Mosley: Teams set to miss May deadline
By Jonathan Noble Monday, May 18th 2009, 11:29 GMT
Max MosleyFIA president Max Mosley now expects only around half the current grid to lodge entries to next year's Formula 1 world championship by this month's deadline, following the failure to reach agreement about plans for a voluntary budget cap in meetings last week.
Mosley and F1's commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone met with team representatives for lengthy discussions last week amid threats from a number of outfits about withdrawing from the sport at the end of this year.
And, following the failure of the teams to get any compromises off the FIA about its plans for a £40 million budget cap limit, Mosley now thinks it likely that some teams will opt against lodging their entries by the May 29 deadline.
Those teams that do not enter in time will face a late entry financial penalty if they want to get back in later, but also risk the possibility of not getting back in at all if the grid is filled with new outfits.
"I think that we will probably get anywhere between three and six teams by the deadline, depending," said Mosley, when asked by AUTOSPORT about what he thought would happen.
"After that they become a late entry and if there is a space they can take it, and if there isn't space they cannot."
Although there have been fears that F1 is facing a crisis because of the threats by teams to quit, Mosley remains totally calm about the situation. He believes that even if teams skip the May 29 deadline, then circumstances will force them to decide pretty quickly after that what they plan to do.
When asked about concerns of the situation remaining unresolved until the winter, Mosley said: "I'm not sure it will drag on that long, because if you put yourself in their position - they have to make up their minds what they want to do. If they want to continue racing in F1, then they can come and talk. And if they want to go and do something else, then they have got to start making a car.
"If teams don't enter the F1 world championship, they are going to have to decide pretty quickly what they do - start their own series, race in some other series or pack it in. And if they pack it in, they have got an even bigger problem than if they operate under a cost cap, as far as the personnel are concerned. It is not completely obvious what they would do.
"There is a good chance that when people sit and think about it, common sense will prevail because what is wrong with everybody being limited by the same amount of money, and the performance being limited by the cleverness of the engineers? It is very appealing to a lot of people that – and it is fair.
"And you could argue that if one team has got ten times as much money as another, then it is just the same as having a bigger engine. It is actually not very fair."
Mosley has also made it clear that if the rebel teams opt to set up a breakaway series, then the FIA would be happy to sanction it.
"Absolutely. We would have to do that, and we would do that. And if they did a breakaway, they could write their own rules and we would check them over for safety. And that would be it.
"Then, they would go off and negotiate with promoters and television companies, who would no doubt charge them a great deal of money as they would be there for marketing purposes.
"And rumour has it, when they went to negotiate with the promoters they would find Bernie on the other side of the table! I don't know if there is anything in that, but it is just a suggestion..."
FOTA members held a meeting after their get together with the FIA on Friday but failed to reach agreement on a way forward – with further talks now planned for this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.
Ferrari's court action in France, as it seeks an injunction against the FIA's introduction of 2010 regulations, is due to be heard on Tuesday.
Formula 1, I'm starting to use the name loosely now as the politics is going out of control. At the risk of offending people I dare say that the world of Formula 1 is looking more and more like the government of the Third Reich. At first glance the the notions seems absurd. However the more I look into it, the less far fetched it seems. And the focal point of all of this is 'der fuhrer auf Formula 1' err I mean Max Mosley. But again is branding him 'Der Fuhrer' is closer to call then one might realize. Now the anti-Semitism and violence are thankfully absent from this equation, still the governmental structure and administration ever since Max Mosley took the presidency draws quite a few similarities. For example, Hitler's behavior during his time in power.
1- Cronyism in the extreme, appointing by personal loyalty and undying obedience (yes men)? Check
2- Slander / Smearing of any critics and total inability to take criticism? Check
3- Show trials and unjust punishments to those out of favour with those in power? Check
4- Show elections / unchallenged positions- Check
5- Inability to take advice of competent personnel - Check
6- Scandal prone - Check
7- Out of touch with reality- Check
8- Self destructive when their empire crumbles around them- Check.
9- Rules out of fear and threats - Check
10- Inability to take responsibility for mistakes- Check
Max's iron fist rule seemed to only get worse with time as is evident with the growing politics in Formula 1. Who are suffering the most are the most are the drivers, team personnel and fans. The first two because now their employment is constantly in question as are the results of their work and the fans, many of whom pay high prices to go see a race. To be fair, the modern day dilemma is not wholly Max's fault. Teams have also displayed a veritable lack of common sense. However Max is supposed to mediate disputes and ensure the sport is governed fairly and peacefully, Not aggravate already serious problems and tell those who disagree to sit down and shut your face. Again allusions to the Third Reich 'Der Fuhrer's word is law' seems to be the overall theme of Max's tenure as FIA president and it's frankly quite tiresome. The Indygate scandal in 2005 should have been a wake up call but it seemed no-one has learned from it. And also the prime example of Max's 'Der Fuhrer' delusion.
Though his personal activities shouldn't factor into this whole situation. Still he doesn't deny the Nazi themed S&M sex with 5 prostitutes so even though it's none of our business, it still happened. And it suggests a very possible desire to emulate 'Der Fuhrer' himself. I wish I was making this up, but frankly it's all too possible with Max's behavior. If Max wants to be 'Der Fuhrer' in the bedroom that's his right and it's none of our business. However if he wants to try that with the FIA presidency then that's stepping over the line. There's a problem with empires, they don't last..
