Bleacher Report - Articles by Maria Rahman

FIA's 2010-List: Arrogance, Bluff or For Real?

Maria Rahman — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:16:46 -0400

Today FIA, or should I say Max Mosley, published that baffling list of teams entered for the 2010 F1 series.

Please see http://bleacherreport.com/articles/197744-2010-fia-formula-one-world-championship-entry-list for the full list.

From the moment it was published, it was met with disbelief, discussion and opposing press-releases.

Arrogance

My first reaction was fury at Max's utter arrogance: "I'm the boss and I alone decide how the business is run".

Max simply ignored the fact that Ferrari, STR and Red Bull had made conditional entries and are part of the FOTA-opposition to the FIA's new rule proposals.

Instead he included these three teams as unconditional in his list and gave the other five FOTA-teams a dead-line of June 19 to comply with FIA 2010 rules or leave F1 racing.

Next to the treatment of the old teams, also the three new teams included are not undisputed. FIA chose for two rather unknown teams (Manor and Campos) at the cost of more familiar names like Prodrive, Lola or Brabham.

Bluff

What could be the reason for Max and FIA to publish this list for 2010, apart from the sheer arrogance of an old fox? Bluff could be an option...

Max could be hoping to split the FOTA teams, by treating them differently.

He could also be hoping that by simply including all the teams for 2010, combined with their possible inability to organize their own grand prix racing (if only because of the threat by Bernie to sue them for may be hundreds of millions in case of a break away), the new season might take off in March as if nothing ever happened.

Real?

However, there may be more realism and force behind this list than we like to think. This list may not be based on bluff or arrogance but on a strong legal position of FIA. And that I find a scary thought!

Max told the press that Ferrari, Red Bull and Torro Rosso are legally bound to race in the present F1 series by contract, which they signed with the FOM, until 2012.

Max is a legal adviser; FIA already won the first court case from Ferrari in France. Max even managed to survive the Nazi-hooker scandal. He is a heavyweight in matters of law.

My nightmare is that FIA will be able to hold these three teams on to their contracts or sue them and win. We can only hope that Ferrari, STR and Red Bull can have their contracts be declared void, as Ferrari claims.

If FIA is legally justified, I can't see Ferrari, STR and Red Bull being able to stick to their threats to withdraw. Reducing FOTA effectively to a growling puppy.

I desperately hope, this list is no more than FIA and Max bluffing or overplaying themselves in arrogance.

Yet I am afraid that Max knew very well what he was doing.

If that is true, there will be no other option for the teams than to accept FIA rules, (which only may become more lenient by Max's "benevolence") or leave F1 - as long as they are not bound by contract.

FOTA Break-away F1-serie: Chance to Break Away from Boredom? Your Ideas?

Maria Rahman — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:47:04 -0400

Did you also nearly fall asleep during Turkey GP and were yawning while Monaco was raced?

Do you feel it's time for F1—or what we may see next—to become more thrilling, with more display of skill by the drivers?

Please come up with your thoughts and ideas and share them with your fellow BR members and the world. Who knows what it may lead to ?

Fast or boring?

The Reverse Grid article and the discussion on it spanned some thoughts in my mind.

Based on that and my observations during the season, a nagging feeling of doubt creeps in my mind, as to whether F1 is really all that interesting and exciting as its fan-base wants to tell itself, me included.

There I am, pre-race, heart bouncing, butterflies in stomach due to my high expectations...only to fall asleep half way, while my son is turning his attention to his computer game.

So much thrill with the fastest sport on earth, ahem!

New series, new chances?

Would a reverse grid help to spice things up? Apart from Sarah's dreamed Suzuka-experiment, which could be a nice idea, there are too many negative aspects to seriously think about it (and I don't think Sarah was all that serious either)

Perhaps FOTA's looming breakaway series, would be the right time to break away with boredom too?

A new series on new or upgraded tracks with dual, or even triple, line corners (investments earned back by increasing TV-audiences); more differentiation in points awarded, so that a fight for third or fifth place is also worth-wile, just to name some possibilities.

Request for serious ideas and wild thoughts

How to make F1-races more thrilling (but not more risky of course) or perhaps you'd like more even chances for all the riders, to truly decide about the drivers-champ?

I'm a relative newcomer to the sport and have limited insight and knowledge, I have no sensible ideas for improvements.

So my request to my fellow F1 enthusiasts on BR is to come up with your ideas and thoughts to improve Formula One racing...or would you prefer to leave F1 as it is?

Ferrari Loses Its Appeal Against FIA's Budget Cap

Maria Rahman — Wed, 20 May 2009 09:45:08 -0400

After Tuesday's hearings, a French court ruled on Wednesday that Ferrari had no valid arguments against FIA's budget-cap proposals.

Ferrari's claim that "the FIA has broken contractual obligations over rule changes" was dismissed by the court, thereby giving the go ahead to FIA's proposals for the 2010 season.

Ferrari has gambled and lost in the battle with the FIA over 2010 season rules. In my idea this is a very unfavourable development, weakening the position of the teams and reinforcing FIA's stronghold.

How could Ferrari take such a risk? Did they believe they would win the court-case? Or were they really so desperate that they felt they should grasp whatever chance they may have to fight FIA?

The F1 teams, united in the FOTA, now have to act fast in a renewed attempt to have the FIA allow for a more lenient or no budget-cap and equal rules for all teams, regardless of their spending.

Team-bosses are set to meet in Monaco prior to this weekends Monaco Grand-Prix.

May 29 is the deadline for the teams to register for next season. If FIA will enforce the proposals as they are, we may see several of the big teams like Ferrari, Toyota, and Renault quit Formula 1 racing under FIA rule.

Drama in F1 has only increased after this court-ruling.

A Question About Developments in F1 and the Role of FIA and Bernie

Maria Rahman — Thu, 14 May 2009 11:25:29 -0400

I'm reading about all the politics going on in F1 just now, the changes FIA/Bernie want, the resistance of the teams, etc.

My first reaction is always to want to "shoot" Bernie and Max for their seemingly ridiculous ideas and the ocean of changes they have been and are proposing and implying.

So often I tend to think that Bernie and Max (not that they are always on one line) are only driven by their lust for money and power and do not have the interest of F1 and its fans as a priority.

BUT is that really true? Are a lot of the protests (not all for sure) not simply motivated by a dislike of change as such?

Change is often initially rejected by powerful organizations and by large groups of people, only to find out that the changes really brought improvements and fresh air in the end...

So my question to you, F1-writers of BR, is: if you look back to the time just before the FIA (or rather Max) and Bernie became powerful and if you compare it with the present situation in F1, have they really "ruined" F1?

Present day Formula 1, with the huge number of fans attending the races, the world-wide media interest, the demands for safety and hence the strict rules that have to be applied to the circuits, the formidable size of the teams and their equipment...present-day F1 demands a very professional approach, if only we think about the aspect of logistics of a race weekend.

Have Max and Bernie provided (built up) such professional supporting organizations, as I'm pretty sure that 30 years or so ago it was much less needed and developed, or have they rather hindered this process?

It is clear that fans and teams are frustrated. Long-time favourite tracks are being deserted and desert-tracks came in their place; races tend to be dull, due to the lack of overtaking; all the technical regulations stand in the way of a creative development of the cars and now they are going to restrict the teams even so much more...it looks horrific what Bernie and Max are doing to F1.

OR should we acknowledge that spreading the races worldwide could have increased the number of fans and raised F1 popularity beyond Europe; that technical regulations meant that the cars of different teams had rather similar technical specs and thus the races are more closely fought.

Without the regulations just a few high-flying teams would have spent astronomical figures and outrun the other teams by street-lengths.

Races would have been rendered to slap-sticks or high-risk adventures with numerous collisions between fast and slow cars. And many more teams would have dropped out than now has been the case...

Have Bernie and FIA helped F1 progress over the years and have they just recently turned mad? Or have they always stood in the way of F1 developments? Without them F1 would now be much more advanced and respected? Or could it also be that they have done a lot of good and even their present day proposals might actually work well for F1 on the long run?

Guys, I really don't know the answers, I'm only a few years old in F1. My anger at Max and Bernie is shooting sky high, but yet I wonder if that anger is really justified.

I would be very happy if anyone can write some sort of historic evaluation of F1 organization and developments or point me to such an article that may already be existing here on BR.

But also simply any comment helping me to answer my questions will be highly appreciated.

Horses at The Olympic Games: Dressage, Jumping and Eventing

Maria Rahman — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:25:09 -0400

Equestrianism: sports of horse and rider. Dressage, jumping and the three-day-event (eventing) are the equestrian sports at the Olympic Games.

Equestrian sports were included in the Modern Olympic Games for the first time in 1900. They were absent in 1904 and 1908, but since 1912, they have never been missing from the program.

Initially almost all riders were military; eventing was open only to military officers, while in dressage and show-jumping civilians were allowed, but they only became regular competitors from 1952 onward.

Also since 1952, women were allowed to compete at an equal level with the men (and with great results). Equestrianism is one of the very few sports where men and women take part together.

Beijing

In Beijing 42 country's will take part in the equestrian competitions, either with a team or with individual riders. Seven nations have a team in all three events: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States.

The equestrian games will be held in Hong-Kong. Here a state-of-the-art venue has been built around the existing Sha Tin race-track. Eventing will be held from August 9 till 12, dressage on August 13, 14, 16 and 19 and finally Jumping on August 15, 17, 18 and 21.

Sport with horses?

On the official Olympic site (www.olympic.org), equestrianism is being called “the ultimate in team sports.” This is being explained further as: “a horse and rider working together for years to hone feats of grace, daring, agility and speed.”

But we shouldn't be blind to the fact that some discussion is going on by people concerned about animal-rights and -welfare as to whether a sport with horses is ethically justified. Some people worry that the horses are forced to take part in the sport, that they may dislike it and that they run the risk of injury.

Well, no one can deny that risk, as horses do occasionally get injured, but so they do in the wild and at a recreational level. A large majority of people sporting with horses are equally worried and sad when horses get injured. So in the past decade many effective steps have been taken to reduce the occurrence of injury. The sport, jumping and eventing, is now much safer for horse and rider than some time ago. But still: it's a tough call and I don't want to disregard it, though I do know that horses often are very enthusiastic partners, loving to compete. Horses love to run, to jump or to show off (as in dressage), together with their rider.

With the present high level in international top-sport, a horse that is not ready, not enjoying himself or even brutally forced to obey its rider will simply never be among the winners. As such a horse-and-rider combination will lack the dedication and brilliance needed to shine!

Amsterdam's Ajax: A New Start Under Marco Van Basten?

Maria Rahman — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 09:36:44 -0400

The past handful of seasons will not exactly be known as Golden Years in the history of Ajax.

The results were meager, considering the reputation of this great club. A frequent change of trainers and a continuous stream of new players came and left again. Most of whom weren't even Dutch, let alone from Amsterdam.

Ajax was losing it's identity. Where were the players who had gone through Ajax' own great and internationally famed schooling-system? Where were the people at the top, who had a long history in the club? I'm sure many fans of Ajax, like me, lost heart and felt Ajax is Ajax no longer. The players couldn't become a team and the directors, least of all those in charge of football-technical-matters, couldn't inspire, as if they were missing the Holy Fire.

I think this process of losing identity was set off when Ajax' shares became trade-able at the stock-exchange and making profit became priority number one. Staff were no longer seasoned club-members but qualified managers from outside, up to the technical director, who has to decide on player-management.

Under this new management, the attitude towards young players from the Ajax-school looks to have changed considerably. Many never even got a chance to play in the first team and if they did get one, patience was limited and soon staff would decide they weren't good enough and the young player had to search his luck elsewhere. Only some real great players like Babel, Sneijders, Van der Vaart, De Jong and Heitinga survived in the first team. But they were only a few, so the team had to be filled up with players from outside. And here technical management hasn't always been very successful in the past years. All these new players, coming and going - as they were also soon disqualified again (after all economics demanded for cheap rather than renowned players), led to the team-spirit going amiss and many sad and frustrated fans.

Till early this season an investigation-report was made public, made by some seasoned club-members and after that the spirit was out of the bottle. First, the head of the technical director rolled as well as that of the general director and the president. Now the presidium is consisting of long-time Ajax-members again and there are new directors.

Johan Cruijff, Ajax' most famous and loyal member, allowed himself to speak again (he curfewed himself under the old set of governors as he felt he was speaking to deaf ears) and he had a voice in contracting Marco van Basten as the trainer for the new season.

Marco Van Basten, one of the most famous sons-of-Ajax as a player, with whom, as a striker, Ajax won the European Cup-winners-Cup and who has been a successful trainer of the National team of Holland the past four years. He has an outspoken opinion, he likes attacking-football, which is typical for Ajax too (the Amsterdam fans hate the defending style of so many Italian teams) and he has the courage to stand up to anyone and demand for the players he needs, regardless of economics. He has earned the respect needed to silence the money-greedy-managers. His appearance in a few weeks time on the training-fields of Ajax makes our Ajax-hearts beat faster again...

I'm sure many fans are hopeful for the Ajax-fire of old to return and frankly: we can't wait to see that happen as this sloppy period lasted all too long.

Personally I hope that the Ajax-schooling-system will regain it's stature in the club. Because it was that system, with players playing for Ajax since they were kids, that made us all so proud and that made Ajax a club with a powerful beating HEART!

Ajax is one of the great clubs of Europe, being four times European Champion. Only to be bettered by Real Madrid, AC Milan and Liverpool and only to be equalled by Bayern Munich.

Since 1998 Ajax has only been national Champion twice (2002 and 2004). A low tide for the club.