Bernie only wants 10 teams

[sportsman]

No worries Brogan; no offence assumed and none taken.

And sportsman,

Yes I agree to an extent about sponsorship but is it really that much pressure from sponsors that dictates team orders? I am not convinced, for example, that last Sunday's switch was due to pressure from Santander as some have suggested; I suspect that Ferrari were quite capable of deciding that one for themselves; it would appear to be in their nature.

I think that is part of the problem,but several factors are involved.
Santander sponsor Alonso, so depending on where Alonso goes also decides where Santanders money goes.
It did go to McLaren until Alonso went to Ferrari and of course took Santanders money with him.
If Alonso is unhappy and goes, the money goes with him.
Then Ferrari's actual agreement with Alonso.He may not have#1 status written into his contract, but it could easily, and probably is an unspoken agreement.
No easy right answer to that conundrum.

 

[DOF_power]

I have quite a lot of admiration for Bernie in what he has done for F1 in terms of turning it into a global spectacle.
And incidently making a huge fortune for himself in the process.Not bad for a guy who began his business career selling seconhand motorcycle parts in Bungay.

But in the process he has turned F1 into nothing more than a circus.From being a sport it has now morphed into a money making excersise for him, and the cost to the sport has been huge.
I am a racing purist.For me racing is first and foremost a sport.Competition between the best drivers in he best cars in the world.
This is why I am so bitterly opposed to team orders,where the outcome of the race is decided by the sponsors not by the drivers abilities.
It high time that F1 rid itself of Bernie.No one man should be able to opertate as a dictator and impose his tyranical will on everthing.
Having finally got rid of his remora none other that Mad Max himself, I pray that Bernie soon see's the light and bows out gracefully.

Grand Prix was always a circuit.
In the good old days team orders were even worse (sometimes a lot worse) and drivers were paid according to their status/popularity.

I said before, it never had a soul.

 

[DOF_power]

I think that is part of the problem,but several factors are involved.
Santander sponsor Alonso, so depending on where Alonso goes also decides where Santanders money goes.
It did go to McLaren until Alonso went to Ferrari and of course took Santanders money with him.
If Alonso is unhappy and goes, the money goes with him.
Then Ferrari's actual agreement with Alonso.He may not have#1 status written into his contract, but it could easily, and probably is an unspoken agreement.
No easy right answer to that conundrum.

The only unspoken agreement is that is that if somebody has a points lead he's gonna be the one helped for title push.

Massa can only blame himself for under-performing so much.

 

[DOF_power]

In yet another crass display, Bernie has demonstrated exactly what he thinks of the new teams.

"All we ever want is 10 teams," he said. "Lotus is a good name. I wouldn't want to lose them. But in general this year has been a bit of a nuisance because it has cost money to keep these teams in. It has cost a lot of money to pay for them to compete."

He also goes on to say they he expects a couple of them to drop out before the end of the season. Presumably that couple being HRT and Virgin.

Bernie's problem is he has forgotten where most of the current teams came from and how long it took them to get where they are.

When the odds are so stacked against new teams with regards to the testing restrictions, is it any wonder that they struggle to compete?

If the new teams do drop out and then the "13th" team for next year also drops out due to not having enough preparation or testing time then that says more about the current state of F1 than it does those teams.

I can't help thinking that under new management, F1 would be better for all concerned, the teams, the circuit owners, the sponsors and the fans.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/85609
http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/24557.html

People cried/whined in 68 about commercial sponsorship and they still watched, before that it was about rear engined cars, and so on and so forth.

Most "fans" demand heroes/gods to worships and villains/devils to hate and teams like Ferrari they worship or hate.
And as long as these heroes and villains are in closely fought championship people will watch.

That's what it's all about. And internet nerds and so called purists are a niche withing a niches and don't guys think otherwise.

Controversy is good and Bernie knows who the fans very well and what is good for the series.


Mod Comment

Edited for potentially inflammatory language. Try and keep it nice guys

FB

 

[Brogan]

DOF_power, when you quote can you just quote the relevant part of the post?
It makes it difficult to see which part of the post you're responding to when you copy everything.

As for your last comment, I think everyone is aware of the game Bernie plays by now.

 

[DOF_power]

What's so inflammatory ?!

A lot of of the fans are actually fanboys of drivers or of teams (tifosi), that's the truth and I'm not insulting or baiting anyone here. Just stating a fact.

I'll post charts with TV rating to make this point if I have to.

 

[MajorDanby]

The ones posted here?

 

[ATL11]

F1 has to find a balance in these economic times....

They fear the outrage if they had just 10 teams and 1 team dropped out, how close they would get to the Concorde agreement a grid of 16/18 means teams can run 3 cars? & then teams locking out the Podium & fans getting bored.......

Against having 12 to 14 team and it looking like a circus with teams just making up the numbers.

We used to have 28 cars & pre Qualifying to get in the 28 car race.

Problem today with the gap between the teams is their inability to test, they don't have a chance.

Throw 1 in, how about the bottom 3 in the Constructors Championship have a Monday test day after each race weekend @ each circuit, with a max of 100 laps testing for each of their 2 cars?

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

No worries Brogan; no offence assumed and none taken.

And sportsman,

Yes I agree to an extent about sponsorship but is it really that much pressure from sponsors that dictates team orders? I am not convinced, for example, that last Sunday's switch was due to pressure from Santander as some have suggested; I suspect that Ferrari were quite capable of deciding that one for themselves; it would appear to be in their nature.

I think that is part of the problem,but several factors are involved.
Santander sponsor Alonso, so depending on where Alonso goes also decides where Santanders money goes.
It did go to McLaren until Alonso went to Ferrari and of course took Santanders money with him.
If Alonso is unhappy and goes, the money goes with him.
Then Ferrari's actual agreement with Alonso.He may not have#1 status written into his contract, but it could easily, and probably is an unspoken agreement.
No easy right answer to that conundrum.

Sorry to be anally retentive but Santander sponsor both McLaren & Ferrari this year, though I believe their logo doesn't appear on the McLaren car, only the drivers' overalls.