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I'll leave the comparisons up to the man who is in a better position than ANYONE else to make them.

that means nothing though. lots of drivers win in a good car. and that is what JB is doing. God bless and good luck. MS won is a good car and MS won is ****.
 
Sequentially:

1) FOTA had an understanding that any team signing on for 2010 independent of a group decision would be suspended from the organization
2) Williams, obligated by contracts - including those to FIA and sponsors, submitted their application for 2010
3) FOTA suspended Williams

Until I read the part about contractually obligated I was more concerned. I think all parties understand it was a move of necessity, and not of choice in an attempt to get out ahead of the other FOTA teams. Regardless, I hope this entire budget cap mess can get straightended out soon.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/75646


so... are they done this year or next, this whole thing is really annoying. its like we are all 5 years old.
 
so... are they done this year or next, this whole thing is really annoying. its like we are all 5 years old.

Seems we're nearly there, yes.

Autosport said:
FOTA is pushing for a "glidepath" approach to adopting the budget cap regulations, with a two-step reduction in expenditure in 2010 and 2011. This would see expenditure limited to €100 million in 2010, dropping to €45 for the following season.

The technical partnerships would give the new teams assistance in terms of parts, particularly non-performance differentiators, as well as some design know-how.

...

FOTA also discussed further ways to develop the budget cap concept, with the possibility of some commonality of non-performance differentiators still on the table in a bid to repackage the imposed limit as a programme of cost containment.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/75662

Seems we're nearly there, although it remains to be seen whether the higher budget cap will still attract the new teams. I wonder if they'll commission a company to build some of the non-performance differentiators. That would make sense in my IMHO, tho' what parts that would entail I have no idea. KERS wasn't one I was thinking of, but maybe something else eg steering wheels.
 
Seems we're nearly there, yes.



http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/75662

Seems we're nearly there, although it remains to be seen whether the higher budget cap will still attract the new teams. I wonder if they'll commission a company to build some of the non-performance differentiators. That would make sense in my IMHO, tho' what parts that would entail I have no idea. KERS wasn't one I was thinking of, but maybe something else eg steering wheels.

I guess KERS would be the one thing that could be purchased cheaply, maybe from another team or manufacturer. Most of the steering wheels are standard anyway, they all have to run with the MES dash.

It is all a bit silly really and they are behaving like school children. Max should line them all up and give them a good spankin' until they all behave.
 
I guess KERS would be the one thing that could be purchased cheaply, maybe from another team or manufacturer. Most of the steering wheels are standard anyway, they all have to run with the MES dash.

It is all a bit silly really and they are behaving like school children. Max should line them all up and give them a good spankin' until they all behave.

max would probably like that...
 
It is all a bit silly really and they are behaving like school children. Max should line them all up and give them a good spankin' until they all behave.

I think a not small motivator in creating FOTA in the first place was the teams were tired of being spanked by Max and/or Bernie every time they "misbehaved". Those two have done very well playing the teams against each other to get what they want and a united approach through FOTA makes that much harder.

Then again, if the 2010 season is just Williams and one or two US-based teams, that means Silverstone and Indianapolis are back on the calendar! :p
 
Prodrive just dropped an application. I'm a little surprised after their reluctance to push ahead earlier this year and acquire Honda. Regardless, it should be good to have more teams on the grid next year.
 
Prodrive just dropped an application. I'm a little surprised after their reluctance to push ahead earlier this year and acquire Honda. Regardless, it should be good to have more teams on the grid next year.

With the expectation that they will race as Aston Martin in coming years (but not next year)...
 
Prodrive just dropped an application. I'm a little surprised after their reluctance to push ahead earlier this year and acquire Honda. Regardless, it should be good to have more teams on the grid next year.

They were reluctant due to a lack of finalised rules. I presume the amended ones will be ok.

The full list appears to be the current teams plus

Campos Meta 1 – will join up with Dallara according to Autosport. Rated **** according to Autosport.
Prodrive/ Aston Martin – teaming up with Mercedes.***
USGPE – Cosworth engines.****
Litespeed – Mike Gascoyne and co. Cosworth engines. Hiring staff now. *
Lola – officially submitted proposal. ***

It'll be interesting to see the process. USGPE IMHO have the best chance, and the new markets they offer will be interesting. Prodrive would be interesting to – a new "manufacturer" would probably sway it for them. After that, I dunno – I don't follow GP2 that closely.:p
 
FOTA Appears to Have At Least Partially Blinked:

The nine FOTA teams said their entries to contest the 2010 world championship on Friday are "conditional".

Five new teams, along with suspended FOTA team Williams, have already met the FIA's midnight deadline.

Attached to the block entries by Ferrari, Toyota, McLaren, BMW, Renault, Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Brawn and Force India, however, is the stipulation that the sport's governing body tear up its published 2010 rules and revert to this year's regulations "amended in accordance with proposals ... submitted to the FIA".

SpeedTV.com

Autosport.com
 
Why bother to make statements like this? I know you need to keep your reputation, but if they do go off this new raft of teams (as much as I welcome them), as a group will not be up to the same level/standard as the 9 that leave.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/75796

The problem for the FOTA teams is the amount of leverage they have. James Allen believes that Ferrari have a contract to compete in next years championship, similar to the one with Williams. With Ferrari in F1, other teams might stay, with Renault, BMW or Toyota taking this opportunity to leave the sport. It's certainly a tricky situation - we will see how it plays out.
 
While I have no direct insight into FOTA's motives, I expect the goal of being able to continue to spend lots of money is not one of them.

It is possible Brawn GP's success on a "small" budget is what they fear. The factory teams other then Toyota will all probably spend £40 million or more to both attain parity with where Brawn is now and to improve throughout the year.

If the teams were currently under a budget cap and they had already spent the majority of that to design and produce the car, they'd be unable to do anything and F1 would be in the same situation it was when Schumacher wrapped up the Championship in France 2002 combined with 1988 where the two McLaren drivers won almost every race between the two of them. With such a "low" cap, a team could create a car that is effectively unbeatable.

By demanding a new Concorde Agreement along with a one-year "high cap" transition year, FOTA may be trying to create a pseudo "spec series" which would provide enough rules restrictions to prevent one team from "interpreting" them to the point they could create a car that was untouchable while improving the chances for more teams to win, which really is required to justify the budgets the factory teams are spending now, but also would help justify staying in a cheaper series, as well, since in the end it is all about prestige and image.
 
The problem for the FOTA teams is the amount of leverage they have. James Allen believes that Ferrari have a contract to compete in next years championship, similar to the one with Williams. With Ferrari in F1, other teams might stay, with Renault, BMW or Toyota taking this opportunity to leave the sport. It's certainly a tricky situation - we will see how it plays out.

You're forgetting James Allen is a cock.
 
But an enthusiastic cock :)
I much prefer his commentating to Jonathan Legard, he just sounds like he wished he'd stayed home

Enthusiasm doesn't make up for his level of annoyance...
I much prefer Legard.
 
It is possible Brawn GP's success on a "small" budget is what they fear.

People really need to get over that idea. The amount of money it took for Honda to create the car will be astronomical, and even this year Brawn aren't short on cash. If they were struggling don't you think they'd put a bit more effort into finding a sponsor?
 
People really need to get over that idea. The amount of money it took for Honda to create the car will be astronomical, and even this year Brawn aren't short on cash. If they were struggling don't you think they'd put a bit more effort into finding a sponsor?

Yeah, it is true the car was in development since almost Australia 2008 and I am sure Honda invested a shed-load of money in it. And I know Honda essentially is covering much of the cost of this season since it was cheaper then abrogating all their contracts a year early.

In other news, SPEED TV this morning during practice at Turkey said Force India has joined Williams in submitting a "normal" petition to take part in 2010 so that leaves eight FOTA teams with a "conditional" petition.
 
Nicely done RBR and SV.

As for Hamilton - Man, I haven't seen an F1 car hunt that badly since the old Jordans. Heiki's car also looked like a handful. Perhaps McLaren should take a page from Brawn and write-off this car and start on 2010...

...assuming they'll be in F1 in 2010...
 
Nicely done RBR and SV.

As for Hamilton - Man, I haven't seen an F1 car hunt that badly since the old Jordans. Heiki's car also looked like a handful. Perhaps McLaren should take a page from Brawn and write-off this car and start on 2010...

...assuming they'll be in F1 in 2010...

Well, Button is top in BBC's fuel adjusted grid. You gotta fancy him tomorrow.

BBC Sport said:
1. Jenson Button - lap 17
2. Sebastian Vettel - lap 15
3. Mark Webber - lap 17
4. Rubens Barrichello - lap 16
5. Kimi Raikkonen - lap 17
6. Jarno Trulli - lap 16
7. Felipe Massa - lap 16
8. Nico Rosberg - lap 18
9. Robert Kubica - lap 20
10. Fernando Alonso - lap 14
 
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