Dietrich Mateschitz seems to be the man of the moment in F1. Not only is he talking a good deal of sense, as in his statement that the teams should own the sport, but he runs a business that is robust enough to have taken the economic downturn in its stride. Red Bull growth has slowed, it's true, but it is still growing.
Dietrich Mateschitz
He speaks from a position of strength, therefore, and Max Mosley would do better to listen to what he says, rather than attempt a rebuttal with his spurious analogy to a restaurant. In F1, the customers are the fans, not the teams - Max may be the head chef but the teams are his assistants. As the one who takes the biggest profits, CVC Holdings would be the owner and Bernie Ecclestone the heavy sent down to collect the rent.
The argument is really about the distribution of profits and it is a continuation of the opening shots in a war begun by Luca Montezemolo in his capacity as president of FOTA. In talking of a takeover bid, however, Mateschitz has increased the stakes considerably. He is talking of a consortium of teams buying CVC's rights in the sport, effectively increasing the teams' share of the profits.
Although it is difficult to see the teams agreeing on such a scheme and then finding the money to pay for it, the result would go a long way towards answering one of Bernie's greatest fears - that the manufacturer teams are not committed to the sport and can leave whenever they please. If their involvement was paying for itself, it would be far easier to justify to the board. Free brand promotion is not something to be thrown away, regardless of the economic climate.
I am not convinced that manufacturer participation is entirely good for F1; they do have a tendency to view it as a convenient testing arena for their production engineering departments, for instance. But there is no doubt that the sport is heavily dependent upon them at the moment and will be for the next few years, at least. If a greater share of the profits can ensure their continued presence, Max and Bernie would do well to allow it.
Bernie has a problem, of course, in that he is CVC's chosen representative in F1 and must see to their interests therefore. He has to adopt an immovable position on the present financial arrangements until CVC are ready to sell their rights. That time will come but not for a few years yet.
All the parties know that the real battle lies in the future and all these statements are preparation of the ground only. It will be interesting to see whether Mateschitz can get some sort of joint bid together in the interim.
The customers, you and I, can do little in the meantime but watch the developing war and hope that it all turns out for the best of the sport. That is something rarely considered by the protagonists, although Mateschitz's mention of "passion" does show that he is concerned with more than financial gain. Certainly, there is no passion for anything but money on the other side and that would indicate where our sympathies should lie. It makes sense that those with the greatest investment of money, expertise and effort should also benefit most from any profits made.