The Manor-Marussia Saga

  • Thread starter Thread starter TenEightyOne
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Why would Bernie reduce online visibility of Formula when teams demand it? :confused:

That’s why F1 has now got a social media department at Ecclestone’s base in Princes Gate; it’s why they are investing in a new F1.com for 2015 and in the official F1 app, which has sold over 3 million editions. F1.com had 67 million unique users last season and that is set to rise this year. The new site is set to engage the younger audience, using all the social media tools Ecclestone refers to and will have a level of personalisation and fan engagement which is way beyond what is there today.
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Soundtrack
Why would Bernie reduce online visibility of Formula when teams demand it? :confused:
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That company you posted are the people who make the F1 App, I don't use it myself but I understand it's up and running. Are you saying he's closing them? I'm not sure what you were saying with that post, sorry :)

prisonermonkeys
James Allen breaks down the letter from the smaller teams to Bernie:
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This is an interesting point; I hadn't realised their engine-related costs were so high:

Letter to Bernie
70% – 80% of the FOM income has to be allocated to the engine. For us, as engine customers, the engine technology, i.e V6 or V8 turbo-charged or hybrid, is of much less significance, as opposed to engine manufacturers, who are using Formula One as a marketing tool to showcase high-end technology. Unlike manufacturer-owned teams, our core business is Formula One.

Yet, we have no choice but to spend most of our income on the engine, and the remaining 30% is by far not enough to construct, enter and run a team over a twenty race season.
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No, that entity is unlikely being closed; they are set to expand their online presence. In that context, how convenient does a "taking over media accreditation to curb a proliferation of online media" sounds?
 
Soundtrack
No, that entity is unlikely being closed; they are set to expand their online presence. In that context, how convenient does a "taking over media accreditation to curb a proliferation of online media" sounds?
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I'm not sure you understand what he means. His complaint is that there are too many people representing websites getting free press passes, "proliferation" means that the numbers are growing, in this sense it seems as a physical pack.

Il disait q'il y a trop de journalistes de 'websites' au cours... et avec des billet gratuits ;)
 
Soundtrack
Just another brick in the Pay Wall ;)
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It's peanuts though, he wants to thin out the numbers and ditch some of the "freeloaders" from the sounds of things. Even if Bernie charged a grand-or-so for a pass he wouldn't make a lot of money, and it wouldn't go into the team pot... I think he just wants to raise the reporting game a little too.
 
In deference to their main sponsor, we need a truly epic song to commemorate this wonderful news.

 
Liquid
In deference to their main sponsor, we need a truly epic song to commemorate this wonderful news.
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How ironic, I've never heard an anthem that sounds more like a Pet Shop Boys tune...now I've got "Go West" stuck in my head. CIA plot to infiltrate the writing team? :D
 
This story is like a drunk man on a ice rink, down, up and down again. :lol:

Will he get up again or will he call it a night? :p

Joking aside, it's a shame they won't be there to keep Sauber and Caterham company at the final race.
 
Part of me would like to see the big teams put their money where their mouth is and break away into a new championship; I'd imagine the manufacturers plus Red Bull would be into that. F1 would stay for the remaining privateers and eventually attract some more. The Super Constructors' League would collapse because the big boys would argue too much about their new pot of money and how one of them is now technically the backmarker.

Well, that's a wistful hypothesis anyway.
 
prisonermonkeys
Appropriate choice, now that battle lines have been drawn:

http://m.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116840/analysis-fia-is-last-hope-in-cost-row
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As noted though, there's very little they can do other than fail-to-sanction events, even with Bernie sitting on the WSMC. The threat of that might be enough to force F1 to get its house in order (or at least give a minimum wage to them as what's downstairs) but I think the real driver for CVC will be the negative publicity of the discussions themselves..
 
TenEightyOne
...there's very little they can do...
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FIA got almost caught in an abuse of dominant position by the Europeans authorities and had to revise their organigram accordingly. The long lease of the commercial rights to Bernie - witch later sublet them partially to private equity CVC - was the aftermath of it.

In theory such a lease does provides the tenant a quasi-ownership status for the specified duration indeed. Jurisprudence on emphyteusis however allows a break of contract should the lessee substantially compromise the property.

I’m not sure how much more damage must F1 sustain: two backmarkers teams in administrations, the mid-field on the verge of collapsing, and a right-holder that has publicly acknowledged he can’t cure the problem...

FIA sure got enough leverage when it came to their share of revenues in the last Concorde agreements, I don't see why they would not make use of it (their leverage) in order to sort things out. Then of course, they could consider this usual F1 business...
 
@Soundtrack, that's true but was a (relatively) long time ago (1999), I was under the impression that the change of Das Moseley, the arrival of Todt and the oversight of the EC had removed those problems?
 
The FIA still pretty much consider itself the owner of Formula One if that is your question.

As for abuse of dominance, well their governance of the sport has sure showed some limits...
 
Soundtrack
The FIA still pretty much consider itself the owner of Formula One if that is your question.
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I'm sorry but I don't accept that either philosophically or legally.

Soundtrack
As for abuse of dominance, well their governance of the sport has sure showed some limits...
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Examples? And if what you say is true (I don't know what evidence you'll present) then the FIA won't be interested in doing anything to help Caterham, Marussia/Manor or their like, will they?
 
TenEightyOne
I'm sorry but I don't accept that either philosophically or legally.
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From the legal papers:

The FIA will organise the FIA Formula One World Championship (the Championship)

which is the property of the FIA and comprises two titles of World Champion, one

for drivers and one for constructors.
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TenEightyOne
And if what you say is true (I don't know what evidence you'll present) then the FIA won't be interested in doing anything to help Caterham, Marussia/Manor or their like, will they?
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Still from the legal papers:

13.4 With the exception of those whose cars have scored points in the

Championship of the previous year, applicants must supply information about

the size of their company, their financial position and their ability to meet their

prescribed obligations.
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Could possibly concern Caterham and Sauber

As for Marussia it will depend whether teams are allowed to miss 2 or 3 races...
 
@Soundtrack, the name and rules and format of the championship are defined by the FIA and the WSMC, outside that they don't own anything, but I see your point. If the teams (and even FOM) were to decide to walk away the FIA would have no ownership of anything meaningful... their ownership of the regulatory description-and-format is their only power. With no entrants they only hold the idea.

I do understand that the teams have to provide information to show that their entry is valid and likely to be sustainable over time; of course that doesn't answer whether or not the FIA would be interested or disinterested in helping Marussia or Caterham? I suspect they'd like as many teams in as possible yet they have little true leverage over the sport's incumbents other than threatening to deregulate the championship. But that might be exactly what the big cartel teams want right now.
 

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