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The top-10 most influential people in Formula One

Ed Gorman

You have probably all noticed that there is something of a gap in the Formula One schedule and, after Max Mosley's latest manoeuvrings, a lot of people have taken a breather. By the way, on the subject of Mosley, be ready for a spin-line in the next few weeks which will concentrate on the apparent attack on the authority of that minor motoring organisation, the FIA.

When Mosley is in trouble, he always resorts to this: "The FIA is under attack, I must defend it. There is no-one who can do this as well as me. The members - (who are all wearing full gas-masks and hardhats and are sleeping in their garden sheds) - are imploring me to stay. I could not possibly let them down." On and on it goes...

Of course we should never be taken in by this sort of nonsense peddled by Mosley and his spin-doctor (Anthony) Richard Woods. Mosley is only interested in Mosley. Ambitious, addicted to power and hopelessly vain, he cannot see that his useful time, his constructive time, as the head of the FIA is over. And so he must stay and there is still no-one in the FIA who is man enough, strong enough, even brave enough to take him on and get rid of him.

The point of the Mosley/Woods tactic is to make Mosley look strong. "Here is the great defender, fighting for our rights while evil-doers all around us - the dreaded car manufacturers - try to bring us down." What this ploy attempts to obscure, however, is the inconvenient truth that Mosley completely misjudged his attempt to force a budget cap (voluntarily) down the throat of Formula One, that he precipitated the biggest crisis in the sport's history, that that crisis has done enormous commercial harm to Formula One and that, in the end, he has agreed to so many derogations and exceptions to his scheme, that the whole thing has been watered down to the point of being almost meaningless.

I should also add that Mosley's people were very keen to agree with the view, a few weeks ago, that this was Max's "big play" - this was going to be his big career achievement, reforming Formula One's addiction to spending. He would stand or fall on this one. Well, he has certainly not won the day, so we have to assume that, by the estimates of his own staff, his credibility is now seriously in question. Normally in public life when people get it this wrong they have to consider their future.

I forgot one other point: the shenanigans of last week when Mosley threw his toys out of his pram because he didn't like his press coverage made Formula One a laughing stock. That's all very well, you might think, if it was the work of a mere driver or team principal but, no, this was the head of the sport's governing body making everyone, including himself, look silly....

Which brings me to the point of this post...

The other day, quite a few days ago in fact, on the evening of the Turkish Grand Prix, myself and two colleagues from Fleet Street (who will remain anonymous) played a little game where we listed, in order of importance and without consulting each other first, the top-10 most influential people in Formula One. Of course this was well before the breakaway was announced and the dramas of Paris and it is also very much a British journalist's view, but the lists (saved from dinner at a restaurant round the corner from our Istanbul hotel) still make quite interesting reading.

Have a look through them and tell us what you think. Are we miles out? Have we consistently missed some key people? Is the wrong person at or near the top each time? Have I, for example, under-estimated the importance of Luca di Montezemolo? Why is Lewis in the list(I would argue that he gets worldwide publicity for anything he says that's remotely controversial) and is Max really not as important as Bernard Charles? What about Woods, why is he on all three lists? Looking through it, I see I have still got Ron in there...interesting....
 
Let's have your views...

The top-10 most important/influential people in Formula One

My list
1. Bernie Ecclestone
2. Donald Mackenzie
3. Max Mosley
4. Richard Woods
5. Tony Purnell
6. Lewis Hamilton
7. Luca di Montezemolo
8. Ron Dennis    
9. Fernando Alonso
10. John Howett

Colleague One
1. Bernie Ecclestone
2. Max Mosley
3. Donald Mackenzie
4. Alan Donnelly
5. Richard Woods
6. Luca di Montezemolo
7. Flavio Briatore
8. Dr Dieter Zetsche
9. Lewis Hamilton
10. Head of BBC Sport

Colleague Two
1. Bernie Ecclestone
2. Max Mosley
3. Donald Mackenzie
4. Luca di Montezemolo
5. Richard Woods
6. Alan Donnelly
7. Anthony Hamilton
8. Lewis Hamilton
9. Flavio Briatore
10. Jenson Button

Errr...that's it....

Mid-Term Review

Anon

I'm personally extremely tired of the sequel to Max Mosley's demise and the politics going with it (although I'm usually intrigued by politics, this is simply descending into playground bickering).

So team by team, here's a little review.

Brawn GP- Brawn will have two questions to answer before the end of the season. The first will be answered for them at the Nurburgring: Was the Red Bull Silverstone pace real? I personally think the people at Brawn will sigh a breath of relief because I don't see the Red Bull showing the same pace in Germany, but last season showed that it is difficult to judge the development pace of respective cars. The second question is: when do we stop developing the '09 car? This is a difficult one, because although testing is limited improvements to cars can still have vast effects and Red Bull could catch up fast, as they seem to have done at Silverstone. But one thing going in their favor is that F1 will be running almost the exact same regulations next year, so Brawn might not feel as much of a worry of developing the '10 car. as others like Ferrari and McLaren will. The future of Rubens might be a bit hard to sort out. I personally would drop him by the end of the season (as much as I like him and hopes he wins races), but not for Bruno Senna. If I were Ross, I'd wait for Bruno to prove his worth in a lower tier car first. Rosberg might be the perfect replacement, although Nico would possibly have to accept No. 2 status at Brawn. Rubens, meanwhile, would probably be pounced upon by one of the new teams as a experienced driver that still hasn't rusted over completely.

Fota ain't worried...

Here's today's paper...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article6586702.ece

A bit of light relief

Ed Gorman

While Max thrashes around in Paris, let’s have a bit of light relief…

Oh dear...

Ed Gorman

Max is angry - toys and prams etc - and the sport is drawing breath. He believes that Fota have misrepresented the agreement he made with Luca and Bernie and now he is saying he is keeping his options open. In other words he might not go quietly after all. In fact, he could even stand again. That sounds familiar.

Max says Fota has been briefing incorrectly that Boeri will take over the running of Formula One until October, that Max will have no influence over the sport until then and that, when his current presidential term expires, he will leave the FIA. In an intemperate and revealing letter to Luca - revealing about Max's personality, that is (and his obsession with the media and publicity) - he castigates the Ferrari president for apparently implying that Max is a dictator and he demands that Luca stop spreading falsehoods about him and makes a public apology.

The letter was leaked by Max's office to all sorts of media including The Times. It ends with a chilling final thought, as follows: "However, given your and Fota's deliberate attempt to mislead the media, I now consider my options open. At least until October, I am president of the FIA with the full authority of that office. After that it is the FIA member clubs, not you or Fota, who will decide on the future leadership of the FIA."

So what should we make of this? My first thought is, "get over it Max". OK so maybe the reporting was not to your liking but the fact is you have lost this war and you do yourself no credit carrying on thrashing around like this. If people thought you were autocratic and arrogant and they could sympathise with the teams' opposition to you before this outburst, this is only going to confirm them in their opinion.

Second, the sport has moved on and there is no way back. If Max tries to pull a fast one, the teams will reactivate the breakaway and will go for it, as one leading figure in Fota has put it, "full-bore."

Third, Max's office are trying to make a big play out of the fact that Fota is not attacking Max but the FIA and its much-cherished authority. As I have argued here already, the FIA's authority, it's great role in the history of mankind, is of little concern to anyone except the FIA. Max always uses this argument to justify his defence of his own interests and this is no exception. Today we can expect to see members of the World Motor Sport Council come out and say Fota cannot continue to try to take over the role of the FIA. They are also likely to be irritated at calls from Fota yesterday for a successor to Max who is "independent". It's none of your business, is their view.

That's fine but, again, as we have said here before Formula One is more important than the FIA and the outcome of this row has proved that.

Finally, Max may have a point about the misreporting. But how it happened remains a mystery. Were the details that he objects so strongly to elements which the parties had agreed to keep secret? Or did Fota genuinely believe they were all going to be part of the deal to get rid of Max but, in the event, Luca failed to press them home?

Incredible! Max has fallen on his sword

Ed Gorman

There isn't much time to write just now. The main thing is that Max has agreed to go. He will not stand for re-election in October and will not play any further part in the administration of Formula One. He will also leave the FIA in October and will not assume a role in the Senate. His role on the stage of world motorsport is finally over.

How it came about is not completely clear. The main levers were the paucity of teams left in the FIA/Formula One fold, the increasing pressure on Bernie from CVC and the steady pressure brought on Max by Fota. The impression I have is that Max, Bernie and Luca Di Montezemolo met to broker the deal and - amazingly - the crisis is genuinely over.

Thus there will be no breakaway, peace and light has returned and there will be no budget cap, although Fota will continue with its own cost-cutting plans. Also the "Max and Bernie" show is over for good.

Max was a highly contentious figure who made a lot of people very angry at times but we should also remember that he made a huge contribution both to motorsport and road safety.

Let's have your views on this and on the way ahead...   

Max writes to his people

 

Ed writes: this is interesting...Max's letter to the FIA members in full.

FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE L’AUTOMOBILE

Le Président
8, place de la Concorde, 75008 Paris

All FIA member clubs

23 June 2009

Dear President

Formula One teams belonging to five of the major car manufacturers have formed an organisation called ‘FOTA’, whose purpose is to take over the FIA's regulatory function in Formula One. In connection with this, the European car industry association ACEA has made the following statement:

“ACEA has come to the conclusion that the FIA needs a modernised and transparent governance system and processes, including the revision of its constitution, to ensure the voice of its members, worldwide motor sport competitors and motorists are properly reflected.”

Exit strategies for Max: there is only one

Ed Gorman

1. Max is starting to play around with exit strategies. There is talk of him standing down in October, or not standing for re-election, or conversely standing again if he feels he and the FIA are under attack. To my mind his position is weakening all the time and he may not have these options, while retaining control over Formula One. There is a strong sense that his game is up as far as Formula One is concerned. He can stay at the Place de la Concorde and remain as FIA president but, if he does, he will lead a fairly irrelevant - in sporting terms at least - motoring organisation which was once in control of the pinnacle series in motor racing.

Has Vettel emerged as a genuine contender for the title?

Tim Meston

Sebastian Vettel will take great confidence from his superb victory at Silverstone as he turns his attention to the German Grand Prix in just under three weeks time. If the 21-year-old can do what Jenson Button failed to do and win on home soil then the Brawn GP driver could feel some doubt over his title chances during the second half of the season.

Button, the championship leader, admitted that his poor showing at the British Grand Prix was down to low temperatures inhibiting his ability to warm up his tyres and although the next five races are in mainland Europe, they include the warmer climes of Hungary, Spain and Italy.

Does Vettel's excellent showing constitute a major turning point in the championship race or did Button suffer a minor blip? Have your say.

There Are No Men in Grey Suits, Max

Ed Gorman

At Ferrari they are chuckling, as well they might. Not very long ago Max told us Formula One could live without Ferrari - they could leave - what difference would it make? Now that Ferrari are leaving, the FIA is suing them. Suddenly it seems to matter.

This feels like a revolution. You get a building phase when a series of events lead to a tipping point (October 1917 for example) and then the movement takes off and a body goes through a sudden and very radical change which can last for decades before the reaction finally sets it.

But I have to admit, this is still hard to call. The most coherent argument in my mind is the one that says that Max has over-cooked things and over-reached himself and is now dangerously exposed. Why?

What do you think of the prospect of a rival F1 championship?

 

Richard Neale

Stunning news hit the world of Formula One at midnight last night when, after a four-hour meeting at Renault’s Enstone factory, members of the Formula One Teams Association (Fota) issued a statement saying that they were going to break away and form a rival Formula One championship next season.

"The teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 World Championship," said Fota.

Fota members have been at odds with the FIA’s plans for next season which included imposing a budget cap on all teams.

We have the prospect, therefore, of a rival championship next season featuring Fota members Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, BMW Sauber, Renault, Toyota, Brawn GP, Red Bull and Toro Rosso.

That would leave the original FIA members, fronted by Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley, left with a championship shorn of all their high-profile teams, bar Williams, and their big-name drivers such as Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso.

What do you think of the news? If it happened, which championship would you follow?

Do you think it is just a form a brinkmanship on behalf of the leading F1 teams to get Mosley and Ecclestone back to the negotiating table? If that’s their ploy, who do you think blinks first? 

Mamma Mia!

Ed Gorman

I fully appreciate that this is a Formula One blog but it is also about motorsport and this footage from the Circuit de Catalunya last weekend is some of the best motorsport I've ever seen. (On four wheels, it reminds me of Lewis fighting Timo at the Turkish GP2 round in 2006). I have chosen a version with the Italian commentary which, even if you don't fully understand it, has got to be the best for sheer verve and whizz. Great stuff.

For Media Information Purposes - No Regulatory Value

Ed Gorman

The FIA and Fota this week resemble a married couple going through their final days together before splitting irrevocably and handing their affairs and their financial and emotional futures to their lawyers. At the moment the kitchen china is being thrown around. (As in all divorces, this will be very bad for the children and could affect their development and psychological state for years). Just to take this analogy a little further, the nextdoor neighbour, from whom the family rent the place, has always been good at calming disputes (coming over for a BBQ, telling a few jokes and offering advice and that sort of thing) but on this occasion even he seems at a loss...

The end of F1 and a new beginning?

By Alex T

The thesis of my initial contribution to Fan-Zone explored the possible extinction of F1; as a consequence of prevailing developments could we really be witnessing the affirmation of that thesis? I must say that not even I had envisioned the rapidity with which we would have reached this vantage point. The good news is that it is usually the case that as one entity becomes extinct that another emerge.

Anarchy in Formula One Mosley-style

By Ed Gorman

What an unholy mess. Having only been in this job for three years (it seems like 300 years sometimes) I am still a relative newcomer so I am not used to the Max Mosley style of governance which is: 1, create a huge crisis; 2, then stir it up as much as you can; 3, bring the sport to the very edge of anarchy, and 4, pull a spectacular iron out of the fire and claim you have won.

I don't know. I just find it hard to believe that a global sport and business of the stature of Formula One should, or needs to be, run in this manner. Did no one ever learn the lesson that a concensus-based approach is the best way ahead, especially when you are dealing with public companies? I guess Mosley's answer to that one is that his way is the only way of getting anything done and that any less aggressive approach would lead to lots of talk and no progress.

The Big Bad Wolf

By Ed Gorman

This blog is mainly about politics just now, funnily enough. The story keeps moving on and the relative strength of the respective positions changes. So here are some thoughts penned on Tuesday afternoon before the latest response from Fota to Max's request in a letter on Monday that they enter next year's championship unconditionally.

1. On the money side of the sport at the very top, there is still guarded optimism that this row will sort itself out. The impression gained is that, although not much is going on above the line so to speak, there is quite a lot of activity in the undergrowth and the sides are not that far apart (as we have noted here before). One view is that all of this is nothing new and that, however apocalyptic it may seem from this close up, a way will be found to satisfy all the main players.

Can anyone stop Jenson Button?

Frank Praverman

Another day, another victory for Jenson Button. Following the Turkish Grand Prix he now stands 26 points ahead of Rubens Barrichello, his Brawn GP team-mate and nearest challenger, in the world championship.

And if the lead he has built up isn't daunting enough, the manner in which Button achieved his sixth victory out of seven races this year will have sent further shockwaves trough the paddock. The Englishman's drive was simply faultless.

Can anyone catch him? Would you rather see somebody challenge Button for the title or are you happy to follow the procession? Leave your thoughts below.

Lou's Blues and Other Tales

Anon

Just a quick thought before I begin: I realise that I probably have started the most threads, but this is without being pretentious. It just seems that some issues seem to be slip by a bit ever since Mr. Gorman has attempted to please his wife by giving us the"microphone" more often (which is perfectly fine by me).

Now to racing. I had a bit of mixed feelings about Lewis's comments today. It is a bit harsh to say the car should have been scrapped, that Force India are 10-15 kph faster, etc. He is not entirely wrong, of course the car does not match his talents.

But the comments do come a bit misplaced when you get out-qualified by your teammate. Lewis can claim to have no hope and the like, but if he isn't pushing 100% (and we all know he is faster than Heikki) then he can't really complain, in my eyes. When Fernando complained last year, he was out-qualifying his teammate by around ten grid spots. If Lewis is slower than Heikki (and perhaps he was held up or had the wrong tires) than he should get his head down and work very hard. He can't allow himself mistakes at critical moments like in Monaco nor can he give up. Claiming that the Force Indias are 10-15 kph faster is also a bit far-fetched, considering Heikki out-qualified them.

In the Formula One Big Brother House

Ed Gorman

It's a weird, weird, world - this Formula One lark. And sometimes it's hard to take it all seriously. Except this time it seems to be getting very serious indeed. I was watching the Friday afternoon press conference at an empty Istanbul Park where John Howett, Stefano Domenicali and Flavio Briatore were making an impassioned case for the Fota side of the story and it occurred to me that they had been chosen for the conference by none other than Max's spin-doctor Richard Woods.

On Thursday Woods put together one of the most boring driver pressers going - Buemi, Kubica, Rosberg, Kovalainen. Today he organised the most interesting team principals he could think of - three men at the heart of the quarrel. And just like performing mice, they duly said lots of heartfelt stuff, they talked of the crisis in Formula One, the need to solve it, the justice of the Fota case. And you sensed Max (who is not here) and Woods (who is not here either) were listening in, chuckling to themselves. (They will certainly get the word-for-word transcript). Even though they were arguing against Max's position, here was more press coverage in the making for the FIA president and his crusade; and here are three guys responding as if puppets in the control of the FIA.

Debate: Is Max any weaker; any stronger?

Ed Gorman

I was talking to a prominent member of the paddock recently who stopped me in my exposition of the budget cap row to remind me that the real reason behind the whole hoo-ha is not a dispute about the rules for next year or the wisdom of a budget cap but the desire of the teams - or most of them - to get rid of Max.

So I was wondering whether, in fact, Mosley is any weaker as a result of what has been going on - or perhaps even stronger. The case for the latter is roughly this: Mosley set out a very simple and radical vision for a new version of Formula One fit for a credit-crunched world when he announced a £30 million voluntary cap(carrot), together with provision for a two-tier series(stick). It was bold, ambitious, far-sighted, visionary, it tapped into the zeitgeist, according to his circle. From the outside, this looked like Mosley's big play. This was what he had stuck around to do (when almost anyone else would have run for cover) - to make a lasting impact in bringing one of the world's richest and most extravagant sports to heel. It seemed that his credibility was on the line. Either he got his way or his power would ebb away.

The contrary case that he is weaker now is that, over the past three or four weeks, Mosley has allowed the teams to water down the original proposal to the point where, initially at least, the budget cap will be so vague as to be almost irrelevant. The amount of money has gone up, the list of expenditure excluded from it has got longer and the two-tier proposal has been all but scrapped. Hardly anyone - apart from the real hard nuts at Ferrari - believe that that is going to happen. You can argue very credibly that, much as has been the pattern with Mosley in the past, he has fired a very impressive opening salvo which grabbed headlines and has then scuttled back behind the hill as his enemies have taken up the fight.

My view is that the jury is out. Right now we are in no man's land. The teams have presented their vision, in the form of their "conditional" entries into next season's championship and we are now awaiting Mosley's response. If he is strong, he will throw out the stuff which does not fit and re-insert the elements he wants. It is noticeable, for instance, that the teams do not even mention the words "budget cap" in their latest statement; they also want to race next year under the same rules as this. I would argue that Mosley has lost the battle and the war if he lets them dominate on these issues and the whole project will start to look like a fudge which will make Formula One more complex but achieve little. In this view, the FIA president's credibility is still very much on the line and the moment of truth has not yet arrived.

Talking to his office this week, the sense is that he is not planning to do or say that much in the coming days which seems a little odd because, after all, it is definitely his move in this chess game. Instead we are told that the next key date will be June 12th when the FIA will announce the entries for next season, implying that those entrants who do not fit the FIA bill will be left off. Could be very interesting...One element in Mosley's favour is the number of new teams applying. Their existence, provided of course that they are credible racing outfits, is the best evidence that he is succeeding.

So what do you think? Let's have your views here. We haven't had a debate for a while and I am looking forward to reviewing your inputs on Friday when I will be at Fortress Felipe, aka Istanbul Park where the Brazilian has been on pole and won the race for the past three years. Is he going to spoil Jenson's party this weekend? Time to practice Turn 8 on the PlayStation...