BBC Comment On Coverage

The BBC have officially commented on what they are going to do for F1 coverage... Looks exciting, personally I am not loosing sleep at the prospect of David Coulthard being able to give that much insight... I'll just turn the sound over to five live :)

Read for yourself:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/7755219.stm

Virgin Buying Honda?

After several different rumours Honda has confirmed Richard Branson’s Virgin Group have made a bid to purchase its Formula One team at the 11th hour. With the clock ticking down to the start of the season in little over 5 weeks time it will be nip and tuck if the deal can be done before the lights go green in Australia.

It’s believed the team is up for £1 but the new owner would need to come up with something in the region of £40 million to run the team for a year.

The Honda spokesman said “We are negotiating with several buyers and one of these parties is the Virgin Group,” It was always been rumoured to be a planned management buyout led by the team’s current chief executive Nick Fry, principal Ross Brawn and three other senior Honda Racing executives. Also previous talks with other groups were not considered as serious and were suspected of not fully funding a season. Using the team to effectively be broken up and bits of it sold off or for it to be used as a ‘shell’ for another team to step in. Thus avoiding the huge start up costs required by the FIA. Just as BMW side stepped this with buying Sauber.

In a minor way Branson has been involved with F1 before with Virgin Mobile company sponsoring the Jordan team. Virgin Atlantic Japan also sponsored Takuma Sato for a few years.

Let’s hope the Virgin group can sort something out. As it would be good to see the famous no nonsense brand of Virgin shake up the world of Formula One. Not to mention how healthy it would be to have a team which was ‘independent’. But all this is nothing compared to the sigh of relief Jenson Button would make if he miraculously found himself with a drive for 2009.

Three Drivers Buy Superlicence

It has recently been revealed on Autosport.com that 3 drivers have paid for their superlicences for 2009. It was the intention of the drivers (GPDA) to present a united front in responding to the increase in cost of their licences and not buy their superlicences in protest.

It would be interesting to find out who the three drivers are and why their views differ from the other drivers. You would have to assume that they are drivers who were less successful in 2008 and therefore are not charged much over the basic fee.

They must also be drivers who have the savvy to know that come race day on Sunday they may be the only people on the track to pick up points if no one else buys their superlicence.

F1 Rejects Podcast - Off-Season Edition - 10-02-2009

The Formula One Rejects website has released another excellent podcast. Download the latest podcast here:

Off-Season Edition

10th February, 2009
F1 Talking Points / Coverage of Team Launches / GMIF1P (Arnoux) / F1 Rejects in Melbourne 2009 / News from Other Categories / Emails

(MP3 format, 10.3mb, 44 mins) -Click to subscribe to F1 Rejects Podcasts

Enjoy it - Many thanks to Jamie and Enoch who do the Podcasts and run their website.

BBC Coverage

It has been revealed on a couple of official BBC blogs that the BBC F1 coverage will not be broadcasting in (HD) High Definition. Which is a shame but you require a lot of expensive kit to recieve it anyway. Also in my opionion the extra quality over a decent digital reception is negligble.

However the BBC are placing all the races live online, along with their highlights, qualifying and race coverage on iplayer. Not to mention they will be showing practice sessions in the UK on the red button channel.

Above all it will be uninterupted coverage.

Pacific Grand Prix Website

It has come to my attention through the Formula One Rejects Podcast (Alex Crompton) that http://www.pacificgrandprix.com/ is still up and online after not being modified for nearly 15 years. This is a unique oportunity to see, or remember, what websites used to be like when they first started out in the mid 1990s. Failing that it's amusing for Formula One fans to look back at an old also run team like Pacific.

Their probably get more page hit's now than 1994.

Bahrain Sandstorms Hinder Testing

BMW, Ferrari and Toyota have had a lot of their testing scuppered due to sandstorms at Bahrain. There has been a series of sandstorms which have meant that all three teams have had limited running time. Whereas other teams have been able to test most of the time allbeit limited on some days due to rain.

There are unofficial reports that BMW, Ferrari and Toyota have been trying to get testing extended into the weekend to make up for lost time. However we wait and see if this will be the case.

It will also be left to see if this lack of testing affects the teams come race day.

Jenson Button Left High and Dry

It has been confirmed that Sebastien Bourdais is getting the second seat alongside Sebastian Buemi at Toro Rosso, which means that Jenson Button isn't. So Jenson has had his limited options limited even further. What is the chap to do?

Franz Tost, Toro Rosso team principal said: "We expect him (Bourdais) to profit from the experience he gained last season. He now knows the F1 environment, tracks and the team and the return of slick tyres should suit his driving style."

Bourdais expressed his relief at getting the drive "It has been a very long and difficult winter, but now the waiting is finally over and I am really excited about tackling my second season with Scuderia Toro Rosso," he said. "Now I can focus on preparing for the coming season. It promises to be a very interesting one, thanks to all the rule changes."

So they obviously have confidence in the guy. Takuma Sato was also turned down for the drive along with Button. Sato's manager has publicly said it was because of money. But when has it ever been a case of the best driver gets a drive or the best car? Unfortunately Formula One is a business not a track and field sport. Sato is not doing himself any favours whingeing like this. But I suppose when your kicked out your going to bang on the door... You have nothing else to loose.

Never would I of thought that moving to Honda with it's millions of dollars to chuck at Formula One and a top research and design team would be an inferior option to Williams... The small independent team who should of sold out to BMW when they had the chance. The team that had to sell the contents of it's museum a couple of years ago to stay afloat. I suppose Williams have two major advantages; their not in it for the advertising and to sell more cars like Honda they are in it for love. They also don't have much of a budget so they operate within their means and don't over stretch themselves or have a board of directors making decisions.

But what does poor old Jense do now? My line of thought is he either leaves Formula One and goes off down another avenue of racing. Such as Le Mans or NASCAR etc. Or he stays in Formula One as a test driver for a year and tries to get back in through the back door. However with so many excellent young drivers who are so cheap will he get back in? Formula One will obviously make room for the likes of Bruno Senna before Jenson Button. Just because the Senna name is so marketable. Also will teams want to employ Button when he has such a dubious record regarding keeping a contract? Just look at the Williams / Honda debacle.

I feel for Jenson, he invested himself in Honda and has been left high and dry. It also appears his talent is going to go to waste. Another of the names who never really made it. Look at Jean Alesi as a prime example... He invested his career in Ferrari when they were also runs and when Michael Schumacher came along was left high and dry.

I think sadly this is the end of the road for Jenson. I hope I am wrong but fear I won't be. If only he had been given the sort of opportunity Lewis Hamilton has had. I think he would of been just as good as Hamilton. Remember what he managed in the uncompetitive Williams in his first season?

GPDA Super License Statement

When they start to put it like this I can kinda see their point:

----- GPDA STATEMENT -----

In the wake of recent misreporting of the drivers' issue with the FIA regarding their Super Licence fees in certain sections of the media, and in response to Mr. Mosley's latest comments, the Drivers wish to clarify the following:

In January 2008, the FIA unilaterally increased the Formula One drivers' fees for holding a Super Licence. The basic Super Licence fee for the 2008 season increased from EUR 1,690 in 2007 to EUR 10,000 representing a rise of nearly five-fold. In addition, the points' fees which are paid concurrently with the basic Super Licence fee increased from EUR 447 per point in 2007 to EUR 2,000 in 2008, an increase by a factor of nearly 3.5.

These increases were made without any prior consultation with the drivers, and the first the drivers knew of the increases was when the invoices were received by their respective teams and via the media in January 2008. The proposed increases are inherently unfair, both in the way they were introduced and the way they impact on individual drivers.

Since these increases were introduced by the FIA, they have been opposed unanimously by the drivers because they are unreasonable and unfair. The GPDA has - on behalf of all drivers holding Super Licences including the non-GPDA members - appropriately and professionally sought to resolve the issue privately with the FIA throughout the 2008 season, culminating in a meeting with Mr. Mosley at the Italian Grand Prix last September which opened up the way for further discussion.

This included a request from the FIA to the drivers to disclose their gross earnings. However, Mr. Mosley is incorrect in his claim to the media that he had not received an answer from the drivers as a letter was sent by the GPDA in December declining the request because it was not relevant to ascertaining the appropriate Super Licence fees. Furthermore, drivers' gross (and net) earnings are confidential to the drivers, their management and financial advisors and any relevant tax authorities, and should be respected as such.

In fact, Mr. Mosley himself alluded to such confidentiality in recent correspondence with the GPDA. On the subject of whether the Super Licence is paid by the team or the individual, Mr. Mosley concluded it was a private contractual matter between the driver and his team, and not a matter for the FIA.

The drivers are not opposed to a reasonable increase in the Super Licence fees, the fee which should cover the administrative and other costs relating to the issue of the licence.

Therefore, the drivers have offered to pay the 2007 Super Licence fees adjusted upwards by inflation for the 2008 season with a corresponding increase for the 2009 season.

In addition, the drivers have offered to explore fair ways in which they can assist the FIA in raising funds to meet the apparent EUR 1.7 million shortfall required to run the Federation in 2008 and a further EUR 3 million shortfall that will be required in 2009, according to the figures cited by Mr. Mosley at Monza.

The drivers contend that the Super Licence fees should not be a revenue stream for the FIA and such a change constitutes a major departure in principle for both past Super Licence fees and fees for any other drivers' licences. The FIA should raise sufficient funds from the exploitation of its commercial rights.

As a principle, the drivers should not be taxed to fund the costs of others fulfilling their legal duty to the drivers. It is the teams' duty to provide the driver with a safe car, it is the circuit owners' duty to provide a safe circuit and it is the duty of the manufacturers to provide helmets, fireproof overalls, etc. fit for the purpose of safety. The FIA, as the governing body, has a duty to impose safety regulations and to supervise through licensing the parties carrying out their duties, e.g. licensing a circuit. The licensing process for drivers is to ensure that the drivers are competent to race at the level necessary in Formula One.

Figures
Already in 2007, the F1 Super Licence was the most expensive Licence payable by any sportsperson in the world

In one year and without prior notice, it went up between 200% (basic fee) and 350% (fee per point)

The winner of the 2008 F1 World Championship will have to pay $270,000

The closest Licence Fee in the world is NASCAR in which each driver pays $4,000 per season

The FIA qualifies the drivers' contribution to the running of the Federation to a total of EUR 1.7 million per season via our Super Licence fees.

New USF1 Team?

There have been rumours flying about the last few days of a new F1 team attempting to form. Today Max Mosley confirmed the rumours as being true. The team is American based and called "USF1". There has long been speculation that American car manufacturers are keen to increase their presence in Formula One. However this all went horribly wrong when Bridgestone couldn't provide a tyre at the US grand prix a couple of years ago and the race went ahead with only 6 cars running. Since then the relationship between F1 and America has soured and the USA hasn't held a race for a couple of years now. That doesn't look like changing without an American Formula One team or some major backing of some form to get a race.

Max Mosley said "They have (approached us). They are serious people but I think they will be the same as everybody else, they need the costs to come down if they want to be competitive. With further cost cutting measures about to be discussed, there is a very strong possibility that the new US based team will enter the championship, however, it must be noted that America is one of the worst hit countries when it comes to the current economic crisis… I would have thought it would be extremely difficult. But there again, a lot depends on what their income could be," Mosley added. "At the moment if a new team comes into Formula One they race for nothing for two years, they do all their own transport for two years and they only get money in the third year. That is a significant barrier to entry."

Perhaps the new USF1 team could buy out Honda? Sweet revenge on the team which always ran and promoted Bridgestone tyres. The tyres which ultimately cost us a US race.

Guardian Obituary of Teddy Mayer

Here is a well written obituary of Teddy Mayer featured in the Guardian Newspaper. It details his life well:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/feb/06/obituary-teddy-mayer

Not so Super Superlicence

Further wrangling continues between Formula One drivers and Max Mosley regarding the extra cost for a superlicence this year. The FIA is charging drivers 100 Euros for every point they scored last year plus an additional 400 Euros over what they paid last year. The GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers Association) have met regarding this and decided not to play ball. As of yet the drivers haven’t applied for or paid for a single superlicence.

This may sound expensive to us mere mortals (especially us Brits at the moment). However when Formula One drivers are on multi million pound contracts should they be bickering over loose change like this? I think not.

Max Mosley, in his common non compromising fashion had this to say "The drivers are the principal beneficiaries of all the money invested in safety measures. They told me it was causing hardship, but that's a complete nonsense. To earn tens of millions, live in a tax haven and complain about having to pay 2 percent of your income, it's just so silly.”

The scary thing is if the FIA and GPDA go head to head over this what will happen if the drivers turn up at Australia for the grand prix with no licenses to compete? Will the FIA back down or will the GPDA? Or will we not have any racing? A dilemma indeed.

Medal System

There has been much talk about a possible gold, silver, bronze medal system. Whereby the person with the most gold medals wins the championship. Personally I am torn. Part of me thinks it’s a great idea and would stop boring percentage drives from Lewis Hamilton at the end of the season. It would reward ballsy all out win or nothing drives like Kimi Raikkonen (Spa 2008).

But Bernie Ecclestone likes to change the points system depending on how championships are turning out. After the Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost battle of the late 80s he changed the best results system. To an all counting 10, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 points system. Then when Schumacher was too dominant he changed it to reward second place more with 8 points for second going down to eighth place. Meaning that consistent drivers could stay in contention for the title longer. Now that has bred boring no risk consistent driving he wants to change it again to a gold, silver, bronze medal system. Whereby the person with the most gold medals wins the championship.

However in F1 history it would have left people such as Niki Lauda, who was an amazing driver with only one championship win. He would have still probably won another championship as he would have competed in the final races after he won his first championship.

A medal system would also enable teams like BMW and Renault to run extra risky strategies to try and snatch wins. This would be interesting to watch; especially when they manage to pull it off. It does however leave the also run teams trailing round for no other reason than to be advertising hoardings.

See what you think, the full report is available from the FIA here:

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/f1releases/2009/Pages/f1_medals.aspx

The best thing about a medal system however would have meant that Stirling Moss would have won a championship so perhaps this would have stopped him from going on about being the greatest driver ever and not winning a world championship.

FIA Standardisation White Paper

The FIA (Federation Internationale de’ l’Automobile) have researched and released a white paper to the FOTA (Formula One Teams Association) regarding possible standardisations of parts in the coming seasons. These include gearboxes, suspension, brakes and wheels. These items would have a so called ‘no compete’ status and would be standardised like the ECU (Electronic Control Unit).

"We believe that it is possible to cut budgets by 60 percent by 2012," Renault's Briatore said. "We want a sport which is for the fans, not for the engineers."

While this is a good point it has always been that Formula One is the pinnacle of motor sport and that development and design run hand in hand with the racing spectacle. Sometimes it produces seasons such as 2004 with Ferrari dominance. It also provides seasons such as 2006 where the balance of who had the better car swung between Renault and Ferrari. This produced a thrilling championship between Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso.

McLaren's Ron Dennis added: "F1 should not be a prescriptive formula where engines and a large group of components should be standard."

Perhaps a happy middle ground could be met with some standardisation on key elements to lower costs and speeds. Such as having a single tyre supplier has over the last couple of seasons. Call me radical but couldn't you have a no restrictions formula but limit the amount of fuel? Would this not cause clever design as apposed to just chucking money at engine development and wind tunnels? It would also provide valuable research and design which could be implemented on road going cars.

Remember the turbo days of the late 80s when cars used to run out of fuel and petrol economy was a real issue? Wouldn’t development in making Formula One more efficient be excellent for road cars and the environment? Or are the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone scared of this prospect because of all the oil money invested and fly away races in major oil producing countries?

Niki Lauda Telling it Like it is!

What else would you expect from Niki Lauda? The truth and whole truth and nothing but! Lauda told the German sports magazine Kicker: "They look like combine-harvesters, with the enormous front sections -- especially the Renault." I have to say I agree with him. The look is not growing on me as I hoped it would. Perhaps if the racing is good enough I will allow myself to overlook the ugly aesthetics.

He went on to add "The only one that almost still looks like a racing car is the McLaren-Mercedes,". I'd have to disagree there however... I don't think the Ferrari is looking too shabby either.

Formula One Rejects

Formula One Rejects is an excellent website all about failures in F1. They also do (which I think is the best part) a cracking Podcast. If you don’t listen to Podcasts then where have you been? On The moon?

If your an F1 fan and haven’t yet discovered the joy of F1 Rejects then shame on you. But don’t worry you can still catch their season preview Podcast and I will post on here links to any new stuff they do.

Not only do they do excellent Podcasts but also insightful and interesting articles on many failures and aspects of F1. So run along now and listen to ‘the’ F1 Podcast of choice at:

http://www.f1rejects.com/podcasts/090101.mp3 - New Years Edition

You can also subscribe via iTunes etc: http://www.f1rejects.com/podcasts/f1rejects.xml

Also be sure to read their articles too at: http://www.f1rejects.com/

Sorry to make it sound like an advertising plug but these guys really are great.

Ron Dennis Stands Down

Ron has finally stepped down from team manager but is still keeping his thumbs in lots of pies and running the Mclaren Corporation. He says he will be at most grand prix so no doubt his insightful interviews will still grace the TV screen. So why did he stand down?

Is it because it cost him his marriage? His beautiful wife attended a lot of Grand Prix recently before leaving him… Was that a final price too high to pay?Was it that his son, (cough) sorry Lewis Hamilton won the championship and Ron thinks his work here is done? What else could he achieve? Did Mercedes finally say “look we are not playing second fiddle forever - start moving over so we can take over”. Or is it the fact he was done for cheating in 2007 and had all sorts or problems with the FIA in 2008 with Lewis Hamilton. Or simply is he getting too old?

Whatever the reason we are going to miss some quality “Ronspeak”. Who else can refer to a car as "the package" and not "the car". He also made the word "optimise" his own. He also used the word "technologist" more times than I care to mention. I just hope he doesn’t end up in a commentary box! It’s going to be worse enough with David Coulthard. If you wish to create your own “Ronspeak” go here:

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_ronspeak.php

Bye Ron. I’ve always found you an irritation and a bit of an annoyance… But I, the fans and F1 are going to miss you.

Ted Mayer Dies

Sadly Ted Mayer has died at the age of 73. He was one of the founding members of the McLaren team and by all acounts a good egg. He managed to help steer McLaren to two world championships with James Hunt and Emerson Fittipaldi. He sold his stake in McLaren in 1982 and concentrated his efforts in America (his home country) with the Mayer Motor Racing Champ Car team the Penske Indy Car team.

“I would like to pay tribute to Teddy’s enormously valuable contribution, and to his immortal legacy, and to extend the sympathies of all at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes to his family and many friends at this very sad time,” - Ron Dennis.

All this is sadening and I feel for the family. But I wish to say one thing; whenever there is sad news within the McLaren outfit I always find it rather distasteful that Ron Dennis always seems fit to mention his sponsors as well. Does Vodaphone really need a mention?

Back to the Beeb (BBC)

As I was thinking about the forth coming season I remembered that this year we will not have to put up with ITV and their dismal coverage (note however their online F1 coverage is pretty good).Formula One is coming home to it's rightful place on the BBC. Well I hear you say what is so bad about the ITV coverage we have been 'enjoying' for the past 12 years?

Well let me explain, remember missing the amazing battle between Schumacher and Alonso at Imola because of adverts? These adverts will no longer interfere with our viewing pleasure. How many times did we have to miss the after race press conference because ITV were too eager to show an old black and white film to please their Sunday afternoon demographic profile and advertising? This we will no longer have to endure. Also we will no longer have to watch Hamilton mania on such a ridiculous scale. Although it is impossible to expect no bias towards a British driver on a British channel hopefully it won't be to the same sycophantic level we have had to endure for the past two years on ITV. The BBC have a code of conduct to adhere to of being non bias. F1 commentators can be good or bad on any channel. However I trust that the BBC can choose more wisely than James Allen who was brought in to replace Murray Walker on ITV. I cannot recall a commentator who would repeat facts so often or give information which was completely pointless. Alonso was the youngest F1 champion in history... Good to know. But did he have to place that information in front of Alonso's name every time he mentioned him during the end of the 2005 season? Also one of my main hopes is that we get good interviews back again. Can you recall when Murray or Steve Rider would give in depth interviews to Senna or Mansell on the BBC? It was a joy and a genuine insight. On ITV we got spoon fed the usual dross by Ron Dennis coupled with a stock interview with Lewis Hamilton and his brother and/or father. But the one main reason the BBC should have the coverage is so they can play Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain' at the beginning of each broadcast. Because nothing else sends a shiver of anticipation and excitement up my spine like that piece of music. Lord knows I haven't heard that since Japan 1996 when Hill took the championship.

To remind you of what great coverage we have in store take a look at this snippet from the BBC website of their coverage of the 1993 European Grand Prix at Donnigton:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7817881.stm

Mike Gascoyne Legal Proceedings

The technical guru and designer Mike Gascoyne has started legal proceedings against Force India for basically sacking him after only one year of a three year contract. Gascoyne made his name with Tyrell and Jordan in the early nineties before ending up at Toyota. He also spent time at McLaren, Renault and for a brief period of six months Ferrari.

At Toyota things didn't go to plan. After a couple of years of poor results after spending huge amounts of money, reportedly more than anyone else, including Ferrari. He was 'let go'. He transferred to the Spyker team which was almost immediately bought out by Force India.

Millionaire Vijay Mallya who owns Force India snapped him up for a huge sum of money when he got into a partnership with McLaren to provide engines etc. Did you notice how much the cars looked similar in 2008. Not just in design but also paintwork? It was if Force India were McLarens unofficial B-Team. With Force India changing partnerships from McLaren to Ferrari this year Gascoyne has been 'let go' again. This reportedly after just a year of his three year contract. Thus Gascoyne is suing Force India for loss of earnings. Something I'm sure the small team could do without.

It begs the question though that was Mike Gascoyne dropped because of the switch from McLaren to Ferrari. Did Ferrari even request it? Or is Mike Gascoyne just too much of a 'spikey' individual. Thus why he has been basically sacked from two teams in little over a year? If he gets the two million he is suing Force India for it will be interesting if he even bothers to come back to Formula One or if Force India survives such a huge chunk out of their budget in this era of financial crisis in Formula One. No doubt Gascoyne won't be out of Formula One for long. But in what capacity he returns will left to be seen.