Formula1 chat

Ferrari have threatened to quit Formula 1 at the end of the season if the sport continues with plans to introduce an optional £40m budget cap from 2010.

"No F1 in 2010 if the rules do not change," said a statement. "Ferrari does not intend to register cars for the 2010 F1 world championship."

Ferrari fear the evolution of a two-tier championship, between those teams who adopt the cap and those who do not. The teams will discuss the plans with FIA chief Max Mosley in the next week.

Ferrari, in a statement, insist their announcement is not simply posturing: "The same rules for all teams, stability of regulations, the continuity of... endeavours to methodically and progressively reduce costs, and governance of Formula 1 are priorities for the future.

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Are just putting a spin on this may be their going to the USA Indy car or champ car racing with there stack in the Chrysler Corporation you herd it here first.

Eddie king.

Toro Rosso Formula One driver Sebastian Bourdais (center) crashes with team mate Sebastien Buemi (left), Force India's Adrian Sutil (back), and Renault's Nelson Piquet at the start of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix at the Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo May 10. (REUTERS/Josep Loaso)

Renault also want to leave.... mm looks like Ferrari and Renault continue to throw their teddies out the pram when things go wrong for them !

Personaly it would be good to have far more teams in the sport and open up the regulations so its technical brains rather than cash that gives you the edge. We are in the best season for ages, one that lives iup to the Chapman approach....

"Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men"

Read Brawn as the wise men, Ferrari as the fools !!!

More teams in GP, we could get back to pre qualifying, grids of 26 cars with 32 entries, backmarkers mixing up the races.....

We could even have the Lotus name back on the grid where it belongs...

Just my 2p

Yes, more teams and more cars on the grids would be great, but, I do have sympathy for the teams who do not want a two tier championship.

There should be just one set of rules and one budget cap for all. A level playing field.

It is not hard to see why those that spend/invest the most in their business are the most sucsessful, Ferrari, McLaren, Renault etc. It's a bit like premiership football, before the start of the season you know that it's going to be one of the big four who win it, the rest are just making up the numbers. A price cap that levels the playing field means that there will be occasions when the smaller teams will be able to produce a car that wins, and that will make F1 more unpredictable, exciting, watchable etc. It should also allow very talented drivers to show their skill as the difference between the cars ought to be less and perhaps to a stage where the driver can really make a difference. This year the likes of McLaren and Ferrari have been out thought by Brawn, they can produce new parts but cannot test them until race day and it's hurting them. Let's see more inovation, more clever solutions not just "those who spend more win more".

But I think the real problem is the way that it is to be introduced/imposed. The different rules for different budgets means that all though you spend a shed load of money you are unlikely to win. The capped teams are to be allowed (besides a whole load of other things) moveable rear wings and this is reckoned to be worth up to 2 seconds a lap. So a team that spend s£40 mill is going to have at least a 2 second advantage over Ferrari et al who are spending over £200 million. Would you want to spend that kind of money with little prospect of winning? With the current time spread of the whole field being around 2 seconds that means Force India might win a race, would that really mean they are better than Renault, Ferrari and McLaren?

It is a simple thing to impose a budget cap, it is a whole load more difficult to implement it. Imposing a budget cut for next year is going to present difficulty for most of the current teams, as we have seen with Honda/Brawn. Honda had over 700 employees and Brawn have already had to make drastic staff cuts (already over 270 with more to follow) in view of their budget. It must be hard for those made redundant, they did nothing wrong, just the budget was not there to support so many salaries. Brawn/Honda developed their car when they had the full compliment of staff, it will start to become more difficult now as they don't have the resources of the larger teams. It is not just staff either, these larger teams have facilities that become redundant if you are not allowed to use them, wind tunnels, test tracks etc. Another problem is the time scale, to impose this for 2010, to shed all these jobs and facilities will have severe consequences for thousands of people directly employed by teams and a knock on effect to thousands of other firms that supply parts and services etc.

I'm in favour of the budget cap and just one set of rules but I think the big teams do need time to accomodate and adjust to the changes and a reducing budget over say three seasons is the way to go. I think the budget price cap, whatever it is set on should include drivers pay as well. All drivers want to be world champion, so they want/need to drive the car that has the potential to win, I don't think paying them lets say £5 mill would mean suddenly there were no F1 drivers, hell I'll do it for as little as £1! I'm not a Ferrari fan, and honestly if I won the lottery a Ferrari would not be my first choice of supercar but equally I would not want to see F1 without them or McLaren or indeed any of the current teams including the Force India.

The other issue will be policing all this. What is the true price of a BWM, Mercedes, Ferrari engine etc. If different teams use the same engine each team should pay the same. What if suppliers make a gift of technology or provide services in return for advertising space, suddenly a very small decal on the side of a McLaren could be worth 50 million in engines and gearboxes, would the same be true for Force India ?

As Simon said,

That's my 2ps worth, anyone else have anythoughts.

Hamilton had better keep an eye on his mirrors now!
Schumi doesn't take prisoners, just ask that Hill bloke

Cheers
John

GrumpyBodger wrote:Hamilton had better keep an eye on his mirrors now!
Schumi doesn't take prisoners, just ask that Hill bloke

Cheers
John

Good news the stig is back .
Eddie.

[quote="A7ESK"]

GrumpyBodger wrote:Hamilton had better keep an eye on his mirrors now!
Schumi doesn't take prisoners, just ask that Hill bloke

Cheers
John

Good news the stig is back .
Eddie.

What a master stroke by those Ferrari boys ! he should certainly stir things up a bit, I wonder if the good luck that seemed to stick with him before will still remain, anyway I'm looking forward to seeing him having a go again.
Cheers, Tim.

I am sure that Hill bloke also thought even I can ram people off a track to win a title.

Do you think they asked Damon first......

Think it'll be good for the end of season races.
Might make Buttons run in a bit easier if Herr S takes points away from the Red Bulls.

Now, with KR contract out at end of year who do you think will be in the red cars next season.

Oh, my tip..

Herr S, average showing in Valencia. Three days practice.
But to win 2 races by end of season. Spa and Suzuka

Oh what a pain in the neck.
You can breath out again now Hamilton

GrumpyBodger wrote:Oh what a pain in the neck.
You can breath out again now Hamilton

My thoughts exactly! I was so looking forward to seeing him back in action for at least a few races. It would have mixed up the season and given those boys something to think about! Button and Lewis can think themselves lucky.

Giancarlo Fisichella today realised a life-long dream by signing for Ferrari. The Italian has signed for Ferrari for the final five races of the Formula One season after being released from his current contract with Force India, and will be the team's reserve driver in 2010.

The 36-year-old replaces Luca Badoer after his torrid time in the European and Belgian Grands Prix in which he qualified at the back of the grid and was last of those that finished.

With Ferrari this week confirming Felipe Massa requires plastic surgery after his horror smash in Hungary and will not return until next season, the team desperately needed a more experienced driver as stand-in for the remainder of the year.

Following extensive discussions between the two teams over the last 24 hours, Force India owner Vijay Mallya reluctantly agreed to part with Fisichella.

It means the 36-year-old will become the first Italian to drive a Ferrari at the team's home race at Monza - the next round of the season on September 13 - since Ivan Capelli in 1992.

So the name could still be back in F1 !!!!!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/78284