Bob Barnard Track Engineering

So Dietrich Mateschitz does not like the new F1 cars, not real F1. How would he know, he's only been around a few years. Last year it was the tires, so we had to change. Ask Force India how that worked for them? We all know how it worked for Red Bull. Boring. Now he wants the rules changed again, after one race. He now has an F1 race in Austria, when the rest of Europe is losing races. France who invented this stuff does not have one. What next? Will he want tracks changed to suit his car, or the calendar arranged to suit his marketing program? Because this is all it is to him.

When people tell me we should go to Bahrain and Sochi because F1 is a sport I have to laugh and say open your eyes. With CVC, Bernie and guys like Dietrich Mateschitz it is about money and marketing. I believe for most of the paddock it still is about the sport. Ron Dennis and Franks Williams have been involved most of my lifetime, and yes made money, but it is still about the sport. Enzo Ferrari sold road cars to subsidize his racing, he did not race just to sell cars.

I for one believe we would all be better off without this bully and his teams, and his money. F1 existed long before he turned up, and will exist long after he has gone off to some new marketing ploy. Him and Helmut Marko, and yes take Seb with you. We would have had some good races the last few years without you.

And as I said a few days ago, if he does not like the way F1 is run then go and start your own. F1 does not exist to suit you.

With the raft of ideas coming out of the FIA lately you would think someone has been at the cool-aid. Or maybe Bernie thinks if he makes it more like NASCAR the Americans will understand and like F1. Driver's permanent numbers, compulsory pit stops, what next, yellows for debris?

Bernie has spent a long time making F1 about teams and not drivers. In his words, "drivers are like busses, another one will be along soon." He has built the teams into valuable franchises with permanent numbers except for the current driver's championship. Now he wants to change all that and give drivers permanent numbers, as if we can read the car number anyway. Good for merchandise I guess, except under the current system they get to change numbers so we all need to buy new stuff don't we? 

Then there are compulsory pit stops. Either you want to spice up the racing with short life tires and different strategies or you don't. If you don't then just make tires last the whole race, or more, like the engines and gearboxes and really start getting serious about being green.

Let's not forget double points for the last race. How about a "Chase" where the points get reset so Vettel has to start even for the last four races. Oh yes, NASCAR thought this was a great idea. How to piss off fans without really trying.

This all smacks of that old trick of floating a lot of stupid ideas wherein is the one you really want so you trade those you don't want and seem like a good guy. What is it Bernie or the FIA want? How about a real budget cap? Good luck making that work. How about giving more money to the people who make the show, the teams, so they do not need pay drivers and make it a bit more equitable. Yes the best teams should be rewarded, but the teams at the back are never going to make it if starved of cash. I am not suggesting an NFL style inverse system where the worst team gets the best players. You would see teams trying to lose to get more money, but there should be a more reasonable basis than now. I for one can't wait to be shot of CVC, and not just for another robber baron. 

Spectator motorsport in the US is dying, and I suspect that Europe is not far behind. OK, NASCAR can still fill half the stands, which is still a big crowd, but it is not what it was. Look at the Nationwide and Truck series and see who turns up. And then there is the Daytona 24 hour, arguably the best field of drivers put together for a race in the US, and it used to be a serious world wide event. I couldn't be bothered to watch most of it, and even less spectators turned up despite the best efforts of the SPEED Team to beat it up. So what happened? ALMS/Grand-Am combined is not going to change the series from a "back gate" supported basis, i.e. those that race pay entry fees to go race. Rich boys toys. IndyCar is going nowhere, and let's not even talk about motorcycle road racing. Supercross and Monster Trucks are what people seem to want to watch.

We saw the announcement today that the once mighty British F3 series, what was THE proving ground for young talent, is down to 4 rounds this year for lack of entries. The Italian F3 is cancelled altogether. Marussia let Timo Glock go because they have no money to pay him, they need a driver to pay them. How long can they go on?  So Glock is off to the DTM, which seems to have a clue how to make this work. Perhaps it is the three manufacturers paying for it? The Australian V8Supercars also seemed to have a formula for success, but now a venture capital firm owns it watch out. They are off the bill in Abu Dhabi, and the entry of Nissan and Mercedes will not please the Holden/Ford faithful, especially if they win!

Bernie for once is faced with a less than full calendar due to promoters and Governments not willing or able to meet his price. Are the cracks in the business model starting to show?

So what's wrong? Motorsport is expensive. It costs a lot more than a tennis racket and a pair of shoes to go play. Would be professionals, their families or sponsors, have to spend millions to get anywhere near the top and make money. Even at the top, F1, very few drivers are earning and not paying. Compare this with the three major, and successful sports here in the US. Football, Basketball and Baseball. All have systems in place to develop talent, either through colleges or minor leagues, knowing that their success depends totally upon new players coming in to keep filling the seats. Players get there on merit, not money. Motorsport, apart from a few schemes, has no such succession planning in place, not even for Bernie! The money gets sucked out, and nothing is going back to make people want to watch.

Now this is somewhat simplistic, as there are other social and generational factors going on, but that is the point. The game is changing and no one in charge is doing anything to make sure motor sport survives, and electric racing is not the solution.

I'm sure you will all be pleased to know that Bernie still ranks among England's richest, and increased his wealth last year. Melbourne will not spend $200m to move the GP to a cow field on the outskirts of town that would look like almost anywhere, rightly saying the point is to promote Melbourne and not milk.

Other than that my friends, the world is strangely silent. Roll on Barcelona.

I know you all think F1 cars run on gasoline, petrol, but they really run on money, and lots of it. As promised the Pit Pass web site has come up with the goods to explain why 2010 was harder for F1 to make money, but make money they did because the bad economy lowered the interest rates on the debt. And when you have that much debt, as CVC does, then you are quids in. For the full explanation go to;

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=43328

As Mrs. Barnard said last week when the original story broke about the huge loss, it looks like money laundering, but no, it is good old tax avoidance, and all quite legal I'm sure. Most of the expenses must be in lawyers and accountants fees to work all this out and manipulate it. It does show however that the income from race fees may have peaked, with tracks no longer willing or able to pay up. If that is true, and if as Jean Todt suggests the TV audience is down, then when interest rates go back up there could be a problem. Bernie is telling us though that the debt will be repaid by 2014, so maybe not. I have learned that Bernie is a lot smarter than anyone else I know when it comes to making money.

In a related story it seems his henchman, Patrick McNally, his signage cohort, is retiring. I hope he has trained someone well to replace him as I do not know anyone who can place signs like Patrick, truly amazing. If you do not think that this is an art stop watching the cars next race and just look at the signs and where they are placed. Remember, in most countries the TV cannot be placed or shot to maximise the signs, the signage has to be "incidental." There is nothing incidental about where Patrick puts them, the cameraman cannot help but shoot them.

Lots of discussion about a "confusing" race yesterday, and if the drivers found it confusing how about your average fan. I did not find it confusing, but as I said yesterday, I found it unsatisfying. I did not comment yesterday on the amount of rubber on the track off-line as it did not seem to stop a lot of overtaking, but Perez said that his crash could have been caused by picking up a chunk on his tire, and drivers have come out about being hit by flying pieces. This is not a good situation.