Ferrari calls for meeting on F1 future

[vcs316]

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has called for a meeting between the key players in F1 to discuss the sport's future, believing it has taken a “wrong turn”.

Montezemolo has written a letter to Bernie Ecclestone – the commercial rights holder – as well as CVC chairman Donald McKenzie, because he wants to see new ideas and new involvement within the sport.

“It is not an ultimatum, nor a threat, but a proposal to call together all the key players in the sport to sit down around a table and come up with new ideas that will see Formula 1 continue to set the benchmark in motorsport, on level terms with global events such as the Olympics and the football World Cup,” the article on the Ferrari website read.

“The President wants to see a collective brainstorming from the group to act for the good of Formula 1. Contributions from all areas are of value; teams, sponsors, promoters and media, so that the key values of Formula 1 can be re-established. President Montezemolo would also like to see other high-end players invited, those who are currently not involved or only partially so; new media, social networks and colossi such as Google and Apple.”

And Ferrari believes F1 is currently lacking the right combination of factors to be attractive to both sponsors and fans.

“Formula 1 has to be based on technical innovation, research and development, but this must all be done with sustainable costs and above all, must be moved forward as part of a product that can put on a show. Because it is the show that draws in the commercial partners, the sponsors and, above all, the fans, who are the real end users of the Formula 1 product.

“Finding the right mix of these ingredients will be vital for the sustainability and the future success of our much-loved sport.”

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/205706/1/ferrari-calls-for-meeting-on-f1-future.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

[Nova]

He's correct. They should do this.

[Hornet]

I wonder what role would Google and Apple play?

If we want to improve the racing factor, we should be talking to other major racing outfits who aren't in F1 such as Audi, Porsche, Toyota. These companies are involved in developing specialized racing cars, so they do take racing seriously. IMO, we can learn new things by talking to them about what attracts them to invest in the racing programs that they are currently in.

If we can improve the racing in F1, I think the fans will come without any need for aggressive marketing on the internet or stuff like that.

[Greig]

F1 always seems to be needing to be fixed, has there ever been a period when the majority of fans were happy with the sport?

[anacleto]

F1 always seems to be needing to be fixed, has there ever been a period when the majority of fans were happy with the sport?

That's a good question. I believe fans of RB, Williams ,Merc are into which of there drivers comes out ahead of their teamate each race as much as who wins the race. Ferrari fans always feel Alonso can get up front every race because he's that good. WE also keep waiting each race to see Kimi snap out of it and get on the podium. For me F1 needs no fixing except just keep team orders out of it. Oh and Ferrari needs to fix there car.

[PadGeT]

For me F1 needs no fixing except just keep team orders out of it.

Why should they, if it's the team and their goals, that's most important ?

[WS6TransAm01]

F1 always seems to be needing to be fixed, has there ever been a period when the majority of fans were happy with the sport?

I was happy until 2009... Now its not F1, its F-Prius or F-PS3...

[Nero Horse]

Luca is right, a meeting to find the best direction for F1's future is certainly needed. At the moment F1 is a bit lost, that's for sure.

[anacleto]

Why should they, if it's the team and their goals, that's most important ?
Tell that to Vettel's teamate or Nico.

[PadGeT]

Tell that to Vettel's teamate or Nico.
You must be joking, right ? :lol

[PadGeT]

The powers that be in motorsport are gathering at Biggin Hill today (Wednesday) under the guise of the Formula 1 Commission in what could be termed a crisis meeting to address the growing dissatisfaction regarding several elements of the sport, including: fans turning off their TVs, embracing new media, cost cutting, lack of noise and a F1 Hall of Fame.

High on the agenda will be measures to revamp the ‘show’ and keep fans interested in the light of a major switch off since the new era Formula 1 was unleashed to the public. Reports claim that viewership and race day attendances have declined dramatically since the onset of the new V6 turbo era.



Read more http://www.grandprix247.com/2014/06/18/f1-bosses-descend-on-biggin-hill-for-summit/

[Hornet]

Unless they are thinking of making technical changes, I am not looking forward to see how they will "revamp" it, because I'm afraid we'll just see more silly stuff similar to the double points for last race.

If fans are unhappy because of the new engine sound, then they should focus on that, or just leave it be. Trying to spice things up with some other weird rules may turn out worse, IMO.

[Senna4Ever]

deleted my posting as it hasn't really to do something with actual rules
as Greig said, Berne hasn't issued this rule change ... my posting came from the disappointment about the business practice shown again with the farce what happens now between Hockenheim and Nuerburgring ...

[PadGeT]

Lots of members here seem to undermine what Bernie has done for the sport. I still maintain he is the only sane mind in the sport. Maybe he is a fraud/cheat, power hungry bureaucrat, but he has done a hell of a job to keep this complex enigmatic sport floating.
When Bernie retires, dies or goes to prison, those at the pinnacle of F1 & WMC will be forced to bite the bullet....

[Greig]

Just wait until the regime of Bernie ends...
then you can make serious thoughts about how to safe the sports ...

with Bernie it will be only business ...

Just a farce what happens now between Hockenheim and Nuerburgring ...

Bernie did not want this new F1 either, but its easy to blame him I guess.

[Senna4Ever]

Bernie did not want this new F1 either, but its easy to blame him I guess.

you're right
therefore I deleted my posting as isn't really him to blame for the actual rules
and the way he is doing the business isn't related to the actual rules ...

[hogo]

F1 is in the pathetic state. It started to go downhill when they introduced ugly rare wings (year 2008? correct?). And since then F1 got worse and worse. Yet people that ruined this sport (mainly Max Mosley and co), will never admit this cos you know, they are always right and we stupid spectators are always wrong.

[anacleto]

You must be joking, right ? :lol

Oh! I left out Williams . There's no holding either driver back. Great for us fans knowing neither will have to move over, just race. In your post you said " the team and there goals", Did you mean soccer? You must be joking, right? :rotfl

[Silent Bob]

Formula 1 fans (well me anyways)want racing...I'm not interested in fuel restricted endurance sessions. They have DRS, they have electric boost and efficient engines, fine, keep those.. now just bring back refuelling and get rid of fuel metering so teams can decide strategies and stints can become all out races again. With all the variables in F1 now, it should be exciting to see cars with different fuel levels actually racing.

[PadGeT]

Oh! I left out Williams . There's no holding either driver back. Great for us fans knowing neither will have to move over, just race. In your post you said " the team and there goals", Did you mean soccer? You must be joking, right? :rotfl

No, I meant football!!! :lol
:-D

[anacleto]

No, I meant football!!! :lol
:-D
Ny Giants or Jets ? :rotfl

[The Architect]

Given we're now apparently testing titanium blocks to generate sparks, this meeting cannot happen soon enough. I hope everything is on the table and can be discussed. F1 has become a bad joke.

[ferrari4life]

Given we're now apparently testing titanium blocks to generate sparks, this meeting cannot happen soon enough. I hope everything is on the table and can be discussed. F1 has become a bad joke.

Yes I saw that article and didnt know if i should cry or laugh. What a sad state the sport is in. I just keep wondering what is the next gimmick they will come up with.

[Ed Harley]

Formula 1 to switch to standing restarts after safety cars in 2015

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/114529

[Hornet]

Not sure if I agree with that idea. Safety car is a procedure done purely for safety purposes, and should not be exploited as a means to spice up the race. There's nothing fair about unnecessarily interrupting a race with another standing start.

I also wouldn't want to see the decision process on when to deploy SC being affected by this, such as having a higher tendency to deploy SC whenever an incident happens just because it's exciting as well. IMO, safety car is never a fair thing for the racers, but sometimes we must just for safety purposes, and it should remain that way, only for safety purposes.

[Rob]

Formula 1 to switch to standing restarts after safety cars in 2015

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/114529

:furious im not a fan of this. Not 1 bit. If they want to "spice up the show" tell the drivers at the restart to be more awake, to try make a jump on driver in front. F1 is loosing the sport, its becoming more worried about the show. Its a sport, not a tv show, not reality show, dont see Football bringing in silly little gimicks to "spice it up"

[Ed Harley]

Well, to spice up the "show" they have decided to add sparks. :clap What next?

[Rob]

Well, to spice up the "show" they have decided to add sparks. :clap What next?

:rotfl just where is this sport, sorry show going. :roll

[Nero Horse]

Formula 1 to switch to standing restarts after safety cars in 2015

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/114529

Ok, I can accept the standing restarts, fine, but trying to "spice up" the show by bringing in artificial sparks, glowing brakes and double points for the final race is just really dumb. That's certainly NOT the way to improve F1. I don't think anybody wants to see those artificial gimmicks. They should simply bring back the rules that F1 had in the 90's or early 2000's, that was F1 racing. I'm sure most fans would be happy with the kind of rules that F1 had in the 90's/early 2000's...no DRS, no tyre saving, no engine saving, no fuel saving, no artificial gimmicks...just pure flat out racing.

[NickEice]

What's wrong with Formula 1? Same thing that is wrong with most other sports in the world, the internet.

Can you blame Formula 1? Sure some of the ideas are just plain stupid (spark blocks, trumpet exhaust, double points) but all they hear is US complaining because of the instant communication on the internet.

There have always been different problems in F1. Drivers have always been nursing the car at points, saving fuel, preserving tires, etc. This is not a new phenomenon. What has been wrong with the racing this year? About half of the races have been pretty exciting if you ask me. That's a much better hit rate than Formula 1 had just 10-15 years ago when a certain red team won every race and the only position swaps were in the pits.

We need to stop complaining so much or else we are going to lead the FIA to hurt the sport even more. Our world has turned into a bunch of whiners. It is not a right to have Formula 1, it is a luxury. It is not written anywhere that Formula 1 has big V12 engines, and they have to refuel, and they have to push every lap... Formula 1 is a sport that produces the fastest race cars in the world. That is still true, despite a massive change in technology that would take an automaker a decade to get into production. The gains these teams will make with this technology will be incredible. Embrace it, because it is the future. Energy recovers, computer programming, big data, that is the future. Cars are not made with manual stick shift gearboxes and carburetors anymore. They evolve and this is the next step.

The FIA has made drastic changes, and knee-jerk reactions because of US. We are the reason they have done this, because we can't shut our mouths. Because everything they do we complain about. Enough already. If you don't like it go watch NASCAR, go watch WEC, go watch Indy Car. You will be back because Formula 1 is still the best we have.

That said, the FIA need to have a look at themselves. Engines should have had a 24 month open development window. They should be more lenient on the regulations so cars look different again. They need to add more mechanical grip with larger rear tires to combat some aero wake. They need to remove gimmicks like double points. They need to stop this talk of cost cutting through budget cap and become more creative with solutions. Follow MotoGP. Give the small teams different tires or engine and fuel specs like Alonso said. Don't penalize the big teams that want to spend the money and quite frankly are the actual show.

[NickEice]

I'm sure most fans would be happy with the kind of rules that F1 had in the 90's/early 2000's...no DRS, no tyre saving, no engine saving, no fuel saving, no artificial gimmicks...just pure flat out racing.

Fans will never be happy. We will always find something to complain about because "It isn't exactly the way it used to be". Nothing is anymore, times change. And quite frankly, the amount of exciting races the past few years versus the 90's 00's is not comparable. Look at the graph below. What are we actually talking about here?!

5885

[Hornet]

What's wrong with Formula 1? Same thing that is wrong with most other sports in the world, the internet.

Can you blame Formula 1? Sure some of the ideas are just plain stupid (spark blocks, trumpet exhaust, double points) but all they hear is US complaining because of the instant communication on the internet.


I believe the call for discussion on the state of the sport is not a reaction to criticism, but rather to the decline in interest. Such decline can be observe from TV ratings and ticket sales. If it was just criticism, I doubt anyone would care. But losing viewers is something serious, because this directly impacts the marketability of the sport, especially to sponsors.

Of course we still see grand stands being filled at the moment, but I believe the whole point is to not let the sport hit the bottom before they react, because then it would be too late. Perhaps there's already a decline in viewership that while is not evident to us at the moment, they are trying to stop it before it becomes that bad.

I'm no expert to fully understand the whole situation, but there are quite a few probable reasons I could think off that has got nothing to do with technical issues such as overtaking or engine sound. F1 is one of those rare sports where viewership is very important, so there are other factors that concern the sport, factors that has nothing to do with technical stuff.

[NickEice]

Well ratings are often a fickle number.

-I am sure many more people are streaming races. I watch many sessions on my phone
-There hasn't been a great inter-team battle since 2012
-Ferrari and McLaren, the sports two most popular teams have been terrible the past few years (Probably the biggest reason viewership is down)
-Viewership in the USA is up like 150% over the prior year
-People don't want to pay for SKY coverage

[The Architect]

Now we're getting standing starts after a safety car to 'improve the show'? Words fail me. I'm already dreading this weekend's coverage which will no doubt have commentators and presenters alike sycophantically waxing lyrical about the new changes.

[Nero Horse]

Look at the graph below. What are we actually talking about here?!

5885

Well, most of those overtakes from 2009 onwards have been made thanks to DRS. I would personally prefer F1 without the DRS, even if it would mean less overtaking. I'm not a fan of these artificial gimmicks.

[Stormy]

Its good that atleast Ferrari are urging for positive changes, it seems to me all the other big teams are ok with the present rules and state of F1...

[stefa]

Well, most of those overtakes from 2009 onwards have been made thanks to DRS. I would personally prefer F1 without the DRS, even if it would mean less overtaking. I'm not a fan of these artificial gimmicks.

I couldn't agree more with you! I would rather watch 90 laps without a single pass but with 110% racing till the very last corner, than this artificial so called F1!

[Tifoso]

He's correct. They should do this.

That, or Ferrari higher ups could just stop flapping their gums and develop winning cars. :lou

[Stormy]

That, or Ferrari higher ups could just stop flapping their gums and develop winning cars. :lou
True, but you gotta agree, Luda makes sence, F1 must improve to be more appealing.

[anacleto]

Fans were board when we won every year, unless you were a MS fan. Fans were board when Vettel won every year for Red Bull. For me this year is great F1 racing. Merc, the car is on top, but you never know which driver will win, the same with RB Vettel is racing his teamate and Mec. Alonso IMO always has a shot at the podium even with his car as it is. He's great. Williams drivers are fighting each other. Even Bianchi got 2 pts! Ferrari on pole is the goal. " Forget football ! "

[doublesixes]

Too many regulations killed the category. My simple idea, just restrict the amount of fuel and that's it. Same amount of fuel for every car. Period

If Ferrari wants to use a 6 wheeled car or Merc a tricylce, so be it. 1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.....X number of cylinders, irrelevant. Turbo or naturally aspirated, done, electric, bring those brushless motors on. Computers on board that actuate movable parts?, bring them on. You wanna go analog, also welcome.

In other words, a level playing field as far as fuel requirement then the sky's the limit.

[NickEice]

Too many regulations killed the category. My simple idea, just restrict the amount of fuel and that's it. Same amount of fuel for every car. Period

If Ferrari wants to use a 6 wheeled car or Merc a tricylce, so be it. 1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.....X number of cylinders, irrelevant. Turbo or naturally aspirated, done, electric, bring those brushless motors on. Computers on board that actuate movable parts?, bring them on. You wanna go analog, also welcome.

In other words, a level playing field as far as fuel requirement then the sky's the limit.

It worked back in the day because technology wasn't where it is today. With the amount of options available to the teams this would surely put a nail in all the small teams coffins. Way too expensive. The rules are made to prevent teams from going down a million different paths because the cost is insane.

[Nova]

Well, most of those overtakes from 2009 onwards have been made thanks to DRS. I would personally prefer F1 without the DRS, even if it would mean less overtaking. I'm not a fan of these artificial gimmicks.

I feel the same..I dont see why F1 has to be a hybrid series. F1 has always distinguished itself as being a cut above
all other racing series. The GP2 race shown last nite was more exciting than the F1 race. This has been rehashed here a number
of times. I dont want to spend the $$ to see hybrids. I dont like the fact that drivers can only push and drive all out at certain
periods of the race. Thats not what F1 is about to me. Did u see the GT classes at Lemans this year? They ran flat for 24 hours.
Constant pushing and racing...all that with real motors. I didnt hear anyone complaining...Really, who is the FIA trying to
impress with this hybrid, semi racing. And where could they possibly go with this?

[Hornet]

I feel the same..I dont see why F1 has to be a hybrid series. F1 has always distinguished itself as being a cut above
all other racing series. The GP2 race shown last nite was more exciting than the F1 race. This has been rehashed here a number
of times. I dont want to spend the $$ to see hybrids. I dont like the fact that drivers can only push and drive all out at certain
periods of the race. Thats not what F1 is about to me. Did u see the GT classes at Lemans this year? They ran flat for 24 hours.
Constant pushing and racing...all that with real motors. I didnt hear anyone complaining...Really, who is the FIA trying to
impress with this hybrid, semi racing. And where could they possibly go with this?

I'm one of them who strongly disagreed with the new power unit due to it's sound, and I still think the sound is crap especially from the outside. But the more I think about it, I feel that hybrid engine is inevitable, and F1 has often been the first in introducing new technology to improve performance or safety, for example the use of carbon fiber technology. So I think now is the right time for F1 to not just get into hybrid technology, but to actually take it into territories where no one else have gone yet.

I believe F1 is the first to do this, harvesting energy from turbo and engine, and re-using it to boost performance, making the whole process an important part of the engine management. This is something that will benefit everyone including Ferrari, as we can use this technology to improve road car performance, or fuel efficiency.

Eventually everyone will have to go hybrid. If Ferrari can be the first supercar company to learn these new tech, then it can innovate and gain advantage over it's business competitors like Lamborghini or Porsche.

ps: Recently Harley Davidson released an electric bike, lol. It's strange but I guess it's the current trend in automobile tech to start moving towards electric power