Money
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 01:11PM
If you think racing runs on gasoline then you are gravely mistaken, it runs on money, and always will even if the cars are electric. There used to be an honest team in F1 called Moneytron. A couple of pieces yesterday reinforce this, both involving Bernie.
He came out yesterday and said he did not think all the three new teams would survive to Abu Dhabi, the last race. HRT and Virgin were the two he really meant, and we can see HRT's problems as they have Yamamoto, Mr. "see the size of my wallet," driving again in Hungary. I commented the other day that Sir Richard Branson would get tired of paying for an under-performing business. To quote Bernie;
"All we ever want is 10 teams," he said. "Lotus is a good name. I wouldn't want to lose them. But in general this year has been a bit of a nuisance because it has cost money to keep these teams in. It has cost a lot of money to pay for them to compete. The bottom line is they haven't really and truly given us value for being there. If suddenly these teams don't turn up at races then I don't think the crowds will get any smaller, or the TV sets will turn off, or the newspapers will stop writing, will they?"
As always brutally honest, but that is what F1 is, brutal on new boys. Unlike US sports where the bottom teams are given a break through the draft system to try and even competition, and money is equalized, Formula One rewards success. Those that succeed will survive, but those that struggle disappear. Survival of the fittest. Not sure what Bernie is on about with the new teams costing money. No team in its first year can receive money, in fact they used to have to put up a huge bond, a practice Bernie wants to revive. Money to teams is based on where you finished in the Championship last year, and if you score no points then you get no travel assistance, that's why you hear that even scoring one point in a season is absolutely critical. The new teams were brought in by the FIA on the premise that there was to be a spending cap of 40m, not sure if dollars or euros, but that never happened, so good luck competing with Ferrari or McLaren. As they say, like bringing a knife to a gun fight.
So, we will see. There are at least three teams trying to get in next year, so maybe they will all make it, but bring your check book.
Despite his contention only last week that he could do without a Monaco GP, Bernie signed a new deal with them yesterday, without of course revealing any details except it is for ten years. Seems the teams and sponsors had a different view, or Bernie was using his negotiations skills. Usually it is take it or leave it. He is an absolute master at knowing just how close he can push it, and as he has said, it is the thrill of the deal that keeps him going. He also said last week that he liked lighting fires so he could put them out.
My Australian mate, Marcus Ambrose, who has done well for an outsider in NASCAR, has decided to leave his team at the end of the year. Let's hope he does not go home and can find that rumored drive with a top team.
Don't know if you have followed the "flexi wing" saga from Germany. Seems Ferrari and Red Bull have a front wing where the end plates "seem" to flex during the race from photographs, but the FIA have deemed them legal. McLaren say they can see it, but do not know how they are doing it, so cannot copy it. Reminds me of Honda in 1992 with the "Big Bang" engine when I was with Kenny's team and we could not work out what they had done, and when we did we could not copy it with the Yamaha.
He came out yesterday and said he did not think all the three new teams would survive to Abu Dhabi, the last race. HRT and Virgin were the two he really meant, and we can see HRT's problems as they have Yamamoto, Mr. "see the size of my wallet," driving again in Hungary. I commented the other day that Sir Richard Branson would get tired of paying for an under-performing business. To quote Bernie;
"All we ever want is 10 teams," he said. "Lotus is a good name. I wouldn't want to lose them. But in general this year has been a bit of a nuisance because it has cost money to keep these teams in. It has cost a lot of money to pay for them to compete. The bottom line is they haven't really and truly given us value for being there. If suddenly these teams don't turn up at races then I don't think the crowds will get any smaller, or the TV sets will turn off, or the newspapers will stop writing, will they?"
As always brutally honest, but that is what F1 is, brutal on new boys. Unlike US sports where the bottom teams are given a break through the draft system to try and even competition, and money is equalized, Formula One rewards success. Those that succeed will survive, but those that struggle disappear. Survival of the fittest. Not sure what Bernie is on about with the new teams costing money. No team in its first year can receive money, in fact they used to have to put up a huge bond, a practice Bernie wants to revive. Money to teams is based on where you finished in the Championship last year, and if you score no points then you get no travel assistance, that's why you hear that even scoring one point in a season is absolutely critical. The new teams were brought in by the FIA on the premise that there was to be a spending cap of 40m, not sure if dollars or euros, but that never happened, so good luck competing with Ferrari or McLaren. As they say, like bringing a knife to a gun fight.
So, we will see. There are at least three teams trying to get in next year, so maybe they will all make it, but bring your check book.
Despite his contention only last week that he could do without a Monaco GP, Bernie signed a new deal with them yesterday, without of course revealing any details except it is for ten years. Seems the teams and sponsors had a different view, or Bernie was using his negotiations skills. Usually it is take it or leave it. He is an absolute master at knowing just how close he can push it, and as he has said, it is the thrill of the deal that keeps him going. He also said last week that he liked lighting fires so he could put them out.
My Australian mate, Marcus Ambrose, who has done well for an outsider in NASCAR, has decided to leave his team at the end of the year. Let's hope he does not go home and can find that rumored drive with a top team.
Don't know if you have followed the "flexi wing" saga from Germany. Seems Ferrari and Red Bull have a front wing where the end plates "seem" to flex during the race from photographs, but the FIA have deemed them legal. McLaren say they can see it, but do not know how they are doing it, so cannot copy it. Reminds me of Honda in 1992 with the "Big Bang" engine when I was with Kenny's team and we could not work out what they had done, and when we did we could not copy it with the Yamaha.
Reader Comments (2)
Hi Bob: in reference to the big bang engine. Was that when all the techs from Suzuki, Yamaha and Cagiva were aiming microphones at any Honda NSR that droned instead of screamed? I think Cagiva won the "copying of Honda" race if memory serves me right.
It was 1992, and it sounded dreadful, should not have performed from hearing it, but on the exit of every corner Doohan just drove away from us. Worked like a big single with the power of a four. Our crankcase could not withstand the shock of all four firing so close together, so we could not copy it. Not sure if Cagiva did or not, their performance was not usually a concern in those days. Koscinski got it going in 1991 at Eastern Creek, and at Laguna in 1993, but other than that it was not usually a factor. Eddie Lawson won on it at Hungary in a wet dry race when he started on cut slicks. Anyone else would have fallen off, but he rode a great race that day.