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Thursday, June 18, 2009 13:20 IST

With just a day to go for the entries deadline, it is becoming clear that the FIA-FOTA battle is more of a clash of personalities than principles. Here are some examples:

1. In a last ditch effort FOTA made some proposal to FIA boss Max Mosley so as to avoid the spectacle of them pulling out of 2010 championship. However Mosley responded to FOTA within few hours and dismissed almost every single objection raised by FOTA.

2. Ferrari boss and FOTA president Luca di Montezemelo gave the green flag to the Le Mans 24 hours race on Saturday. Is there any ulterior motive behind this gesture? It is well known that FIA doesn't organise LeMans and di Montezemelo is no fan of Max Mosley. You can put 2 and 2 together.

3. Last week, a meeting was held between FIA and FOTA representatives to discuss the financial regulations. However when it seemed some agreement could be reached, the FOTA delegation said that they didn't have a decision making power. FIA has alleged that some elements within FOTA are not keen on finding a solution. Bernie Ecclestone shed some light when he said that Renault boss Flavio Briatore wants to create a breakaway series.

4. Honda's pullout turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Max as he used the pretext to come up with the drastic cost cutting rules for next year without taking the teams into confidence. Max has been accused of acting unilaterally.

Conclusion: The sport is not important... personal egos are. God bless Formula One. The sport needs his blessings.

Will the manufacturers support a breakaway series?

These are tough times for Formula One. Bickering between the teams and governing body has reached to such an extent that the once unthinkable has now become common talk. Recently leading drivers like Felipe Mass and Mark Webber have openly endorsed the idea of a breakaway series. This series will be born after the manufacturers (Ferrari, Toyota, BMW, Renault, Mercedes Benz) decide to pull out of FIA's Formula One series and start a circus of their own.

Some of the FOTA members are clearly dreaming of starting a new series... writing new rules and generally being in complete control of whatever comes up. And while using the threat of a breakaway series in order to bolster your side in negotiations is a good ploy, in reality a new series seems as farfetched as Honda returning to Formula One next year.

2009 has been a bad year for the manufacturers whose core business is selling customer cars and not racing. Unlike Williams, Force India, Red Bull and Brawn GP whose very existence revolves around F1 racing, teams like Toyota, Renault, BMW, Mercedes Benz and Ferrari have a different priority. (Perhaps, Ferrari can be excluded given its rich history of racing.) Since all these automobile companies have encountered losses this year, the respective boards have already cut down on budgets. A couple of them have even expressed doubts about featuring next year because of the economic hardships. When Honda pulled out, it had a very clear about what it was doing. Formula One was not as important for them as selling cars. For Honda, cutting the flab meant pulling out of Formula One. Formula One is a flab for all the major automobile makers.

In such a bleak scenario, will the boards give their consent for starting a new series that will definitely need more money from the manufacturers?

2 comments

I couldn't agree with you more. It seems like everything was just hogwash after all. They just created all the hype and now that they have the world's attention I'd like to see what they do...

F1 is in the doldrums! Anyway, to me it's not that interesting anymore. Since as a teenager I only loved watching the Senna-Prost rivalry. Even till date many regard Senna as the greatest F1 driver in history.

Still, I would tell all the F1 fans to try watching the fantastic MotoGP :) It guarantees everything: fun, excitement, rivalry, and it's worth every bit of your time, energy, and money (if you gonna buy tickets and watch). MotoGP rocks and rules :)