FOTA embraces ‘completely new’ F1

FOTA embraces ‘completely new’ F1

Postby Cheese » Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:49 pm

Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA) chairman Luca di Montezemolo has revealed that the cost-cutting agenda the F1 teams signed up to at Wednesday’s landmark meeting in Monte Carlo will revolutionise the sport from 2012.

After a meeting with FIA president Max Mosley that it described as the “most successful” in memory, FOTA stated that the teams had reached agreement on a range of proposals that would reduce their huge outlays from next season onwards whilst ensuring F1 remains the pinnacle of motorsport.

No details of the measures proposed by FOTA have yet been released, pending their ratification at Friday’s World Motor Sport Council meeting.

But Wednesday’s statement made clear that they would yield “very significant” cost savings a year earlier than Mosley had demanded.

Elaborating on the discussions in a statement released on Thursday, Montezemolo said the teams have committed to three years of spending retrenchment leading to the introduction of a radically different formula from 2012.

“The proposals presented to President Mosley, with Formula 1’s DNA in mind – made of technology and sportiness – will enable us to drastically cut costs as of the upcoming season to have a complete[ly] new Formula 1 in the year 2012, projected into the future,” he said.

He signalled that energy efficiency would play a key part in the post-2012 F1, while budgets would be scaled back to 1990s levels.

“[It would be] distinguished by an innovative spirit and great attention as far as the environment is concerned, but on economic levels as in the 90s, while maintaining the fascinating challenges, which is one of the factors why this sport is one of the most popular sports in the world,” he said.

Montezemolo said Wednesday’s meeting had been held in “a climate of enormous collaboration” as all the participants recognised the gravity of the financial pressures facing F1 amid the global economic downturn – pressures that were dramatically highlighted by Honda’s shock withdrawal from F1 last Friday.

“The worldwide economic crisis and the enormous increase of costs in Formula 1 over the last years led the FIA and its president to give a strong and right impulse to cut costs as of 2010 to get our sport back into acceptable economic dimensions, so all teams will be able to participate,” said Montezemolo.

“The answer we could find was beyond our all expectations.

“The extreme compactness, never seen before, and all the participants’ passion for this sport brought the FOTA members to go beyond the requests made by President Mosley, taking into account courageous proposals, while voting unanimously for a substantial reduction of costs already as of 2009, which will be the most difficult year for the world economy and for the automotive industry in particular.”

He added that he was proud the teams had managed to overcome partisan self-interest through the new forum of FOTA and had united behind proposals to put F1 on a sounder footing.

“I am extremely proud of the work FOTA has done so far – an association which didn’t exist until last September and which united the teams, going beyond their rivalry, the salt of racing, but which could have been an obstacle on the way redesigning the future of Formula 1,” he said.

While Montezemolo was delighted with the agreement reached over cutting costs, he stressed that the issue of the teams’ income also had to be urgently addressed in discussions with Bernie Ecclestone and Formula One Management (FOM).

“There is still much left to do, also because when we have a look at the economic side of the companies and not only the ones of the F1 teams, we have to consider the costs but also the earnings,” he said.

“In this sense yesterday we managed to agree with the FIA on the necessity to organise a meeting with FOM to discuss the earnings of the Formula 1 teams.”

The teams are looking to increase the 50% share of F1 profits that is divided between them – possibly to as much as 80% – to reinforce the improvement in their finances that would be achieved by lower costs.

But a redistribution on that scale is expected to be resisted by Ecclestone and F1’s majority owner CVC Capital Partners, which funded its acquisition through a leveraged buyout and needs a large amount of ‘headroom’ merely to make the interest payments on its debt and pay off the loan principal.

© ITV-F1
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FOTA to reveal F1 vision

Postby Cheese » Wed Mar 04, 2009 9:25 pm

Teams meet to discuss future direction of the sport

The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) will reveal their blueprint for the future of the sport on Thursday.

A series of radical, cost-cutting measures were agreed upon with FIA president Max Mosley in December in a bid to steer F1 away from potential ruin following Honda's demise.

FOTA had a meeting in Geneva on Wednesday and president Luca Di Montezemolo is due to announce proposals aimed at increasing the stability, sustainability, substance and spectacle of F1.

His comments will be based on the findings of a FOTA-commissioned survey of Formula One audiences across 17 countries.

Included in Wednesday's meeting were Mario Theissen (BMW Sauber), Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh (McLaren), Flavio Briatore (Renault), Stefano Domenicali (Ferrari), John Howett (Toyota), Franz Tost (Toro Rosso), Christian Horner (Red Bull Racing), Alex Burns (Williams) and Ross Brawn, boss of the team formerly known as Honda.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, and explaining FOTA's principles, Whitmarsh, who became team principal of McLaren on March 1, said: "Formula One is a work in progress.

Fantastic initiative

"FOTA is a fantastic initiative. It's the first time in the history of grand prix motor-racing all the teams have come to together.

"Inevitably in an organisation that contains all the teams that are highly combative on a Sunday and have a lot of history amongst them, it is quite challenging for those teams to work together.

"But so far they've done a fantastic job, and Luca di Montezemolo has been a great chairman, with a lot of teams making a lot of compromises, but that is what's necessary.

"If you look at a Formula One grid and you realise you have on one hand one of the world's largest companies in Toyota, and then Toro Rosso on the other, and you are trying to balance their ambitions and desires for the future of the sport, it is quite a tall order.

"Understandably, we have been focused on cost-saving measures so far because not so long ago we were looking at engine-only deals in excess of 20 million euros (£17.8million), and many millions required to develop transmission systems.

"But come 2010 we will have a system whereby a customer team can obtain a full powertrain for 6.5million euros (£5.8million).

"That's a big, big step forward for everyone, and shows the commitment of the automotive manufacturers who did not necessarily come into this sport to provide engines to more than their own team.

Improved spectacle

"So there's been a lot achieved so far, but we are mindful we have to look at how to improve the spectacle of the sport, and we have to make sure we make those decisions in a considered way.

"There have been a number of different surveys that are interesting and given us information.

"But the teams themselves have funded market research, looking at race format, qualifying format, what's important, what are the cardinal points of Formula One we make sure we retain."

Whitmarsh is insistent, though, that while "everyone has a very open mind about the future", he feels there is no need to rush into a whole range of changes.

He added: "The reality is the last two seasons have had a very exciting climax, and for us personally one was painful and the other slightly more joyous.

"But they've been very special because fundamentally Formula One is a fantastic sport and great for all of us involved in it.

"But we have to make sure we make it better for the fans that watch it, and hopefully we can grow new ones."

© SkySports.com
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F1 teams unveil vision of future

Postby Cheese » Thu Mar 05, 2009 5:15 pm

Proposals for major changes to Formula One's future have been unveiled by the body which represents the teams.

The Formula One Teams' Association (Fota) wants to introduce a new qualifying format and "radical new points-scoring opportunities".

Fota wants to bring in the changes, which also include reducing the duration of Grands Prix, by 2010.

But any changes must first be approved by the World Motorsport Council of the sport's governing body, the FIA.

Ways to improve F1's spectacle for trackside fans and TV viewers and extra cost-cutting plans were also outlined at Fota's meeting in Geneva.

Senior management figures from all 10 current F1 teams attended the organisation's first official news conference since it formed last year as they set out the proposed agenda for the evolution of the sport.

"This is an unprecedented moment in Formula One history," said Fota chairman Luca di Montezemolo, who is also president of Ferrari.

"Above all else, for the first time the teams are unified and steadfast - with a clear, collective vision."

Fota says its proposals - categorised either as technical, sporting or commercial - are aimed at increasing F1's "stability, sustainability, substance and show". While we will continue to compete vigorously on track, we all share one common goal: to work together to improve F1

They come at a time when the sport is implementing a significant raft of cost-cutting measures, on the back of the global economic crisis.

The move represents the most significant action taken in the growing collective movement from teams to have a greater say in F1.

Technical proposals for 2009 include a reduction in wind tunnel and CFD (computational fluid dynamics) usage.

For 2010, Fota proposes that Kers (kinetic energy recovery system) is standardised, engines are available at £4.5m per team per season, and that telemetry and radio systems are standardised.

In sporting terms, it suggests a further reduction in testing - which is already significantly reduced this season - and wants race-starting fuel loads and associated data to be made public.

Commercially, it wants to "dramatically improve engagement with the public" and proposes mandatory driver autograph sessions during Grand Prix weekends.

The proposals were developed as a result of Fota-commissioned survey of F1 fans and infrequent followers of the sport across 17 countries as it seeks to "broaden as well as to deepen" F1's appeal.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live on Thursday, McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh was keen to highlight that Fota is looking to extend F1's appeal beyond its traditional supporter base.

"The teams have conducted a unique global survey of audience," he said. "Traditionally there have been many surveys of F1 devotees, the avid fans who to some extent constitute the captive audience.

"But we've gone out there and spoken to people who have only expressed a vague or passing interest in F1 to understand what it is they wanted, what would encourage them to watch the show more.

"We are absolutely convinced that F1 has the potential to grow in many more markets.

"The sport has been a very combative environment between the teams, but this is a new era."

Di Montezemolo also stressed the benefits being reaped by the collective standpoint being taken by the 10 teams.

"Thanks to our unity, all the teams have already managed to make a significant reduction to their costs for 2009," he said.

"And, while we will continue to compete vigorously on track, we all share one common goal: to work together to improve F1 by ensuring its stability, sustainability, substance and show for the benefit of our most important stakeholder, namely the consumer.

"It is with this mindset that we now intend to work hard, with our partners at the FIA and Formula One Management [commercial rights holders], our shared goal being to optimise the future of F1."

In January, Fota gave the green light to plans to cut costs as FIA president Max Mosley urged a further reduction in spending.

They ratified plans to cut testing in 2009 and to supply independent teams with engines costing £4.5m from 2010, and also pledged to develop low-cost transmissions for the 2010-12 seasons.

Despite agreeing on new ways to cut spending, Fota is known to oppose the FIA's proposal to introduce a budget cap for each team.

© BBC Sports | Motorsport
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