Max Mosley is determined to stay on as FIA president until the end of his term in 2009. Even if that means leaving the public representation to two Deputy Presidents. This is one the things he states in his four page letter to all FIA club presidents. The more interesting however are the reasons why he wants to continue. One is Mosley’s concern about the election of his successor. And this question is directly connected with the next point. The negotiations… Mosley’s letter may be going on for four full pages but the points that will sure stir the biggest controversy and discussions are his revelations about the current negotiations between FIA and the Formula One Commercial Rights Holder.

“We are in the middle of a renegotiations of the 100 year commercial agreement between the FIA and the Formula One Commercial Rights Holder (CRH). In effect, this agreement governs Formula One. The CRH originally asked us to accept changes to the agreement in order to reduce the CRH’s liability to tax. These we can probably concede. But the CRH has also now asked for control over the F1 regulations and the right to sell the business to anyone - in effect to take over F1 completely. I do not believe the FIA should agree to this.
To do so would be to abandon core elements of the FIA’s patrimony including, for example, our ability to protect the traditional grands prix. We would also be weaker financially but, even more importantly, we would put at risk the viability of the FIA as the regulatory authority of international motor sport and lose a valuable communication platform for the wider interests of the organisation.”

So Max Mosley is basically saying, that if he is forced to resign, FIA is about to loose the control over Formula 1. In the part of his letter where he talks about the election of new president he openly expresses concern that a person may be elected that would actually support the interests of the Commercial Rights Holder in the current negotiations.

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F1Wolf

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Now I really hope he has been misquoted or this story was made up or something. This is what Bernie Ecclestone is said to have said on demise of Super Aguri according to PA Sports:

“More room. It means we have a lot more room now because the teams are expanding like crazy with their hospitality units and their trucks and everything. We’re always running out of room. We’re not looking for 12 teams, we’re looking for ten.“

So the space for hospitality is what F1 is about, not the action on track … Hm, that explains a lot then …

The later part of the story on potential Super Aguri bail out by Bernie himself makes a bit more sense:

“I didn’t want to put in 100 million, which is what was needed. For somebody else it might have been okay, but it wasn’t for me.”

For those who do miss the Super Aguri, here is a video:

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F1Wolf

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I am going to be Bernie friendly for a while but only for a while. I totally forgot that the official F1 site has some videos now. Only after I received the email reminder that the video edit from Spanish GP is ready I went to check it out. The video is not too bad if all you expect is a quick 2 minutes sum up of all the incidents with few F1 babes and Nelson Piquet sr. added to the mix. But I think that FOM or whoever is in charge of keeping the official F1 site up could and should do better. They are still far behind the level of Sidepodcast people unfortunately for us Sidepodcast does not have an access to the FOM TV feed .

What would you want F1.com to include or ad to their video edits from races ?

You can see the official F1 video edits here.

F1Wolf

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Two days have passed since Max Mosley made the news for all the wrong reasons. What happened since then ? Simply put, the pressure on Mosley is mounting.

Mosley succeeded and having the photos and video removed from YouTube and The News Of The World site. The mainstream F1 sites broke the radio silence and published the story. All of them at about the same like if on command from somebody … And then various F1 figures began to voice their oppinions on the matter. Here is the collection:

Bernie Ecclestone:

“I’ve known him an awful long time. If somebody had told me this without the evidence I would have found it difficult to believe. Assuming it’s all true, what people do privately is up to them. I don’t honestly believe [it] affects the sport in any way. Knowing Max it might be all a bit of a joke. You know, it’s one of those things where he’s sort of taking the p***, rather than anything against Jewish people.”

and Bernie Ecclestone again on comments that Mosley may cancel travel to Bahrain:

“He shouldn’t go, should he? The problem is he would take all the ink away from the race and put it on something which, honestly and truly, is nobody else’s business anyway.”

… and Bernie Ecclestone on future of Max Mosley (for The Times)

“What Max should do is what he thinks is right because it is only him that’s involved, not the FIA. He must do what he believes, in his heart of hearts, is the right thing. If Max was in bed with two hookers, they’d say ‘good for you or something like that’. But this, as it is, people find it repulsive. I think that’s the problem. The trouble with Max is he’s been brave and there is bravado at the moment, but I don’t think it’s going to be easy. And if he starts to sue, from what I understand, the chances of him winning would be slim and, the trouble is, it’s just a lot more ink for the press.”

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F1Wolf

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First two races, more than 10% of the season are behind us. Ron Dennis may claim that only Spanish GP will show the true form of the teams but why wait. Let’s look at who has been good and who has not so far.

The Good

BMW Sauber – They had worrying start to their winter tests with their new car but how they turned things around. Fernando Alonso considered them to be the dark horses of the 2008 season and it looks like he has been right. The team may not be yet ready to mount the title challenge. But they are surprisingly close to the pace of McLarens. It may not be impossible to score a race win on merit later on this season. And with the current reliability and Massa woes Ferrari are experiencing, the maiden win may not be too far.

Toyota – Surprise surprise. But looking back to team’s performance in the last winter test it perhaps should not be that unexpected. Jarno Trulli claims they are now 4th best team (same claim Rosberg has about Williams). I would not probably say that. But Toyota firmly claimed their place in stronger end of the midfield, along with Williams and Red Bull.

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F1Wolf

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Night Formula 1 races - the latest obsession of Mr. Ecclestone. Singapore will host one later on this year, the organizers in Australia are under massive pressure from the F1 supremo to hold their race in the night if they want to keep the Formula 1 Down Under beyond 2010. The lighting companies are getting ready, developing and testing night race lighting systems. Is it all worth the effort and money ?

I am going to disregard the environmental issues as I consider those just a populist talk. Yes, it may not go in line with the green message the F1 is trying to send out. But there is much more energy used (or wasted ?) every day by lighting up football stadiums, airconditioning various indoor arenas, freezing the ice for skating or ice hockey… No one complains about that, no one sends skaters to skate on frozen lakes …

After this weekend I however do question the need to force the organizers, will it be in Australia or anywhere else, to spend wast amounts of money to set up the lighting systems. Why ? Because I watched the MotoGP night race from Qatar. If that is supposed to be what the TV viewers get for all the money spent by organizers, then I do not think it is worth it.

First the overall experience - Either there were no spectators (would not surprise me) or the “wall” created by lighting eliminated them from the picture. It did feel very weird. All one could see around the track were the run off areas and hundres of lamps.

The TV picture was far from good. All the lights around the track were pretty disturbing, the picture was not very clear. There were also parts of the track with strong light reflection - and that was on a dry track … Now imagine places like Malaysia and Singapore, where the chances of rain are higher than chances of sunshine …

It might have been great experience for those on the track, it was far from great on TV … But isn’t the TV the main reason behind the night races idea ?

It may not be that bad on the street track in Singapore. The city backdrop, tighter space, spectators closer to the track may be the factors that will make that night race a great TV event. But should the night race happen in Sepang on the track, I am afraid the TV experience will be similar to Qatar MotoGP race…

I may be wrong, F1 might have hired better people to set up the lighting for Formula 1 races and there will be no problems at all. All may be perfect. But would not it be wiser to wait for at least the first night race in Singapore to happen and evaluate the pros and cons, before pushing and forcing people elsewhere to commit to huge investments just to keep one guy happy ?

F1Wolf

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I am not sure if the latest Ecclestone had to say on future of F1 racing in Australia is just another chapter in his game of negotiation or this guy is getting completely mad.

“The only way the race could stay in Melbourne, or anywhere else in Australia, is if it is staged during the night so that the public in Europe can watch it. At the moment, it is ridiculous that people are asked not to sleep in order to see it live. That can’t carry on. The alternative is to pull the race completely from Australia. I’ve spoken to (new prime minister) Kevin Rudd and he’s told me it would cost too much to re-stage the race, so I guess that’s it. We won’t be going to Australia for too much longer.”

So it is ridiculius that people in Europe have to wake up early … And he only knows that now ? The Australian GP has been on calendar since 1985 !!!

F1Wolf

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Over the weekend I joined the conversation over at Sidepodast that evolved around the fact that Formula 1 own corporate hospitability and advertising business ended up $3 million in red. Here Pitpass confused me a bit, as they say that Silverstone made as much money as Formula 1, having made 1.3 million pounds, while in another article they report that F1 has lost that money. Anyway, let’s assume Bernie’s business lost $3 million. Even if it made the same money, it is pretty lousy result for mighty Bernie …

Here I with my permission quote my weekend self :

I am confident that with a bit of fresh thinking that 3 million loss can be eliminated a turned into profit easily. But some fresh thinking would have to replace the greed.

So here are few bits that come to my mind without need for too much thinking:

The greed:

1) Milking more and more from the race organizers - the favourite hobby of Mr. Ecclestone, this comes before motoracing

2) Facilities, facilities, facilities - If Bernie was talking about facilities for spectators, I would not protest much. I would for example like TV screens that actually are OK to watch (unless you are right next to the screen there is no way to read the names or times, or the latest invention to squeeze 16:9 picture into 4:3 TV screen on the track - Sepang), or perhaps food that is OK to eat or beer that is OK to drink (Shanghai). But these things are rarely or never mentioned. Most of the talk is always about the Paddock facilities … The fate of the race should not hang in the balance just because Mr. Ecclestone does not have room cool enough for drink with Flavio Briatore …

3) Ticket prices - While I understand that organizing Formula 1 race costs money, charging close to $1000 per ticket is mad. Unfortunately organizers do not have that many other options to recover their payments to Mr. Ecclestone …

4) Formula 1 merchadise - If someone looks for a definition of “ridiculous” when it comes to prices, the best place to go to look for a benchmark is the official Formula 1 store on Formula 1 website.

And now few of those fresh thinking suggestions:

1) CVC should get rid of Bernie Ecclestone sooner rather than later. Despite popular belief Bernie does not own the Formula 1 circus. He did his bit, now it is time to go fishing. Ross Brawn may be willing to give some tips for good fishing spots.

2) While I understand that the exclusivity and glamour is part of the Formula 1 attraction, F1 will be nothing if the fans run away. The more fans, the more revenue sources. Now the revenue comes only from people willing and able to spend a lot. Those who are not willing or can’t afford to spend a lot, spend nothing, because there is nothing to spend ‘not a lot’ for. OK, keep the carbonfibre keychains and mousepads in your merchandise lines for those few who wish to have them. But have something ready also for those who wish or can spend only a dollar or two or five. It should not be that difficult …

3) We live in 21st century and whether F1 likes it or not, web rulez ! F1 however still did not get it and tries to rule the web. Please wake up, it will not work ! The main reason why there is so much ‘illegal’ F1 video footage on the web is … guess what … no legal video footage. Free race highlits released by Formula 1 would not kill Formula 1. It would make the fans happy. Broadcasts from testing, Friday and Saturday practice sessions over the web would make many fans happy even more. There would sure be quite a few willing to spend that reasonable ! buck for pay-per-view online access or for season long package. The next step - full race video downloads. Technically these could be available the day after the race. If some TV rights holders do show replays in a day or two after the race, then OK, wait till Wednesday before releasing the race for download. But do it !

4) TV coverage is … very basic. TV coverage is mostly on free to air channels (although not here where I watch …). Keep it that way and available for everybody. But create a premium option with features similar to handheld Kangaroo TV (available at some tracks). The footage is available, release it to viewers, let them choose what they want to see, let them follow the drivers they want to follow, let them get the race data they want and anytime they want. And let them go for their bathroom breaks when they feel they need them. Do not force us to go when TV decides to show us Renault drivers in roles of ING private banking advisors or McLaren drivers as fighter jet pilots.

And final note - Do not spit into fans’ faces by getting rid of tracks like Silverstone, Monza, Spa … Yes, we want Formula 1 to make it to the 21st century finally, but some things have to stay !

F1Wolf

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I haven’t seen any official news yet. There are however 2 blogs at least reporting the story that Bernie brokered a deal to move McLaren away from the wrong end of the pitlane towards the front.

You can see more at F1-To Go and F1Fanatic.

Interesting. I like the picture F1-To Go has with the article

F1Wolf

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Two quotes from Bernie Ecclestone appeared in the news this weekend and after reading I began to wonder what did the Australians do to him …

Quote 1 - On the reports that Sydney may fill the gap if Melbourne looses the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix (in the interview for the Herald Sun)

“There is nothing in Sydney - they haven’t even got a circuit. “

Quote 2 - On his planned trip to St. Petersburg and discussions about staging Formula 1 race in Russia (reported by Daily Mirror):

“Nothing is done yet. But this could be an interesting development for the sport. We’d like to get it in the calendar as soon as we can but that depends on them. It’s down to how long it takes them to get the circuit ready.”

I am not saying that Sydney is a feasible option. It may or may not be, it is not upon me to say. I do not even know whether the city would be interested. But that is not the point … What strikes me is The Formula 1 Supremo dismissing the possibility of the race in Sydney outright with such an argument. All the new races (current and future) - Singapore, Valencia, Abu Dhabi, Seoul, India only began to build the race tracks after Bernie signed them up. Russia, as it is obvious from his remarks, would be the same case.

Sydney would stand no chance though, because like all the others who got the new races it does not have a race track …

F1Wolf

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