Breakaway series is go!

Far be it from me to start a conspiracy but follow me here…

Bernie doesn’t REALLY own Formula One’s commercial rights. CVC Fund IV (75%) and Bambino Holdings (25% - whose beneficiaries are members of the Ecclestone family). Bernie is just the CEO.

What if Bernie, with the help of the FOTA teams, wanted to screw over his company? If Bernie, outside of FOM, got the rights to the break away series, he would not be obligated to CVC and the billions they invested. That would lead to cheaper costs for races and thus more money to go around to the teams and the new commercial rights holder, the old commerical rights holder (to paraphrase the Beatles).

Conversely, this battle royale between Max and FOCA could all just be a ruse to cut CVC and Bernie out of the picture. The cost of getting an F1 event has gone from less than $7 million in 2000 to starting at $25 million and beyond in 2008. France, Canada, USA, Portugal, even the UK refuse to pay these skyrocketing costs. Even China and Turkey are reluctant after the dismal turnouts.

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Originally Posted by F1Kurt

Far be it from me to start a conspiracy but follow me here…

Bernie doesn’t REALLY own Formula One’s commercial rights. CVC Fund IV (75%) and Bambino Holdings (25% - whose beneficiaries are members of the Ecclestone family). Bernie is just the CEO.

What if Bernie, with the help of the FOTA teams, wanted to screw over his company? If Bernie, outside of FOM, got the rights to the break away series, he would not be obligated to CVC and the billions they invested. That would lead to cheaper costs for races and thus more money to go around to the teams and the new commercial rights holder, the old commerical rights holder (to paraphrase the Beatles).

Conversely, this battle royale between Max and FOCA could all just be a ruse to cut CVC and Bernie out of the picture. The cost of getting an F1 event has gone from less than $7 million in 2000 to starting at $25 million and beyond in 2008. France, Canada, USA, Portugal, even the UK refuse to pay these skyrocketing costs. Even China and Turkey are reluctant after the dismal turnouts.

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Been there, done that :D

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Originally Posted by F1Kurt

Far be it from me to start a conspiracy but follow me here…

Bernie doesn’t REALLY own Formula One’s commercial rights. CVC Fund IV (75%) and Bambino Holdings (25% - whose beneficiaries are members of the Ecclestone family). Bernie is just the CEO.

What if Bernie, with the help of the FOTA teams, wanted to screw over his company? If Bernie, outside of FOM, got the rights to the break away series, he would not be obligated to CVC and the billions they invested. That would lead to cheaper costs for races and thus more money to go around to the teams and the new commercial rights holder, the old commerical rights holder (to paraphrase the Beatles).

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CVC would sue Bernie for every penny he had. And probably win.

V12, thank you for your thoughts! It crystallized what had been foggy suspicions in my head. Being from the U.S., I have watched AOW closely and attended both IRL and Champ Car events during the split. I would say that North Americans are fickle about their motorsports, and I suspect that there are more hardcore fans per capita in just about all of the EU. Before the split, the hardcore fan were able to draw the casuals into OW racing banking on the action on-track and the near-household names Andretti, Rahal, et al. It was a legit sport that could draw comparasons to marquee sporting events such as golf or the Preakness. After the split, Indy stood alone as the marquee AOW event, because the luster just wasn't strong enough to spread to Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen, or any of the assorted ovals visited. Champ Car had Tracy and Bourdais, so they had a good rivalry and had others like Glock, because, despite the lack of manufacturers the feel of a European OW was there in all but location. Some of those locations were pretty bad, San Jose i think had a railroad crossing which was quite spectacular, but the whole thing sort of lent itself to the bizzare nature of the 'series that didn't run at Indy'.

With a world championship, there are a number of marquee grand prix circuits, and the FIA i think have no domain over a circuit a la Tony George. They probably have contracts, but contracts expire (or disappear in courts). Add to this mix a potentially more dedicated fan base for both series than the IRL could ever dream of, and the comparasons to the AOW spit just sort of don't hold up in my mind. I believe this is a far different game and in no more than 3 years a winner will be declared.

Here is solid proof these guys are serious . McLaren has said dick until now on this issue , and are "confident" about the idea now that it's out in the open .
It means that they will not return to a Mosely series .

This is from ITV:
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh says he is confident that if FOTA's proposed breakaway Formula 1 series goes ahead it will become the 'pinnacle' of motorsport and overshadow the FIA's world championship.


With no resolution in the bitter row between the teams' union and the governing body, the eight FOTA squads are pressing on with plans to launch a rival championship for 2010.


Whitmarsh believes that FOTA's action is ultimately a "positive" one for the sport


"We have taken a positive step to say that we are committing to race together," he said.



"We were heading, whatever happened it seemed, towards a split in the last couple of days.


"It could have been some of those teams within FOTA disappearing from the sport completely.


"Anyone who has been watching would have been very aware that a number of major manufacturers were almost inexorably leaving the sport, and that would have been highly damaging.


"We're inviting all those participating at the moment and any new entrant to participate in what we believe will be the pinnacle of motorsport."


He acknowledged that the teams must share the blame for some of F1's shortcomings in recent years.


"In Formula 1 in recent years there has not been the stability that we should have, there has not been the clarity of what the championship should be for the fans," Whitmarsh said.


"That's not pointing the finger at anyone, we've all been part of it.


"Some of us feel we've got to do a better job than we have in the past."


He added that it was too soon to confirm any precise details about FOTA's breakaway championship.


"It was a decision made last night, and I think therefore to talk about preparations ten hours later would be premature," Whitmarsh said.


"There have been lots of ideas and suggestiosn that have been thrown at the teams, but the fact is that there's a lot of work ahead of us.


"That's a challenge, and there are tinges of excitement and concern in it, because any new venture is just that.


"But there's been a lot of interest and support voiced for the teams, and we're open to any way forward."





Say good night , Max .

It's over for you , so it's time to decide whether you take F1 down with you .

The FIA were going to announce the final entry list for 2010 tomorrow, now what are they going to do?

They can't include the breakaway teams but they can't include new teams now and tell them later on they changed their minds either, they need to know now!

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Originally Posted by Bagwan

Here is solid proof these guys are serious . McLaren has said dick until now on this issue , and are "confident" about the idea now that it's out in the open .
It means that they will not return to a Mosely series .

This is from ITV:
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh says he is confident that if FOTA's proposed breakaway Formula 1 series goes ahead it will become the 'pinnacle' of motorsport and overshadow the FIA's world championship.


With no resolution in the bitter row between the teams' union and the governing body, the eight FOTA squads are pressing on with plans to launch a rival championship for 2010.


Whitmarsh believes that FOTA's action is ultimately a "positive" one for the sport


"We have taken a positive step to say that we are committing to race together," he said.



"We were heading, whatever happened it seemed, towards a split in the last couple of days.


"It could have been some of those teams within FOTA disappearing from the sport completely.


"Anyone who has been watching would have been very aware that a number of major manufacturers were almost inexorably leaving the sport, and that would have been highly damaging.


"We're inviting all those participating at the moment and any new entrant to participate in what we believe will be the pinnacle of motorsport."


He acknowledged that the teams must share the blame for some of F1's shortcomings in recent years.


"In Formula 1 in recent years there has not been the stability that we should have, there has not been the clarity of what the championship should be for the fans," Whitmarsh said.


"That's not pointing the finger at anyone, we've all been part of it.


"Some of us feel we've got to do a better job than we have in the past."


He added that it was too soon to confirm any precise details about FOTA's breakaway championship.


"It was a decision made last night, and I think therefore to talk about preparations ten hours later would be premature," Whitmarsh said.


"There have been lots of ideas and suggestiosn that have been thrown at the teams, but the fact is that there's a lot of work ahead of us.


"That's a challenge, and there are tinges of excitement and concern in it, because any new venture is just that.


"But there's been a lot of interest and support voiced for the teams, and we're open to any way forward."





Say good night , Max .

It's over for you , so it's time to decide whether you take F1 down with you .

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:up:

The whole of today's press conference is a very good and highly recommended read, if you want to know more about what the FOTA teams feel like!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76346

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Originally Posted by ioan

FOTA were reported to have got in contact with the MotoGP promoter to help them set up the new series. Why would they need Bernie?

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Probably just keeping their options open at this time.

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Originally Posted by RS

The FIA were going to announce the final entry list for 2010 tomorrow, now what are they going to do?

They can't include the breakaway teams but they can't include new teams now and tell them later on they changed their minds either, they need to know now!

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I suspect Max will still include the FOTA teams because he still believes that he has absolute dominion over the sport. The madman can't see that his time has come (and gone!)

I can see him a few years dow the road in an "old folk's home" still raving on about how he is in control of F1 while the nurse wipes the drool off his chin with his bib!

At least we'll have the prolonged court battles to entertain us during the off-season. ;)