Whatever else Formula One might be guilty of, being incapable of staying in the news is a charge that cannot be levelled against the sport.
So loudly and frequently have the alarm bells rung in the fast lane in recent months that it would appear as if the ‘spy-gate’ saga of 2007, for which McLaren-Mercedes was fined $100 million and stripped of its constructors’ championship points, the Max Mosley sex scandal of last year and the liar-liar allegations surrounding McLaren earlier this season were mere hiccups. The prevalent apprehension, as F1 wise-heads have reiterated without pause, is not exaggerated. The current crisis — a prolonged affair involving budgetary regulations not acceptable to major manufacturers — threatens to damage the sport beyond repair.
It may be recalled that the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, F1’s ruling body, headed by Max Mosley) had proposed for teams competing in the 2010 season a budgetary ceiling of £40 million. Aimed at reducing F1 expenses in the face of worldwide recession, the budget cap was projected as a voluntary measure — while teams that toed the line would be rewarded with enhanced technical freedom, those that shot past the ceiling would be obliged to adhere to stringent regulations. The primary objection to this proposal is that it would lead to a two-tier F1 championship, deep-pocketed, manufacturer-owned teams perforce separated from independent teams with relatively smaller budgets.
That remains the cause-and-effect trigger for a headline-spewing battle zone from which a seemingly never-ending series of stories has erupted, the highlights being certain Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) members announced on June 18 their intention to form a breakaway series and truce between the FIA and these teams being declared on June 24. Since then, despite assurances of a resolution to the conflict, there haven’t been any handshakes. The stage is set for a dramatic endgame in the boardroom.
Ditto for the situation on the racetrack. For this has been a season like no other. Not since 1978, when Lotus scaled the topmost perch on the podium, has any team other than Ferrari, McLaren, Williams or Benetton/Renault (Renault took over Benetton in 2002) claimed the constructors’ title. This season, with technical changes putting F1 in reset mode, and Brawn GP and Red Bull challenging the other teams to play catch-us-if-you-can, the old order is seemingly doomed to crash.
As was to be expected in a situation wherein the rules of the game changed, team engineers attempted to exploit grey areas and maximise possibilities. While all the teams were theoretically capable of redesigning their cars to suit Year 2009 specifications, it was practically impossible for big boys such as McLaren and Ferrari to experiment with changes in the middle of the 2008 season as they were locked in a championship battle that eventually went down to the wire. It is here that a traditional no-hoper like Honda (now reborn as Brawn GP) enjoyed the advantage of a flying start. Aware that it stood absolutely no chance of making a mark in the 2008 season, the team decided to prepare for 2009 early last year — a move engineered by Ross Brawn, currently Brawn GP team owner, who joined Honda in November 2007. The result was that, by the time the 2009 season actually started, Brawn GP, with an entire year of experimentation under its wings, had a machine that was designed to win. Similarly for Red Bull, for whom Adrian Newey, the team’s chief technical officer, has scripted success.
At the other end of the spectrum is Ferrari. Statistically the most successful team in F1 history, it is dragging itself through a nightmare of a season. Once upon a time, Ferrari, which has a private track at its factory, was able to test and re-test its cars extensively. That is no longer the case. A significant why behind marquee teams slipping down the pecking order this season is the ban on in-season testing. For all the state-of-the-art wind tunnels and race-condition simulators that big-money teams might possess, nothing can compare with real tests conducted on a real racetrack. In the current context, the likes of Ferrari, like all other teams, must necessarily wait till the Friday practice session before each grand prix to find out if the technical changes they have implemented are beneficial — more often than not, Friday’s verdict is not. And that means back to the drawing board.
It is an oft-told tale in F1 that a team is only as good as its equipment. While that tale would appear to hold true, this season has shown that experience, foresight and innovation can outweigh the advantages that obscene budgets confer upon manufacturer teams. In a sport involving man and machine, the role of money should, arguably, be limited. It’s a question of how much and how.