Formula One has been working through a civil war. The teams have been going at it with the FIA governing body, more importantly the head of the FIA in Max Mosley. Well, the war has come to a grinding end at the last possible moment to the relief of all F1 fans.
Formula One has long been on a path of self destruction. The problem has been the increased budgets required to race. Teams like Toyota and Ferrari are rumored to have budgets in excess of $300 million dollars for a season that lasts less than 20 races. This funding has resulted in many of the former powers in Formula One fading away. The Williams Team is a classic example.
The world wide economic meltdown forced F1 to face up to the cost issue. The issue is sponsorship, but not in 2009. Instead, the hit will not occur until 2010 when sponsor contracts expire and are not renewed. This coming meltdown caused the teams and FIA head Max Mosley to start going at it over the subject of cost reductions. Things quickly spiraled out of control.
The big teams in Formula One formed the Formula One Team Association, better known as FOTA. FOTA was led by the Ferrari president – Luca di Montezemolo. This was akin to all baseball teams putting together a union and going after the commissioner of baseball. It was nothing less than a mutiny and presaged a full blown brawl. Everyone agreed that costs needed to be cut, but the question was how. Things also became very personal when Mosley tried to simply set the rules without consulting the teams.
The third week of June saw the end of Formula One on the horizon. The teams were setting up a separate championship. Formula One was claiming it would move forward with a bunch of privateers. A total catastrophe awaited. So, why did things settle? The most likely reason is open wheel racing in the United States. The same exact thing happened in the U.S. and the result was a disaster. Open wheel racing has become nearly irrelevant compared to NASCAR. If it weren’t for Danica Patrick, it probably would be. The teams and powers that be in Formula One certainly took note of this.
So, how did the civil war end? The simple answer is Max Mosley and the FIA caved in. The budget rules for 2010 were scrapped. The mandatory car changes were scrapped. Max Mosley even agreed not to run for re-election as head of the FIA this coming June. The end result was the teams gained nearly everything they originally demanded and the FIA received next to nothing. The FIA has always kept control of F1 by forcing divisions in the teams’ unity. This time the teams stayed together with the exception of a few small teams. That unity effectively won them the war.
So, who is the biggest winner in this mess? The fans! Formula One will continue as we know it and a disastrous division into two series will not occur.
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