Back to the Future: Why F1 Will Survive a FOTA Exodus

(Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

In the glory days, before F1 was stifled by over-regulation, there was no need for a budget cap: But then, there was next to no interest from car manufacturers, who have since destabilised the sport by spending literally billions of dollars in pursuit of a slight competitive advantage.

In these times of global economic hardship, we are seeing that even those who led the spending spree are no longer able to compete—Honda have already withdrawn and the news for Renault and Toyota is not good.

One long-time motorsports fan, whom I respect greatly, said recently, "I would rather a sport that rewards the clever, as opposed to the most well funded." I couldn't agree more with this statement, and it is for this reason that I support the FIA's approach to reducing costs if the technical regulations are freed up along with them.

If the FIA's plan for 2010 goes ahead, with or without the FOTA members, it will be much closer to the "pure" sport of Formula One than anything FOTA can produce. The FIA will have F1 in something close to its original form; an arena for some of the cleverest minds in the motoring world to show just how fast they can make an open-wheeled racer go.

And what will FOTA have, even if they do secure a decent television deal and some sponsorship money? An unregulated, directionless monster, the perfect mechanism for spending themselves into oblivion.

As with any dispute of this kind, there are rights and wrongs on both sides. The FIA's approach to pushing through its vision has been short-sighted and damaging; by not involving FOTA in any preparatory stage, they were certain to anger the team bosses who feel that they are owed the right to a say in the governance of F1.

And there is a case for saying that Max Mosley is not the right man to lead F1 into its new era, that he is a relic from a past that the FIA would do well to distance itself from.

There are even those who suggest that Mosley is seeking a legacy other than that bestowed so inelegantly upon him by the News of the World, and that so far as he is concerned what happens to F1 after him is immaterial.

I prefer to think less cynically, and to assume that the federation besides Mosley—for it is far from a one-man show—has an interest in safeguarding the future of Formula One. It will suffer if FOTA leave, but it will not be eradicated.

For progress to be made in this dispute there need to be concessions on both sides. A new Concorde Agreement needs to be signed, removing the ability of the FIA to make rules without first consulting the Formula One Commission, a long-forgotten body that has not met in years despite its supposed authority in matters of F1 legislation.

The teams need to accept the right of other outfits to enter F1, and their responsibility to ensure that they are able to do so by not requiring massive levels of spending for any team that wishes to become competitive.

But most importantly, everyone needs to understand that the FIA's plan for the future of F1 is fundamentally sound, and that a true engineering challenge would restore the spectacle of the sport and strengthen its fundamental principles. But that cannot be done without shedding some of the expense that has crippled the sport in recent years.

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