F1 Racing Thread

FOTA were supposed to meet on Thursday to discuss the new championship, when FOTA come out and say it's all over, i'll believe it, but not until then :P

[flymo]

And here we go again......

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/8119983.stm

[gruntygiggles]

I wish they'd hurry up.....I can't have my proper interview until it's all sorted

[fizzwheel]

Looks like it was all sorted and Mosley has gone and stirred it up again...

Mind you calling Flav a loony on the TV the other weekend probably hasnt helped much either.

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

Looks like it was all sorted and Mosley has gone and stirred it up again...

Mind you calling Flav a loony on the TV the other weekend probably hasnt helped much either.

As much as he's blamed the over inflated egos of others.....he has to look in the mirror. This is a time in F1 that will be long remembered and you can bet your bottom dollar that he doesn't want to be the one to look a fool or lie on his back and give in. Too much pride at stake for all involved.

It'll get there, but there's going to be a fair bit more of this before the 2010 season.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by gruntygiggles

It'll get there, but there's going to be a fair bit more of this before the 2010 season.

I think you're right.

I can't believe Mosley has just seemingly rolled over and given in and isnt standing for re-election in October now either.

[Supervox]

Can anyone honestly say that they're surprised that Mad Max is 're-thinking' his "I-will-not-stand-again" agreement given his history ?

IMO FOTA missed a golden opportunity to get shot of both him & The Poison Dwarf by agreeing to the compromise. They should have had the courage of their convictions and gon ahead with their proposed breakaway series.

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by Supervox

Can anyone honestly say that they're surprised that Mad Max is 're-thinking' his "I-will-not-stand-again" agreement given his history ?

IMO FOTA missed a golden opportunity to get shot of both him & The Poison Dwarf by agreeing to the compromise. They should have had the courage of their convictions and gon ahead with their proposed breakaway series.

A proposed break away series would potentially have been extremely costly and not just for the teams. We all know that in order be succeed, teams need massive sponsorship deals. This is what I may be going into one of the winning teams to take over. Now......as I have already advised that team and their major sponsor.......they have to consider the ramifications of such a move into a breakaway series. The main concern for the sponsors is financial. These companies are global enterprises. They spend millions upon millions of pounds/dollars each year on incorporating their partnerships with the F1 teams throughout their brand. To make a change such as this would cost these companies more millions and millions in order to rejig the branding......even coming down to headed paper, pens, pencils, merchandise etc. It may sound trivial....but HUGE amounts of money are spent on these things and trust me.....the sponsors DO greatly consider such things and get VERY nervous when such things are on the cards. That then affects the amount that they are willing to offer in sponsorship as they'd have to cover their costs and so it goes that the teams would have less money to set themselves up for the breakaway series.

Think of it in terms of the individual teams branding as well....it costs BIG money to make such a change and alter the branding across the board.

A breakaway series MAY well happen......I know certain teams really want it to, but you'll know if and when they are planning it because you'll start to see sponsorship deals being re-negotiated, sponsors pullng out and so on.

This is going to be the summer circus of F1......sit back and watch the fireworks guys!

[Supervox]

Originally Posted by gruntygiggles

A proposed break away series would potentially have been extremely costly and not just for the teams. We all know that in order be succeed, teams need massive sponsorship deals. This is what I may be going into one of the winning teams to take over. Now......as I have already advised that team and their major sponsor.......they have to consider the ramifications of such a move into a breakaway series. The main concern for the sponsors is financial. These companies are global enterprises. They spend millions upon millions of pounds/dollars each year on incorporating their partnerships with the F1 teams throughout their brand. To make a change such as this would cost these companies more millions and millions in order to rejig the branding......even coming down to headed paper, pens, pencils, merchandise etc. It may sound trivial....but HUGE amounts of money are spent on these things and trust me.....the sponsors DO greatly consider such things and get VERY nervous when such things are on the cards. That then affects the amount that they are willing to offer in sponsorship as they'd have to cover their costs and so it goes that the teams would have less money to set themselves up for the breakaway series.

Think of it in terms of the individual teams branding as well....it costs BIG money to make such a change and alter the branding across the board.

A breakaway series MAY well happen......I know certain teams really want it to, but you'll know if and when they are planning it because you'll start to see sponsorship deals being re-negotiated, sponsors pullng out and so on.

This is going to be the summer circus of F1......sit back and watch the fireworks guys!

Whilst I cannot disagree with any of the points you make, & wouldn't wish to argue with an 'F1 insider' as it were, F1 / Formula One as we know it would cease to exist (in the short term at least) without the current crop of major players; therefore would there really be a big financial issue with 're-branding' considering the potential revenue (with Bernie out of the equation - ie not creaming off his 40(?)% off the top) that the top flight open-wheeled racing series (whatever its name) could demand ?

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by Supervox

Whilst I cannot disagree with any of the points you make, & wouldn't wish to argue with an 'F1 insider' as it were, F1 / Formula One as we know it would cease to exist (in the short term at least) without the current crop of major players; therefore would there really be a big financial issue with 're-branding' considering the potential revenue (with Bernie out of the equation - ie not creaming off his 40(?)% off the top) that the top flight open-wheeled racing series (whatever its name) could demand ?

Not an F1 insider yet....lol, just the odd bit of info coming through, but yes......the revenues could be hit hard for even the top boys. Ferrari & Toyota to name the big boys could afford to run their teams without any endorsement, but they will never do that. The automotive and finance industries and the governing bodies would have massive problems with a company spending such huge amounts of money in a barely recovering economy, so they do need to be supported with outside finance. The Negative PR they would get from that as well would be awful and unwanted.

Sponsorship for a breakaway series is not going to be easy to negotiate as it would be a new venture. Yes, there will be viewers, but there will also be die hard F1 fans that will be unhappy and boycott the sport. For many, the sport is bigger than the teams competing in it and anyone with an ounce of brain matter will know that even a breakaway series will have all the same closed door political wranglings as F1 does after a few years.

For sponsors to sign up to a breakaway series, they have to take a larger risk.....they'll not see the same ROI as they do currently until the sport is established and so, will offer less money for the same packages.

Virgin for example would continue to support Brawn GP should they enter a breakaway series, but the negotiations surrounding the change of contracts, finance and terms will take literally months to sort out........just after Virgin has spent millions on branding and merchandise to support his sponsorship of F1 Brawn GP.

It's a minefield. A breakaway series would be great for three or four seasons, then it would be just like F1 is now. Ego's don't fade, power struggles will always prevail and the F1 situation would have to be extremely dire for even the big boys to actually make the move.