F1 links: More cost cutting

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FOTA progress continues this week

“FOTA also began preliminary discussions about the results of a major market research campaign it has commissioned to find out what fans want to see in F1. Although the full findings from the document are not yet believed to have been delivered, initial results are now being looked at to allow teams to consider what changes can be introduced to make the sport better.”

Some predictions for F1 2009

“Plans for a Grand Prix in London will be announced. Boris Johnson will support the plan and Donington will be put on hold.”

Regenerative shock absorbers?

“Who needs KERS when you could have a regenerative shock absorber fitted to the F1 car?”

Baugur goes into Chapter 11

“The company does not have any signage on the Williams this year so it is not clear if the bankruptcy will affect the team’s money supply.”

F1 teams face further radical cost cuts in 2010

“With Honda seeking a buyer for its team and other car manufacturers suffering a collapse in sales, the F?â?®d?â?®ration International de l’Automobile, F1’s governing body, believes that the sport is racing to survive and that only a radical reduction in costs can prevent more teams from pulling out. It wants to reduce the costs of competing from more than ?óÔÇÜ?¼300m ($388m) a year to less than ?óÔÇÜ?¼100m for the powerful manufacturer-owned teams and to ?óÔÇÜ?¼50m for independents, and plans to set out rules to achieve this in the next two weeks.”

The Dakar needs Mitsubishi

“The withdrawal of Mitsubishi from the Dakar will do the event more harm even than, say, were Ferrari to withdraw from F1, where there are still a number of other well funded, factory teams.”

Thoughts on a US Formula 1 team

“It is hard to imagine where the funding for a US F1 team would come from. Perhaps there are high-worth individuals willing to invest some money, but will they pay the kind of money we are talking about? And will they pay the running budgets as well? And if there were such people out there, surely they would have bought the Honda Racing F1 operation by now because that has everything they need and is available for next to nothing. It is the bargain of the century for those with money to spend.”

A challenging time ahead

“The automobile industry has been waiting with some trepidation for the latest US car sales figures to see whether the trends in recent months are continuing, or whether there is some hope of a recovery […] The number of cars sold was the lowest in a month since December 1981.”

Lunch with Max Mosley?óÔé¼?ªa busy year ahead

“What he did not say, but I have gleaned privately, is that the FIA has a package to present to FOTA of areas of non-compete, which are very extensive, along the lines I wrote about in my Honda story this morning. Ideally the FIA would like FOTA’s agreement on this package, but they do have the option of ramming it through the world council in March or June under the force majeur rule – in other words arguing that the situation is so desperate in the motor industry that these measures must be taken now or else the whole survival of F1 will be threatened. That will be a major flash point with FOTA.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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4 comments on “F1 links: More cost cutting”

  1. Yet another street race, that now being London! Please no…

  2. About cost cutting….
    How about teams changing how they sell their space.
    Why don’t they try half season or 1/2 race packages for sponsorship. That whay ppl with less advertising budgets can still do some ads on cars and you play around with it.

    Are you for instance allowed to do this? I’m thinking main overhauls of your livery then?

    Just something that crossed my mind :)

    1. Thats similar to what I have been saying, some of the teams at least should have advertising relevant to each circuit on them – the likes of Ferrari and McLaren now have global sponsorship, but they don’t change the brand names to suit each country, do they?

  3. I´m all for Mo to keep cutting some mo´

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