At the start of the year all the plans for the 2010 season were about cost cutting. It was the buzz word of the week and with the global financial meltdown fresh in everyone's minds there was even some general acceptance from the teams and the fans alike. Now that things have calmed down and we are all still here and the world hasn't stopped turning it's perhaps time to take stock of where these plans have gone and what, if anything, this means for next season.
Obviously the biggest fear the FIA had to face was that there would be no show to speak of by 2010. Honda had leapt clean out of the plane and were skydiving to safety somewhere over Japan and it looked like the rest of the teams would crash slap bang into Bernie Towers unless drastic financial measures were introduced. As we know the plan from Max was to introduce the "two level" championship, allowing those teams who signed up to a cap, unlimited developmental freedom and those who didn't tighter controls. Obviously this was never going to work and the FOTA teams ensured it didn't. One of the side effects of all of this was Max having to fall on his sword which is perhaps something that even the FOTA teams didn't dare hope for.
So with the budget cap system having crashed and burned there was now no viable alternative on the table. It's interesting to note that none of the proposed modifications to the championship by FOTA, have been or are likely to be introduced either. At least one of these proposals didn't go down well with fans and that was to run shorter races. The white elephant that is KERs has also seen the teams spend a fortune on a system that is now proving its worth but is intended to be dropped next season. I wonder if KERs had been a FOTA idea and not one from Max if this would still be the case and I still can't quite believe that the teams are so ready to give it up just yet.
Now here's the new problem. With at least 4 new teams joining the grid there will be less money to go around. At present the bottom 3 teams in the championship (I believe this is still the case but could be wrong) pool the prize money due to 8th, 9th and 10th spots and then distribute it equally between themselves. This came about during the final years of Jordan and Minardi and saw the teams at the bottom end of the grid receive a cash boost without a net increase in the amount of money paid out. With 13 teams on the grid from next season will this practice end? Will CVC/Bernie return to the old days of paying travel and bonus money down to the 10th placed team in the championship or will this now be extended to include the new teams. Given that Manor, Campos, USF1 and Lotus are going to be quite far behind the curve anyway and with the difficulty of being start up outfits and attracting sponsors to an unknown brand, they are more likely to need a cash boost in their first few years of operation.
The next problem is that the grid is now at a record 19 races. We have already seen problems with teams and logistics next year, getting to Monaco after the Turkish GP and McLaren in particular have been very vocal about the additional costs in freight and transport. With yet another fly away race added to the calender in the shape of South Korea these costs are set to rise again. Which links us back to the original problem of how to fund the teams in the first place. It's clear that the teams are going to need more money not less in order to compete in the championship.
So after 9 months of argument and political fallout the result is that we have potentially a more expensive championship without any form of viable cost cutting measure left over from the host of suggestions at the start of the year. With sponsorship deals hard to find at least until there is some clear signs of a global economic recovery and with at least 1 maybe 2 manufacturers on the verge of pulling the plug and leaving F1 we could find ourselves back to square one by 2012. Now that's progress.
Obviously the biggest fear the FIA had to face was that there would be no show to speak of by 2010. Honda had leapt clean out of the plane and were skydiving to safety somewhere over Japan and it looked like the rest of the teams would crash slap bang into Bernie Towers unless drastic financial measures were introduced. As we know the plan from Max was to introduce the "two level" championship, allowing those teams who signed up to a cap, unlimited developmental freedom and those who didn't tighter controls. Obviously this was never going to work and the FOTA teams ensured it didn't. One of the side effects of all of this was Max having to fall on his sword which is perhaps something that even the FOTA teams didn't dare hope for.
So with the budget cap system having crashed and burned there was now no viable alternative on the table. It's interesting to note that none of the proposed modifications to the championship by FOTA, have been or are likely to be introduced either. At least one of these proposals didn't go down well with fans and that was to run shorter races. The white elephant that is KERs has also seen the teams spend a fortune on a system that is now proving its worth but is intended to be dropped next season. I wonder if KERs had been a FOTA idea and not one from Max if this would still be the case and I still can't quite believe that the teams are so ready to give it up just yet.
Now here's the new problem. With at least 4 new teams joining the grid there will be less money to go around. At present the bottom 3 teams in the championship (I believe this is still the case but could be wrong) pool the prize money due to 8th, 9th and 10th spots and then distribute it equally between themselves. This came about during the final years of Jordan and Minardi and saw the teams at the bottom end of the grid receive a cash boost without a net increase in the amount of money paid out. With 13 teams on the grid from next season will this practice end? Will CVC/Bernie return to the old days of paying travel and bonus money down to the 10th placed team in the championship or will this now be extended to include the new teams. Given that Manor, Campos, USF1 and Lotus are going to be quite far behind the curve anyway and with the difficulty of being start up outfits and attracting sponsors to an unknown brand, they are more likely to need a cash boost in their first few years of operation.
The next problem is that the grid is now at a record 19 races. We have already seen problems with teams and logistics next year, getting to Monaco after the Turkish GP and McLaren in particular have been very vocal about the additional costs in freight and transport. With yet another fly away race added to the calender in the shape of South Korea these costs are set to rise again. Which links us back to the original problem of how to fund the teams in the first place. It's clear that the teams are going to need more money not less in order to compete in the championship.
So after 9 months of argument and political fallout the result is that we have potentially a more expensive championship without any form of viable cost cutting measure left over from the host of suggestions at the start of the year. With sponsorship deals hard to find at least until there is some clear signs of a global economic recovery and with at least 1 maybe 2 manufacturers on the verge of pulling the plug and leaving F1 we could find ourselves back to square one by 2012. Now that's progress.
