Formula One: Change now, or the sport will die.

By Phil Huff
June 27 2005

What we saw at Indianapolis last weekend wasn't a disaster for Michelin. Nor was it a disaster for the FIA, for Bernie Ecclestone, or for Ferrari. It was, however, an unmitigated disaster for the fans, and a disaster that could well see the future of our sport changed beyond recognition.

We all know the story: Michelin failed to provide a tyre suitable for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Ralf Schumacher had a frightening accident after his Michelin tyre failed, and events then moved on at their own pace from there.

The team principals met at Indianapolis on Saturday morning, long after the initial concerns of Michelin were shared, discussing as their number one priority the calendar for 2006. Only towards the end of the meeting did anybody remember there was a crisis looming.

The teams solution to this pending crisis was to do nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

The blame has been placed firmly on Michelin by the media and public at large. It's also been placed firmly on the FIA by the media and public at large. And placed on Ferrari, Bernie, and even Bridgestone.

Back in 2000, the Sauber cars suffered rear wing failures that saw them retire from the race weekend. I'm reasonably confident that, had Sauber requested that the FIA install a chicane on the main straight to ease the load, the answer would have been very clear.

Earlier this season, as we know only too well, BAR Honda were disqualified from three races for running with a small amount of fuel that was needed to run the car. What they did wrong was solving the performance problem by running slightly underweight, using fuel as ballast. They broke the rules to circumnavigate their performance issues.

Amazingly, that's exactly what Michelin and the seven teams they supply were asking the FIA to do on Sunday morning - break the rules that govern the sport in order to accommodate a supplier who screwed up.

They suggested that a pretend race could be staged, with an artificial chicane, artificial grid positions and an artificial result. They offered to race without points, without explaining that, given the tyre issues, it would be highly unlikely that they would make it to a points scoring position anyway.

We'd heard, as had Michael Schumacher, that the Michelin tyres would struggle to make the race distance anyway, regardless of whether a chicane was installed or not.

So far the blame looks to be firmly on the shoulders of Michelin. But what about that chicane?

According to Paul Stoddart, amongst others both in F1 and the media, it was Ferrari that rejected the idea of the chicane. The other nine teams had agreed to race only if a chicane was installed, and Ferrari were blocking it.

The blame therefore shifts to Ferrari now, as without their obfuscation the race could have happened.

However, Ferrari were never asked about the chicane. They would certainly not have agreed to it, but the point is that they were never asked. They never said no.

Additionally, Jordan had said they would race whatever conditions were placed. They have sponsor obligations that meant they had to take to the track, with or without a chicane, with or without the seven Michelin teams.

The blame, therefore, can now be shifted to the FIA. They sat back and did nothing, according to releases coming from some teams, one of which is calling for the FIA presidents resignation.

The FIA did nothing, apart from suggesting at least four ways for the race to go ahead, with all of the Michelin racers suffering significant performance penalties. The Michelin teams, who were landed in all this due to safety concerns, rejected all four proposals as it would mean losing too much performance.

BAR Honda's Geoffrey Willis confirmed that, saying that "changing tyres is also not feasible because six extra stops would be a big penalty. Going slow [round turn 13] is unlikely, as there are six Michelin cars racing for a podium and the difference is tenths per lap."

The blame now shifts back to Michelin, who have admitted to making a mess of this. However, they did the right thing by declaring their tyres to be unsafe in the normal race scenario. They suffered embarrassment and bad press now in order to force a safe running of the event.

So if it's not Michelin to blame, nor Ferrari, nor the FIA, nor the teams, exactly who is to blame?

And there's the problem. The different parties within Formula One are all chasing after their own self interest, putting income and points above the greater need of the sport and the fans.

The fact that the so-called group of Nine plus Five even exists says a lot about the state of Formula One. There was once a meeting held at Heathrow airport between the team principals about rule changes within Formula One, and the discussion centred for some time around the pressing issue of whether there should be still or sparkling water.

Meeting after meeting is held, and nothing is agreed. When the FIA call a meeting, the team principals hold pre-meeting meetings, deciding their stance on issues before the issues have been declared, and rendering the actual meeting entirely useless.

The FIA called a meeting on the future of Formula One recently where only Ferrari attended, with the other nine teams holding their own separate meeting. Sure, there's disagreements between the teams, but isn't that a bit petty?

There is a lot wrong with Formula One right now, but nothing that cannot be fixed. But while the teams fight the FIA, Ferrari fight the teams, Bernie fights the banks, the manufacturers fight Bernie and the FIA, and Formula One as a whole fights the fans, there's no hope.

The sport will die. The fans will give up and the sport will die.

There must be changes, and the changes must start now.

The teams must accept that, however flawed, Max Mosley and the FIA exist to run the sport, and their decisions should be accepted and adhered to. It should be accepted that the FIA are independent, that their decisions are intended for the greater good of Formula One, and that they need to publicly declare their support. By sticking with the FIA, and supporting their work unfalteringly, the future of Formula One can be secured, but any dissent even from one team would be enough to bring it crashing back down.

With the FIA, and the retention of Formula One, would come Bernie Ecclestone, a man who has done more to further the cause of Formula One than any other. With the commercial agreements being separate from the governing body, the teams need to sit down with Bernie and negotiate a new Concorde Agreement. The way exists, but they need the will.

Alternatively, the teams must get behind the GPWC and work towards making a credible alternative championship, doing more than holding lengthy meetings where they cannot even make a decision about a name, let alone any form of sporting or technical regulations.

The work needed to setup an entirely new championship shouldn't be underestimated, but the obstacles are not insurmountable - the cars exist, the engines exist, and the tracks exist (and, even if Bernie has exclusivity agreements with many of them, they cannot be upheld under EU law).

To get there though, they need to get past the minutia, dealing with the trivial items quickly and effectively. Seriously, how hard can it be for a group of 15 grown men to agree on a name for the series?

If sport continues to fight and argue it will ultimately self destruct. Now is the time to change that direction, one way or another.

Phil Huff
BAR-Talk.com