Jarez Mifkin

True, but it sure does make Le Mans that much more enticing!

ew928

I shure hope they 'splain what that funny green stripe on the tires mean again.



And I was going to post that the 2010 MF1 will be contested with modified Smart Convertibles shod with tight leather Bras and short side-Skirts with Whip antenna for pit/data communication.

Probably get better wheel to wheel racing with them Smart Convertibles.

brianlin87

good point!

trumperZ06

No surprise but... the LeMans and ALMS Sportscar federations would welcome the F1 manufacturers with "open arms"...

Sure would be nice to see the sort of racing the factory teams could support.

ltc

Already went and cleared off the DVR, programmed to record as much of the 24 hours as Speed broadcasts.

Veloce Raptor

Whip it.

Whip it good.




Professional Racing and Driving Coach

DAVISRILEY

Just think how many ice cream breaks Kimi could have in 24 hours........

ew928

C'mon. This is serious racing.










They can have a cooler in the car stashed full of ice cream goodies for Kimi.

Probably run piping through the cooler and use that to help cool the cool-suit.
Double win.

multi21

Can you imagine trying to wake up Kimi for his next stint in the 24 hours? Not an easy task at all!

I've never seen Ferrari go this far in terms of it's position to stay or go. In the past everything was worked out, but the Mad Max is willing to forgo the golden goose for a couple of privateer teams.

Whatever you might think, Ferrari is the New York Yankees of F1 --or more so in terms of outright percentage of fans the team attracts to F1. Polarizing in the fact of you either love them or hate them and when they're doing well there is that 50-50 split of fans who want to see them succeed and an equal number that want to see them fail. When they are a midpack runner as they are this year, there isn't that "buzz" there normally is in F1.

Ferrari needs F1 in so far as this is their identity, their #1 marketing tool for their worldwide image and historical tradition as a corporation. Should Ferrari leave F1, there isn't anything close in terms of series that could rival the absolute global exposure they enjoy every 2 weeks. But they don't want to be in a series that is spec. They're already bound by an engine freeze and standard ECU manufactured by McLaren. Now no in season testing has tied the hands of those that want to improve and innovate (not just Ferrari, but McLaren, BMW, Renault).

Indycars are now pretty much spec cars and are boring to watch. NASCAR has the Car of Tomorrow and its ratings have been going down as well. F1 has always been about R&D and pushing the edges. A spec series is stagnant and not what a team that races to sell cars is all about.

F1 (read FIA) needs Ferrari as they have about 50-60% of the fan base and make a mint from just that 1 team.

What we see is a classic coup on the part of Max Mosley and the FIA to try to control and give less $$ to the participating teams. His statements have been inflamatory with regard to the "We make the rules and have been for 60 years" followed by his statement of "...his vision for Formula One...". Sorry, but I'm not following the "vision" of a guy who frequents **** hookers. How this guy is dicating to multi-national manufacturers "his vision" is repulsive.

The crying "wolf" statement is a simpleton's read on the situation. In the end, it's all about the money. When in doubt, follow the money trail and you'll get your answer.

I don't think anyone wants to see Ferrari leave and can't imagine if they do, but I guarantee it will be the beginning of the end for F1. Sure they will still be called F1, but it will really be GP2 with similar viewer ratings and revenue generated.

Do you care if Campos Grand Prix beats Manor Grand Prix (two of the newest teams to be accepted for 2010) or would you rather see if BMW can beat Mercedes or Ferrari or any of the other world manufacturers?

Would I like to see Massa and Kimi race in LMP1 against the diesel Audis or a potential Penske Porsche Spyder RS team? Hell yes, but not at the expense of not having Ferrari in F1.

And for clarification purposes, the FOTA teams all filed "conditional" entry papers. Williams and Force India (non manufacturers) filed Non-conditional entry papers. None of the 5 manufacturers (Ferrari, Merceds, BMW, Toyota or Renault) have broken ranks and filed non conditional paper work for the 2010 season. If any of these teams file such papers, they are obligated to pay the remaining teams $50m euros ($69,000,000) EACH for their defection.

In the end, there has to be either an agreement to raise the budget limit or not have the draconian restrictions imposed on those teams that do not stay within the $45m pound budget limit. As it stands, those that cannot (to answer Lewis' questions) are limited in their engine revs, active aero and testing, ie they do not want a 2 tier rule system for the same series.

If there is no agreement, then the FIA will take Ferrari, and possibly others, to court to force them to stay in. I know for a fact Ferrari is contractually obligated to participate in the 2010 WC based on a contract signed a decade ago. However, Ferrari is arguing that the contract was breached by the FIA after they imposed a budget cap that was not part of the agreement 10 years ago. If Ferrari loses this battle in court, they would either have to participate in the 2010 season or be fined "billions" of dollars according to Bernie Eccelstone. Ferrari could execute a loop hole for 2010 if it provides "customer engines", and doesn't necessarily have to field 2 cars. Regardless, if this is thrown to the courts, this will make the Americas Cup fiasco look like traffic court.

ew928

So it'll be LMP-1 and LMP-2 in F1.
Could be interesting.

Hope Cosworth builds a kick-*** motor.
Boy did they dominate F1 participation ages ago.

multi21

Lola withdraws 2010 entry
17 June 2009


Lola Cars has removed possibilities of competiting in next year's World Championship by withdrawing its entry on Wednesday. The British team, which remained with a chance of making the grid in the event of current teams leaving the sport, has given no reason for the decision.



With thirteen teams (including the current ten entrants) already selected to take part next season, the possibility of current teams leaving the sport remains a possibilty as conditions on entries must be lifted by Friday. With the chance of FOTA and the FIA not coming to an agreement and names such as Lola still retaining a chance to enter, the Cambridgeshire squad published the following message on its website on Wednesday:

'Lola F1 Team Ltd has today advised the FIA of the decision to withdraw its application to enter the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Significant financial investment has been made in producing its 2010 contender and the FIA had requested that the Lola F1 Team remain in a state of readiness for a possible future entry.

Lola F1 Team has thanked the FIA for giving its application to enter the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship serious consideration.

No further comment will be made.'

multi21

Mosley: Comprimise possible but deadline remains
17 June 2009


Max Mosley has insisted to teams that this Friday's deadline for conditional entries will stay in place, despite competitors' wishes to extend the period. The current deadline states that FOTA members (all 2009 teams bar Williams and Force India) must have cleared conditions placed upon entries in order to compete next year.



In the event of the conditions not being removed before Friday and teams still unhappy with the FIA's regulations set for 2010, the possibility remains that eight of the current ten teams may not feature on the 2010 starting grid.

'If we start to modify the governance provisions of the 1998 Concorde Agreement, a lengthy discussion will begin,' the FIA president's Wednesday letter to the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) stated. 'There is no time left for this because we must answer the remaining applicants for 2010 no later than Friday.'

He continued to explain that, for teams to be fully accepted for 2010's championship, a temporary solution would be to modify the 1998 Concorde Agreement, which all teams would follow, before writing out a full 2009 draft. 'After all, we lived with these (rules) for ten years; a few more weeks or months should not cause any difficulty,' Mosley continued. 'A fundamental problem with the FOTA proposal was the absence of a clear (budget) figure. The teams need to know what the constraints are, so do we.

'We therefore propose that you accept the 2010 rules, as published, which we agreed with you last year. If necessary, these can be revised with the above governance procedures in due course.'

ltc

Dear Max,
Exactly how much money has been wasted in the development and deployment of KERS in F1? Yes, KERS that all the teams have now rejected. Please review the 1998 Concorde Agreement and tell me where it says you can make stuff up as you go and require the teams to run them.

Are any of the other FIA controlled motorsports going to be required to run KERS?

Bring it within 10' of my son's FIA/CIK karts and I will demonstrate for you the concept of electrocardiac shock.


Get rid of Max and you're halfway there. Bernie only cares about money, not the sport, he'll follow the money.

Don't get rid of Max, FOTA sets up their own series and Max is a non issue, then Bernie has to ask to take the team's money.

Rassel

That's really funny.

multi21

Even if the remaining 5 teams withdraw their conditional entry applications for the 2010 season and agree to the 45m pound budget cap, King Max Mosley has already decreed the start of the two tier rule system. What is he trying to create with this?


Cosworth to run without limit
18 June 2009


Engines entered by Cosworth next year will not feature limited rev amounts, according to Max Mosley. Included in Mosley's letter to the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) on Wednesday the FIA president stated that, due to a lack of development time, the engine manufacturer would be able to run its units without restrictions.





Cosworth's V8 engine last powered the Williams of 2006
With the debutant Campos, Manor and USF1 teams all due to be powered by Cosworth engines next year, six of the 26 cars on the starting grid will contain the powerplants. With all current engines in the field limited to 18,000 revolutions per minute, the FIA's letter to teams on Wednesday explained the reasoning behind the decision:

'As explained (and we thought agreed) at the 11 June meeting, the Cosworth has to be allowed to run without limitation in 2010 (ie. the 2006 duty cycle for a 2006 engine), because Cosworth have neither the time nor the resources to retune for 2010. Any engineer will confirm that this will not give the relevant teams any competitive advantage whatsoever.'