A crisis meeting in the cards?

[Pierce89]

Di Montezemolo, Bernie and Todt meeting tomorrow will be interesting. In the Ferrari fan survey apparently consisting of the views of 50,000 fans. 83% of them are dissatisfied with the sport. dismissing it mainly because of the drivers being forced to lift off to save fuel. What a coincidence then that Ferrari is rumoured to have the most thirsty engine. Di Montezemolo wants shorter races, I will give up watching f1 if that happens.

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12474 ... in-bahrain

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/04/03/f ... t-trusted/

Nowhere in the poll did Ferrari ask about the impact of the fuel rules, the noise of the engines or the complexity of the new formula. The poll results give Ferrari no justification for asserting that fuel conservation, noise or complexity are why those who responded are criticising the sport.

Ferrari made my butt hurt! Wahhh! Collantine is hilarious.

[bhall]

Ferrari made my butt hurt! Wahhh! Collantine is hilarious.

That dude's weird. He regularly posts polls of the same variety on his blog and seems to have very little trouble drawing conclusions from them. Yet, he goes off on a tangent about Ferrari's similar practices?

It's like he doesn't understand that all online polls, which by their very nature are immutably distorted by selection bias, are completely worthless, and one needn't say anything other than that to refute their results.

[xpensive]

Moreover, if a poll says that Eminem is a greater talent than Mozart ever was, I will respectfully ignore it.

[CHT]

I think change is going to come. Fuel flow or load tweak likely to happen soon to allow teams to catch up with merc.

Bernie Ecclestone thinks urgent changes to improve the Formula 1 spectacle are now essential - after claiming on Sunday that the current state of the racing is 'unacceptable' for fans.

Ahead of a series of meetings in the Bahrain paddock between the sport's chiefs and Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo on Sunday to discuss the current state of the sport, Ecclestone has ramped up the pressure for a rethink.

With AUTOSPORT understanding that race promoters have already written to him expressing concern about the impact the new rules are having on fans, Ecclestone says change is needed.

"I think we have to, for sure," he said when asked by AUTOSPORT if he agreed change was required.

"I don't think the way things are at the moment are acceptable to the public. People buying tickets to come here expect to see what Formula 1 used to be."

Ecclestone thinks that F1 has gone in the wrong direction with the new 1.6-litre turbo engines - even though he is impressed with the technology.

"What is wrong is these fantastic engines," he said. "The engines are without doubt incredible, the amount of power they produce for the small amount of fuel.

"But I don't think it is F1 business. They should do it in touring cars or something - not in F1."

Ecclestone think the changes to F1 need to be focused on tweaking the car noise and revising the fuel limitations.

He ruled out the idea of shortening grand prix distances, and instead reckoned that the best way forward would be to raise the maximum fuel allowance.

"I think they can do something about the noise," he said. "If they need another 10kg of fuel or something like that, then I think everyone will agree."

NO PLAN TO ROB MERCEDES OF ADVANTAGE

Although Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff said in Bahrain that talk of changing rules was 'absurd', Ecclestone reckoned that the German car manufacturer would ultimately support moves to make the sport more appealing to fans.

"I think what is important is that the teams know the problem and the engine manufacturers know the problem," he said. "They are trying to sort it.

"I think Mercedes will be behind it. I think they will be the leaders."

He also suggested that tweaks would be able to make the racing better without eroding Mercedes' competitive advantage.

"We can do these things without it particularly doing that," he said.

"Mercedes without any doubt have done a better job. And they should not be punished for doing a good job - we should not change the regulations to punish them.

"I think everybody is complaining really - even Mercedes. They don't like people not being happy."

[xpensive]

The crisis meeting is on as we speak, big dogs, MrE, MrT and Montezuma, are deciding on how to bring back the V8s next year.

Everybody knows that Mercedes is pulling the plug after 2014 anyways.

[FoxHound]

Nah, merc are in this for the long haul.

The arbitrary meetings are more show than go. There is a mooted takeover for the F1 show, and there is nothing like a bit of Bernie Banter to drive down the price of the sport.

[GitanesBlondes]

Ferrari made my butt hurt! Wahhh! Collantine is hilarious.

That dude's weird. He regularly posts polls of the same variety on his blog and seems to have very little trouble drawing conclusions from them. Yet, he goes off on a tangent about Ferrari's similar practices?

It's like he doesn't understand that all online polls, which by their very nature are immutably distorted by selection bias, are completely worthless, and one needn't say anything other than that to refute their results.

I always like his polls about how viewers thought the race was on that 1 to 10 scale.

Even at the height of the fan complaining last season, races were still scoring above average in many instances. I've always been a big proponent of scrapping 1 to 10 scales as is because it seems like 7 has become the new 5 on most scoring polls. 5 would indicate average because it falls in the middle...it seems to no longer be the case though with many things.

Of course all polls that try to quantify perceived value into a numerical number...well it's subjective anyway...but it's a way for people to try and turn subjective opinion into "fact".

[GitanesBlondes]

Nah, merc are in this for the long haul.

The arbitrary meetings are more show than go. There is a mooted takeover for the F1 show, and there is nothing like a bit of Bernie Banter to drive down the price of the sport.

I disagree Fox...Merc will remain as an engine supplier, but I don't see them participating as a factory team beyond 2014. The costs have been far and above anything the shareholders are comfortable with...and that's usually the impetus to put an end to the whole thing.

[FoxHound]

Costs that Ferrari and the far smaller mclaren can bear, but Daimler not?

I see 1 avenue for their withdrawal, and that is if their engine advantage gets taken away due to other teams bleating.
And I doubt this will be the case as Bernie is mindful of keeping them sweet.

You also have to look at Mercedes and AMG's fiscal performance since the team started in 2010. Double digit growth and record profits.

Dr Z has the board in his palm. AMG's operations alone could justify having this team.

Therefore I remain adamant that their involvement is not even in question.

[xpensive]

It seems I get downvoted whatever I post here, but Daimler will never ever spend another half billion of Euros to win this.

Not in this lifetime.

[GitanesBlondes]

Costs that Ferrari and the far smaller mclaren can bear, but Daimler not?

I see 1 avenue for their withdrawal, and that is if their engine advantage gets taken away due to other teams bleating.
And I doubt this will be the case as Bernie is mindful of keeping them sweet.

You also have to look at Mercedes and AMG's fiscal performance since the team started in 2010. Double digit growth and record profits.

Dr Z has the board in his palm. AMG's operations alone could justify having this team.

Therefore I remain adamant that their involvement is not even in question.

Do you know if the increase in sales for Mercedes were in emerging markets or already established markets? Sales figures globally still has Mercedes lagging far behind BMW and Audi.

Plus there is the decreasing in entry price that Mercedes is now committing to, in order to try and increase sales in America. You can now get a base CLA250 for $29,900. I have no doubt it will help boost sales, but it sort of cheapens the brand no?

But in any event, I think they'd like to have the half a billion or so they've spent on F1 back for other more pressing needs. Most Mercedes owners I know in this area do not even know of the F1 team, or care about such things. They don't buy Mercedes models because of motorsport linkage.

[Sombrero]

The idea of changing whatsoever after three races is stupid.

The only thing they shoud drop out is the double points at the last race of season and the point driving licence system. The rest is okay.

[CHT]

Todt say they are going to make the cars louder. I wonder how they are going to do it without affecting the regulation?

[xpensive]

The idea of changing whatsoever after three races is stupid.

The only thing they shoud drop out is the double points at the last race of season and the point driving licence system. The rest is okay.

Watch this space.

[jonaliew]

Formula 1's plans for a cost cap in 2015 have been abandoned, FIA president Jean Todt has revealed.

The FIA announced at the end of last year that it wanted a cost cap in place for next season, with it hoped agreement on how it could be enforced reached by June 2014.

But AUTOSPORT has learned that the six team representatives on F1's Strategy Group - Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Williams, McLaren, and Lotus - wrote to the FIA last month to say they did not believe plans for a budget cap were realistic.

They claimed that enforcing and policing a budget cap that would satisfactorily cover all the teams was impossible, and instead suggested that cost cuts should be made through technical and sporting regulations.

Attending his first grand prix of the season in Bahrain on Sunday, Todt confirmed that the teams had informed him of their belief.

And with him needing team support to push a cost cap through F1's Strategy Group he felt there was no point trying to press on with the idea.

"Most of the teams were in favour of the cost cap, but I understand that all the teams that are part of the Strategy Group are against it now," he said.

"So clearly, if the commercial rights holder, and if six teams, which means 12 of 18 are against, I cannot impose it. It's mathematics. So in this case, no more cost cap."

Todt said he had hoped the cost cap would work, as he thinks it will be harder to achieve the necessary budget restriction through regulation tweaks.

He added: "Am I disappointed? In a way I am disappointed because it may be more difficult to achieve the reduction which I feel is needed.

"But everyone says we are all in favour of reducing the cost, and through sporting and technical regulations."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/113319

Could have been this I suppose...