of thing that cost McLaren 100 million bucks. The difference is that no one bothered listening to the whiners so teams used their own counter espionage to lead the spies down the garden path. Mosley's a vindictive draconian fool who has done more to sully F1's reputation than anything I've seen in the nearly fifty years I've been following it. If he cared two bits for F1 he would have been trying to settle problems in the background instead of continually airing dirty laundry. Date Added: 30/04/2009
John Carroll - San Clemente, CA Rodney King (quote "Why can't we all just get along") Date Added: 30/04/2009
mike RODNEY KING said: ".It’s just not right. It’s not right. It’s not, it’s not going to change anything. We’ll, we’ll get our justice....Please, we can get along here. We all can get along. I mean, we’re all stuck here for a while. Let’s try to work it out. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to work it out." Date Added: 30/04/2009
Hezla A bit off topic: Clive, I know you are not a KERS fan, but anyway... If you want to know more about KERS then I can recommend to read the article and see the video on this link http://www.f1technical.net/news/12299Mercedes KERS weighs 25 kg and needs only a half second braking to be fully charged.Dr. Mario Theissen have told RTL television that on the tracks before Bahrain BMW had problems with fully charge their KERS on each lap. I have read the same about Renault KERSI don't know much about Ferrari KERS other than they have a lot problems with it.It seems that Mercedes have made the best KERS and probably also the best engine. Date Added: 30/04/2009
Lee While I think there should be a budget cap in order to help level the playing field and allow other small teams to enter F1 etc I agree that £30m is extreme. They really should planning on eventually getting the budgets down but over a period of years rather than all in one go. After all F1 is as much about the technology as the racing and technology costs money. I can't help but think that relaxing the regulations could help massively as the teams would have more chance of finding cheaper ways to find speed. This cap also comes at completely the wrong time. Teams are spending huge amounts of money trying to meet the requirements of the new regulations and KERS is yet another extra cost.Maclarens punishment is probably the most sensible decision I have seen from the FIA in a long time. This punishment is exactly the correct one as it ensures that Maclaren do not do it again yet also does not ruin their championship hopes for something that practically every team and driver have done (at least in part) over the years of F1. It is a far cry from the completely over the top punishment they got for spygate. Hopefully the whole thing can be forgotten about now and I can look forward to watching Hamilton slide the Mclaren around the streets of Monaco in that sublime way which keeps me on the edge of my seat. Date Added: 30/04/2009
Clive Michael: I agree that, in the past, it has taken years for the teams to come to agreement over the smallest things. Times have changed, however, and FOTA demonstrates a new willingness for the teams to work together over rule changes. My point is that, instead of using the same old tactics of divide and rule, Max could achieve more were he to recognise the changes and to work with the teams. The constant fight over details between the FIA and FOTA gives F1 a very bad image. Date Added: 30/04/2009
Clive Don: The question of how the budget cap will be policed is the big one - there have been mumbles about modern accounting methods but they do not really answer the question. It is a major headache in the making and is bound to lead to endless argument and litigation once a cap is introduced. But when has that ever deterred Mighty Max?I don't accept that Max has run Ron Dennis out of F1. Ron has been intending to go for a long time and his departure was probably delayed by the troubles of 2007. The timing may have been affected by the latest scandal but it was going to happen anyway. If Max wants to think he did it, fine, let him chortle in glee - But Ron went when he wanted to, not because of Max. Date Added: 30/04/2009
Clive Nick: Although it seems to have become Max's aim to get the manufacturers out of F1 (no doubt because they have the muscle to fight with him), Bernie still wants them in for the moment. Until the new teams have entered the game and become committed, the manufacturers make up the numbers at least.But I agree that Max has done endless harm to the sport over the years. Date Added: 30/04/2009
Clive John Carroll: Thank you - that clears up my question very nicely! Date Added: 30/04/2009
Clive Mike: And thank you too! It's an excellent example of how quotations are often a simplification of the original statement to make it more memorable. Date Added: 30/04/2009
Nick Goodspeed How can we call it a true race if we are"levelling the playing field? Maybe we should bell curve those in the running for Rhodes scholarships and Nobel prizes while were at it? F1 with a budget cap and a levelled playing field is no longer F1, it is F1-PG! If I've seen the best engineers building the the absolute best racing cars they possibly can, by hook or crook and by all the money they can get their exceptional minds into, how in heaven's name am I supposed to get excited at a product that has been decreed by a couple of haphazard accountants. If you don't let the best minds do what they can do best you end up with remnants of the past. This is a good part of what destroyed the British and then the American auto industries. Once mediocrity comes through the door the downward spiral is inevitable. When passionate minds are tethered in their chosen domain, they move on. Date Added: 30/04/2009
Clive Hezla: Thank you for the link - very interesting. It certainly explains why McLaren have done so much better with KERS than the other teams. BMW must be really annoyed if they've seen that video!It was also interesting in that it shows how McLaren and Mercedes are becoming more open of late. Previously they would have kept such systems very quiet. And I liked Norbert's obvious respect for the ability of Adrian Newey to design a light car! Date Added: 30/04/2009
Clive Lee: Agreed completely. You leave me nothing to say! Date Added: 30/04/2009
Clive Nick: Good points all. A budget cap will effectively reduce the competition to deciding who can build the best car for a fixed amount of money. There is still scope for innovation there, however, and I can see that it will indeed be a return to garagista days, when tiny teams had very little money with which to compete with the might of Ferrari. They managed it then and could do so again, provided they have the brilliance to use their money more effectively than the big teams.So a budget cap is not all bad - it just raises problems of how to ensure that cheating does not go on, particularly amongst the manufacturer teams, where costs can be hidden in the parent company's accounts. It will be quite interesting to see how the FIA tackle that! Date Added: 30/04/2009
verasaki sort of off topic--if a budget cap had been placed last year instead of next, would kers even be a point of discussion now? wouldn't the development of any system like that, pretty much blow the budget or at least compromise it, depending on how good your engineers/designers are or aren't? so, if the fia comes up with any more green brainstorms, are they going to allot a supplementary budget for the r & d on that boondoggle? Date Added: 30/04/2009
Hezla Clive: I guess Norbert needs positive media more than to keep some secrets. Remember the KERS is developed by Mercedes not McLaren. He remembers people and respects them even though they switch team.I remember another RTL interview last year with Norbert, where the interviewer talked about Kimi's (lack of) technical skills. Norbert replied that Kimi was still a special friend of Mercedes and he rate him very high and he couldn't recognise what the interviewer was talking about. Date Added: 30/04/2009
Clive Vera: Apparently, the cost of developing KERS is about the same as the budget cap now settled upon by the WMSC ($58.8m). That would leave nothing for the car and so you're quite right - KERS would not have been possible under a budget cap. Whether the teams will bother to develop it further when the cap is made law remains to be seen. It could still be seen as an unnecessary expense. But that is the problem with so many of Max's rule changes - they are contradictory in intent and end up cancelling each other out. Date Added: 30/04/2009
Clive Hezla: I like Norbert and enjoy his comments on the sport - he always strikes me as a guy who tells it like it is. He has a sense of humour too, which is somehow fitting in someone of his ummm, girth. Perhaps we will see more of him now that McLaren's culture is changing. Date Added: 30/04/2009
Nick Goodspeed Clive: Cheating will always go on. The FIA cheats. Ecclestone cheats. The name of the game is not getting caught. If Ferrari can get Fiat to say they are thinking of joining F1, therefore spending thousands of hours doing a feasibility study using a wind tunnel, then decide not to enter and sell the info to Ferrari for $100.00 there's not much anyone can do about it. We certainly can't forget about Chinese labour either. What if team USA puts up a bunch of scholarships to get the bright minds in the vast university system of the USA working for them for "future considerations?" Mosley and the FIA may believe they took over from God on the eighth day but the rest of the world doesn't. While McLaren where getting penalized into submission, others were doing the same thing and getting away with it. What has been proven here is there is no such thing as an even playing field and it is doubtful that Ecclestone or the FIA want one. They want the show that gives the biggest profit..period. With a budget cap they will be able to trump up charges based on what they decide is the cost of research & development. The days of ingenious engineers coming up with cheap solution is gone. Those avenues have all been travelled and have been legislated out of being. The diffusers are not a stroke of genius that certain team had and others didn't. They are a product of interpretation of imprecisely written rules that have once again brought lawyers into the process of who wins and who loses. As we and the US courts know, expensive lawyers can let some get away with murder. Date Added: 30/04/2009
RSS comments feed
Back to the main blog
You may use some HTML in comments. For bold text use <strong></strong> and for italic text use <em></em>. If you know what you're doing feel free to use more complex mark-up but please no deprecated tags, break tags or JavaScript.
Enter the code shown above: Name * Comment * Email * URL
