Survival of F1 & F3000

[DanFlag]

Will F1 and FIA INTERNATIONAL F3000 survice until 2008 in their present form?

It's scary to see how much money it takes to make it to the back of the grid.

Many teams fail to raise enough money to afford testing.

We saw Prost F1 & F3000 teams end up in bankruptcy recently, it this scenario the shape of things to come?

[Francesca]

Though it seems Alain wasn't a particularly good business man!

[DanFlag]

Hi Francesca,

Yeah I read a few comments and news that were going into that direction. Maybe it's true, maybe he his a bad businessman.

[bella]

motorsport in general is expensive, especially nowbecause of the level of professionalism needed. those drivers who can find the budget to compete in f3000 need somekind of award for getting the money together, especially in the current climate...

action needs to be taken to reduce costs, buti'm not sure how.

[rlinter]

Originally posted by bella
action needs to be taken to reduce costs, buti'm not sure how.

Here Here - Well seeing as all the money that is around is being sucked up through F1 and leaving very little for everyone else. Then they need to start there.

How about some 'common' parts ie gearboxes tubs etc.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by bella
Motorsport in general is expensive, especially nowbecause of the level of professionalism needed. Those drivers who can find the budget to compete in f3000 need somekind of award for getting the money together, especially in the current climate...

action needs to be taken to reduce costs, but I'm not sure how.

Professionalism? Maybe wanton waste! At the top level there is a lot of this going on...

[Total-F1]

Common parts in Formula One kind of defeats the whole point of it being the pinnacle of technology and motorsport, competition among the best manufacturers in the world and whatnot.

And Prost certainly was a bad bloody businessman - nearly $30 million in debt, I last heard! (rumours going round he was about to announce a huge link-up with Enron which fell through at the last minute)

[DanFlag]

Total-F1
DAMNNNN!!!
With Enron, that would not have been a very strong partner....

[rlinter]

Originally posted by Total-F1
Common parts in Formula One kind of defeats the whole point of it being the pinnacle of technology and motorsport, competition among the best manufacturers in the world and whatnot.

Well yes and no - If we are talking about controlling spiralling costs then common parts make sense. Look at IRL for instance there is a choice of a couple of chassis, a couple of engines and a standard gearbox.

The budget for a single IRL car team is around $2million where 2 car F1 team is what $100million.

Standardised chasis etc saves money as it is a basic ecomony of scale.

Hell if BMW et'al want to all have there power in the back then great however in a standardised chasis, gearbox, ecu etc senario there is not only the saving in build costs but also in all the endless red tape caused by the constant bickering about who is exploiting which loop hole or who has the latest cutting edge 'technical' advance.

It would also let the skill of the driver come to the surface. It almost works in F3 and F3000 so why not try it in F1.

Now to put the soap box away.

[Red Dog]

How about limiting testing?

Must be a fair chunk of the budget.

They could also pay the drivers a bit less. They like to say they don't do it for the money......Stirling Moss didn't do it for the money!!

The whole thing has got out of hand. Bernie was just too good at raising the stakes. Still, what's a billion or so for a season's racing?

[Total-F1]

Been there, done that, blah, blah, blah.

Ferrari have their own private track - they spent millions and millions on it. How do you police that?

There's so much money around because people are prepared to pay it. When it dries up, then nature takes its course and the teams have to adjust accordingly.

[DanFlag]

What about limited budget?

Teams would not be allowed more than XX amount of money...
That would bring some fairness into F3000 and F1 no?

By the way, I'm only dreaming out loud...

[cv2000]

Originally posted by DanFlag
What about limited budget?

Teams would not be allowed more than XX amount of money...
That would bring some fairness into F3000 and F1 no?

By the way, I'm only dreaming out loud...

I am not sure if that will be good either. If you look at Jag budget vs Arrows I think it's clear money doesn't mean everything. Unfortunately the Top guys get the best people but they been around for so long they know how to assemble a good team. It's not enough just to have one good designer etc but has to be a whole package.

Plus teams would then just find ways to fund their money under the table which would just create a bad atmosphere overall

[Russfeld]

Cost isnt the problem imo, but the value.

The F1 TV system needs to change. F1 world feed focuses on the leaders almost excluslively, even if say someone has stalled and is starting from the back. Ie at Suzuka 98 Schumacher didnt get near as much coverage running through the field as he would have if it was CART, NASCAR, Sportscars, etc.

Compare that to the digital feed. I watched Monza yesterday and half the race was on the midfield, which is valuable air time. That needs to be transferred to the world feed to help make their exposure value better. Im not saying we need to give everyone equal air time because you get sponsorship mainly based on success, but we need to cover whats going on.

Additionally I think they should allow logos to be in view of onboard cameras. It is a crucial part of exposure in North American racing because its 40 seconds at a time of clear in focus branding and can drastically improve the numbers.

[cv2000]

Originally posted by Russfeld
Cost isnt the problem imo, but the value.

The F1 TV system needs to change. F1 world feed focuses on the leaders almost excluslively, even if say someone has stalled and is starting from the back. Ie at Suzuka 98 Schumacher didnt get near as much coverage running through the field as he would have if it was CART, NASCAR, Sportscars, etc.

Compare that to the digital feed. I watched Monza yesterday and half the race was on the midfield, which is valuable air time. That needs to be transferred to the world feed to help make their exposure value better. Im not saying we need to give everyone equal air time because you get sponsorship mainly based on success, but we need to cover whats going on.

Additionally I think they should allow logos to be in view of onboard cameras. It is a crucial part of exposure in North American racing because its 40 seconds at a time of clear in focus branding and can drastically improve the numbers.

The camera shots could use some help for sure. Needs to be be more 'movie' like to make it exciting for fans. WHat i mean is a lot of different camera angles to be shown like say the Heli shot at monza and then cuting into Montoyas onboard for example as they went through the corner .....more exiciting coverage is what I mean

[Russfeld]

Well the quality of the coverage for sure, but also the coverage of the other teams, which lends itself to more exposure dollars for the sponsors, which means the sponsorship is a better value for them.

[ringo]

i think it would be cool if at the end of each year all teams makes their "secrets" (about their designs totally public so the backmarkers don't fall futher and further behind)... Also why on earth were they testing at monza 1 week before the race that sort of stuff is not nesessary. cut testing heaps (no privite testing), 1 make of tyres (no development- very hard compound), every team fields/ supports an f3000 team (why do minardi have an f3000 team but ferrari do nothing to support any junior racing)...

[Attila]

Ringo that is a very very good question. Why does the poorest team support the junior series and none of the big teams do the same. That is the problem with F3000. If you look at the driver, about 60% should not even be there, but because they have budgets they get to race. This is bad for the sport, and takes chances away from champions like Willson to get a drive afterwards. Same thing with Tomas Enge, I wonder what is he going to do next year. If the big teams invested in F3000, a better driver lineup would be possible. Also, the F1 teams could pick up their own F3000 drivers and maybe race the better ones in F1. Of course this is only a dream, because "I have a dream". :-))))

[sceptic]

Originally posted by Russfeld

Additionally I think they should allow logos to be in view of onboard cameras. It is a crucial part of exposure in North American racing because its 40 seconds at a time of clear in focus branding and can drastically improve the numbers.

Unfortunately it breaks the rules on advertising and sponsorship in Europe, so it will never happen.