08/12/2005
NEWS STORY
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According to who you read, and who you believe, WilliamsF1's decision to sign up to the new, or rather extended, Concorde Agreement, marks either the end of the threat of the GPMA 'breakaway' series, or the beginning of a serious game of hardball.
First off, WilliamsF1 signing to Formula One Management's new Concorde Agreement wasn't a matter of if, but when. No matter how else you look at it, WilliamsF1 is the last of the privateer teams, and without the 'comfort' of manufacturer support, needed to align itself with the other independents.
It wasn't about money, for money isn't currently an issue at Grove. Yes, there has been the loss of HP, and in 2006 the team will have to pay for its engines, but almost all other sponsors will be retained, even if the former champions don't have a major title sponsor next season.
As previously reported on Pitpass, the company's most recent (published) accounts show a budget, and the next set will reveal an even greater increase.
So now we have Ferrari, WilliamsF1, MF1 and the Red Bull teams on one side, along with Bernie, and the remaining teams, along with the five manufacturers that comprise the GPMA, on the other.
In the wake of WilliamsF1's change of heart, CEO Chris Chapple, has called on the various factions to sit down and discuss the issues, and asked the manufacturers to remove the threat of a breakaway series.
Meanwhile, Honda team boss, Nick Fry, has said that he hopes the threat of a breakaway series has ended by the time the cars line up on the grid next March.
Bernie Ecclestone is known to have increased his financial offer to the teams, and according to sources the latest offer is very, very generous. However, there are other issues at stake, and those are not going to be quite so easily settled.
Furthermore, despite Ecclestone's public attitude towards the GPMA, whereby he refuses to take it seriously, we understand that privately he feels entirely different. Privately he is seriously concerned by the threat posed by the GPMA.
Last week, Patrick Faure, talking about the financial aspect of Formula One, compared the situation to Hollywood, the Frenchman saying that one would not expect movie stars to pay for the privilege of appearing in movies, which is essentially what is happening at present - the teams put on the show, with the money provided by the manufacturers.
Furthermore, there is an understandable sense of frustration amongst the teams and manufacturers as to why Ferrari is singled out for special treatment, being seen as a special case, not to mention the bad feeling that remains following the Italian team's 180 degree turnaround - regarding the breakaway series - earlier this year.
We face a long hard battle, and increased financial offers will not end the threat of a breakaway, for there are still issues such as the governance of the sport, not to mention the demands for 'transparency'.
It is interesting that the statement issued by the GPMA, in response to WilliamsF1's announcement, ended with the words: "They (the GPMA members and their affiliated teams) remain committed to their objective to further develop the sport for the benefit of all stakeholders and in particular the fans."
Got that, "the fans".
We've been hearing a lot about the fans recently. What with A1GP's fan friendly sales pitch, which in turn led to F1 finally acknowledging that the people in the grandstands, and watching on TV, have a contribution to make to the sport, other than handing over handfuls of cash.
Hopefully, with the involvement of CVC, Alpha Prema, or whatever, someone, somewhere, will finally realize the importance of the fans and see them for what they really are, customers. And as any business knows, you must have customers.
How does F1 see its customers at present... well just think back 25 weeks, to the most shambolic weekend in the history of Formula One, if not sport, when the F1 'circus' truly lived up to its name.
F1's most shambolic weekend took place in America, a country where NASCAR, a truly fan-friendly series, rules the roost, and a series from which F1 could learn a lot. Which is precisely what the experts at CVC are already focussing on.
Nobody wants to see Formula One break apart, but it's going to take a lot more than a few financial bungs to various interested parties to get the sport fully back on track.
At present, there's a long way to go.