FIA / GPMA - F1 from 2008 (FIA and GPMA in agreement!)

[JayVee]

The ?new evidence? is once more showing how this USGP farce were the fault of Michelin and no one else. Mosly, the stewards and the FIA could not do other than insist that the rules and regulations were followed. Your contention that they could have had a race with all cars, is dependent on the track being reconfigured. That is patently against the rules, which is why it was never going to happen.

I don?t care what 1, 2 or 200 drivers think or support. The rules and regulations that the F1 championships are being fought for under, are the same rules for all. And no matter how much or little you, I and x number of drivers think of them, they can not be changed in the middle of a race, based on a tire manufacturer messing up in building a race tire.

There is no being correct by being in the majority, that is only being in the majority nothing else.

[JayVee]

Terrific fun to follow this thread, especially with Julian and Jay Vee playing ping pong

...


Sorry for the rant, friends, but I'm feeling (as a Kimi supporter) pretty down in the dumps these days. But, like Kimi says, "That's racing."

Cheers and I'm picking Kimi to win the next three races even if he has to push the damn thing across the line!

Jim Watt

Great post Jim
But do you think more than 1 tyre supplier adds excitement to Formula 1

Kimi is doing a great job but it seems McLaren can only be fast but can't be reliable. Maybe next year they will get it right before mid season and we have a closer fight between Kimi and The Cute

Now, back to the ping-pong

[JayVee]

It is true some are saying that Ferrari aren't competitive because they are on the wrong tyre but hello last year all the non Ferrari drivers weren't competitive because there were in the wrong car

no no no, they were in the right car, it just wasn't quick enough. They would have to be pretty silly to get in the wrong car, they are even different colours.

And Michael thought Michelin is spelled B r i d g e s t o n e

[Jim Watt]

Right, Julian, I mis spoke myself by saying "ping pong"; and anyway, the fun's in the vollying innit? Jim

[Jim Watt]

Jay Vee wrote:

Great post Jim
But do you think more than 1 tyre supplier adds excitement to Formula 1

Kimi is doing a great job but it seems McLaren can only be fast but can't be reliable. Maybe next year they will get it right before mid season and we have a closer fight between Kimi and The Cute

Now, back to the ping-pong [/quote]

Thanks, Jay Vee. Of course more than one supplier of anything adds excitement.

When FIA says they're trying to "control costs" to make for better racing, I read between the lines. It means they [FIA] can make more money by flacking the "rights" to tyre manufacturers to F1. It's evident from this year's Indy debacle that FIA would (and will!) sell the "tyre rights" to the highest bidder --even if that entity had never seen an F1 circuit! You know what the press release, in that case, would read:
"FIA and FOM are proud to announce the introduction of NAME into the highest levels of motorsport! Although NAME has to this point not involved itself in racing, we believe that their proven record in [fill this in] shows that they will bring a much needed new perspective to the problems of high speed adhesion and cornering!" etc. etc. blah blah blah.

The more teams, the more drivers, the more engines, the more chassis, the more tyres, the more everything the better (always remembering, of course, the percentage of pole position time requirement. It is, remember, called "qualifying" not "applying" -- and you shouldn't get points in the name of fairness or any other damn thing!)

In a way, you know, this season's WDC shows how meddling with the rules comes back to haunt the FIA. They only changed the point system because, as those who argued for it, "Michael, by winning so often and so early, was taking the suspense out of the WDC chase." So, having wrongly concluded that racing was about the WDC, not about winning, they tried to make it take longer for Michael to wrap it up. The upshot of this is that this year F1 is going to have a champion who didn't win as many races as his runner up.

This happens all the time in NASCAR -- they've even taken to trying to make the series into a a race to be considered eligible to race for the championship!-- but why in God's name would F1 want to be like NASCAR?!?!

When you answer that question, you see what is wrong with FIA: the only reason they want to be like NASCAR is because they want NASCAR's revenues!

cheerio Jim

[Julian Mayo]

Jim, Michelin have stated the they are not interested in being the sole tyre supplier to F1. Tis a tad hard to have a bidding war with only one interested party.

[Julian Mayo]

Right, Julian, I mis spoke myself by saying "ping pong"; and anyway, the fun's in the vollying innit? Jim

The "lob" works for me. Deceptively gentle, then.....whooooosh, SPLAT.

[GhoGho]

Right, Julian, I mis spoke myself by saying "ping pong"; and anyway, the fun's in the vollying innit? Jim

The "lob" works for me. Deceptively gentle, then.....whooooosh, SPLAT.

Sounds like a Fly Swatter to me

[Julian Mayo]

Right, Julian, I mis spoke myself by saying "ping pong"; and anyway, the fun's in the vollying innit? Jim

The "lob" works for me. Deceptively gentle, then.....whooooosh, SPLAT.

Sounds like a Fly Swatter to me

JV with a fly swatter...lethal weapon

[Jim Watt]

Julian Mayo wrote:

Jim, Michelin have stated the they are not interested in being the sole tyre supplier to F1. Tis a tad hard to have a bidding war with only one interested party.

Right you are Julian, that's what Michelin have stated. FIA have stated things in the past as well; indeed, that's what lawyers are for: to make statements.

What's going on, I suspect, right now is FIA is blaming them for the Indy debacle (never mind that FIA is just as responsible as they were) and trying to get them as a supplier at a cut rate. Their statement, then, means, "try again." Meanwhile Bridgestone, with the "single supplier rule" on the horizon [I think it's for 2008?] is more than willing to wait and see whether or not Michelin drops out of the bidding; because then they can be the rescuer & "help out" FIA, always assuming "suitable adjustments" can be to the cost of the licensing agreement.

The obvious solution would be to state tyre regulations and leave it to the teams to find the tyres. But of course if FIA did that, they'd be out of the money loop wouldn't they? There'd be no cash paid to them for the privilege of supplying to the "pinnacle of motor sport" as they so often like to call it.

Again I could just be a terrible cynic. And it could be true that the reason the Michelin teams went through qualification and pre-race warm-ups and the parade lap at Indy was "to give the fans something for coming out to the circuit that Sunday morning." Why is it that I believe the utter lack of candor about the tyre situation and the farce you saw on television --and I was an eye witness to-- were all dictated by lawyers? And if that's the case, why believe anything anyone, ESPECIALLY F.I.A., says?

I hope you're right and I am simply paranoid; let's wait and see.

Jim Watt

[Julian Mayo]

The work of a master. Geez Jim, I doffs me lid old mate, if I am cynical, then you must hold a PHD in the subject.

[danilen1]

Mosley is always talking about proposals to lower speeds in F1... does anyone else agree with this?
As long as its safe, which it is, surely half of the excitement is the increasing speeds in F1.. Its supposed to be living on the edge after all..
Another thing that annoys me is DC's constant moaning about making F1 safer for the drivers.. obviously I don't wish death on any driver, but for decades racing has been a sport with an element of danger, the idea being to separate the men from the boys.

THE CARS ARE SAFE ENOUGH... MAKE EM FASTER!! or else we'll be seeing GP2 and A1 cars going faster than F1 cars.

[JayVee]

Thanks, Jay Vee. Of course more than one supplier of anything adds excitement.

Thanks Jim!

That is all what I was trying to say.

And I don't care what excuse Michael will use for not winning this year cause he will always come up with an excuse. Bottom line his winning streak has ended and he should have retired at his peak but that is his problem.

The era of Alonso and Raikkonen has arrived

[Ed]

The Five manufacturers (BMW, Mercedes, Honda, Renault and Toyota) in Formula 1 have announced that they are moving forward with their plans to setup a new series from 2008.

The group isn't satisfied with the discussions held so far with the FIA and the commercial rights holder.

A statement by the group read:

Whilst the group remains open and willing to discuss with the current commercial rights holder and the FIA on the future of Grand Prix motor racing beyond 2007, the current uncertainty leaves them with no option other than to progress preparatory work for the New Series.
Although the team principals and manufacturers agreed that some progress was made in the recent meetings, they considered it was not sufficient to delay the preparations for the New Series.
As a result, International Sports & Entertainment AG (iSe), the company that was appointed October 2004 as an operating partner for the alliance of teams and manufacturers, will advance strategic and commercial negotiations with key parties.

Full Statement

[Julian Mayo]

this is a sad day. Bernie, Moseley and the FIA seem determined to ruin the sport.