F1 boring? Wait till next season
Sweeping new rules will be in place in 2014 to the detriment of the smaller teams, who will play catch-up to the likes of Red Bull
Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel. A fourth world title in a row and the most dominant yet. With Adrian Newey absent from several of the recent fly-away races as he sharpens his design pencil for Red Bull in 2014, the team and the driver could continue to dominate despite the sweeping rule changes next year.
In reality most teams have been concentrating on 2014 for some time, since it became clear that Vettel was going to sweep all before him. But recent developments have highlighted the fact that Formula One could change in much more fundamental ways, and not the way the average fan might want.
A new "strategy group" has been set up and has had its first meeting. It is tasked with drawing up rules and regulations for Formula One. The problem is, only the six leading teams have been invited to have a voice on it. The other five - Marussia, Force India, Sauber, Caterham and Torro Rosso - haven't.
They already get a smaller slice of the F1 financial cake and now they face not having any say in the future of the sport. To say their backs are against the wall is to put it mildly, but they are coming out fighting, suggesting the strategy group may have no legal standing and it could contravene European laws on competition and equality. Even some of the teams involved, it's believed, are concerned about its legality.
Why are the minnows so angry? Bob Fernley, the deputy team principal of Force India, says it's an abuse of power, claiming "the clandestine way that F1 is run is not viable any more because everyone expects transparency". Such transparency would certainly help thwart what some smaller teams and observers of the sport feel is the end game of these manoeuvres; the exit of smaller teams from the sport.
Should that ever happen, the top teams would be left to become constructors for the whole of F1. The smaller teams would be mere customers, no longer designing their cars themselves. At the moment, F1 is a constructors championship; that is what makes it unique and, as the cliche goes, the pinnacle of motorsport. It's what attracts the fans and it's what Fernley is fighting to keep, telling reporters, "I can tell you now that customer teams will not work. It is completely changing the DNA of F1."
Still, the sport might not need the Machiavellian machinations of a strategy group to force out smaller teams.
If costs keep going up, it might only be a matter of time. It's not even the expense of running the actual cars. In many cases it's the ridiculous costs of being at the races that can make you wince.
The London recently reported the astonishing cost of the "fly-away" races, away from the teams' European bases. It estimates the average cost of attending these races is A$318,000 (HK$2.33 million) per team. Away from their European comfort zone where everything can be trucked in from base, the teams seem to be at the mercy of the track operators. Some of the charges can be eye watering, even in this sport.
How about A$100 for a set of coat hangers? Or A$15,000 to hire forklifts for the weekend? As one source told the it would have been cheaper to buy one and drive it into the river when they were finished.
You could blame the greed of the circuits, but they are only in thrall to a greater greed - that of the owners of F1. CVC Capital Partners has taken a huge dividend this year after selling some of its stake. It charges tens of millions of dollars for the right to hold a race.
Even away from the racing, costs continue to spiral. Next year there will be limited in-season testing. Andy Stevenson of Force India has been quoted as estimating the costs for the four tests will run to A$8.5 million. They may not attend all the tests, and neither may some of the other minnows.
It will only serve to widen the gap between the top teams and the rest, and it will be a bad thing for all involved. Even the top teams will suffer if us fans decide F1 is boring and we go and watch touring cars.
