di Montezemelo wants radical change to F1

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Not my cup of cake
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Planet F1 has a article with quotes from an interview with Luca di Montezemelo where he states he is looking for some radical changes to F1:

- Shorter races
- Changes to the start time (although he is not specific about what time he would want the races to take place)
- Two races per meeting
- A return to in-season testing
- Only "big" teams allowed to take part

F1 is not an endurance race but a 2 hour or 200 mile event doesn't seem overly long to me. I wish he would be more specific about what time he would like the races to take place; one in the morning and then one in the evening perhaps?

There is defacto in-season testing, about 5 or 6 hours at each GP weekend, the fact that Ferrari can't spend hours pounding round Fiorano testing every new part because their wind tunnel and simulation systems are not as good as the other teams doesn't, to me, justify changing the rules. Although a couple of test sessions, maybe one after the fly away races at the beginning of the season and then one during the mid-seaosn break might benefit all the teams, including the lower ranked lot.

As to the last point, what is he on? All teams, perhaps with the exception of Ferrari, started out as little teams and have then grown. Wouldn't it be fantastic if in 5 years time HRT are challenging for race wins? He uses a football analogy in the article, well the FC Twente won the Dutch league last season - isn't it great when a good little 'un beats a good big 'un?
 
Ah yes, Luca.

You know very well your team would be in a total mess if it wasn't for your £300m budget.

I don't agree with shorter races, I don't understand what he means about start times (presumably just before an Italian dinner), if I wanted two races I would watch GP2 (hold on, I do.), a return to in season testing? not sure, maybe 1 or 2 tests over the summer period would be okay.

Big teams, eh? Load of nonsense.

Ferrari laying claim to divinity here.
 
More silly ramblings from de MontezumasRevenge, what was all that crap about not having races while everyone was at the sea?

It seems that he wants to remove as much of the actual racing from F1, presumably so they can get about the real purpose of being in it which seems to be buttering up sponsors and getting their faces on the telly.
 
Ferrari seem to be becoming increasingly divorced from what the average fan of F1 wants.

I recall several times recently they have been extremely insulting about other teams, posting very odd press releases on their website.

They keep harping on about 3 car teams so they can get Rossi or someone else in a 3rd car, which is why they want rid of the new teams.

I suspect part of Ferrari's frustration is they no longer have the special arrangement with the FIA that they enjoyed when Max Mosley was president, as he quite clearly stated during one of the bitter exchanges last year.

I rarely take any notice of di Montezemelo and what he says these days.
The less press coverage he gets the better as far as I am concerned.
 
I could understand if it was slightly more measured, there's such a thing as fighting your own corner. Some of the stuff he comes out with is ridiculous though, I'm just waiting for him to ask for double points for Ferrari drivers or their own shortcuts so they can pick up the trophies without the bother of actually having to race anyone.

I don't agree with any of this 'F1 needs Ferrari' crap either, they were largely anonymous for much of last season and it was fine, very enjoyable in fact.
 
Shorten the Races? :censored:

Back in the 1950s, the races were at least 50% longer than today, and the cars were far more fragile. Monaco used to be 100 laps long.

More moaning from the Ferrari team-could it be the Alonso influence?
 
Most of the time the race length argument is put forward as a way of making the sport more accessible to people who find the idea of a 2hr race (which they don't understand) somewhat intimidating. That's fair enough, but surely it would make more sense to introduce a set of technical regulations that fostered more exciting racing, then you could attract those viewers who find F1 boring at the moment and still satisfy the purists who don't wish to see 'their' sport diluted by gimmicky sprint races or similar.
 
Awww, Bashing this is just too easy!!!

"F1 is the only sport in the world where there is no training"

As RB said at the top, those things on a Friday and Saturday called "Practice Sessions" don't count then?

100% agree with Brogan. Any press is good press and right now with Ferrari having slipped away from the front two since their victory in Bahrain it seems like Montazuma is having a bit of a whine.
 
He's a fool. Pure and simple. In his ideal situation he would spend as much money as he liked, and would have unlimited testing on the Ferrari test circuit. I'm afraid he is starting to realise that with the new cost saving measures, Ferrari just doesn't have the technical staff with the imagination and skills to develop a car with minimum funds, without the ability to test every piece to exhaustion.
 
MajorDanby said:
He's a fool. Pure and simple. In his ideal situation he would spend as much money as he liked, and would have unlimited testing on the Ferrari test circuit. I'm afraid he is starting to realise that with the new cost saving measures, Ferrari just doesn't have the technical staff with the imagination and skills to develop a car with minimum funds, without the ability to test every piece to exhaustion.

Either that or he's on one disastrous power trip..............you gotta' wonder; if Ferrari were winning as in years past when Schuey was driving for them, would he even have asked these questions? :o :o
 
However, di Montezemolo argues that cars that are not up to scratch should not be racing in the top flight.

"Cars performing on the same level as GP2 cars should not be allowed to participate in F1; we are supposed to be racing on Sundays," he told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Our car was good enough to challenge for victory [at the Canadian Grand Prix], so in the future let's hope we are not put a disadvantage while lapping cars. We have already gone through all that."

http://en.espnf1.com/ferrari/motorsport/story/20632.html
 
So, presumably, back in 1980 when Ferrari produced a real pup of a car which even failed to qualify in Canada Luca would have been happy for Ferrari to have had their entry withdrawn by the FIA for the 1981 season?

The bloke is as mad as a bag of monkeys. I've really enjoyed watching the slower teams get in the way of the faster boys and, on the whole, they have been pretty good at observing the stupid blue flags. Maybe di Montezemelo would like a red flag to indicate "Ferrari approaching, get out of the way" whether you're being lapped or leading one of his red cars.
 
As I said, it's best to ignore anything the guy says these days.

He seems to forget everything he criticises the new teams for, Ferrari were also guilty of at some point in time.

It makes you wonder what the atmosphere is like within FOTA when he continually attacks other teams in this way.
 
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