[Mike Harte]

I do think that some within the FIA are overlooking the fact that it was never the intention for them to sell the commercial rights to Mr E; that was forced on them by the commissioners of the EU who had threatened that they would enforce it if they didn't do it themselves. Now, we can argue about whether Mr E got a sweetheart deal or not, but the FIA did get $300 million odd from the sale; so where did that money go if they now claim that they are running the show on a shoestring.

And, as with the days of Balestre, F1 teams plus now with FOM, they don't take kindly with diktats from the president of what has become the FIA. It may well be the way that BS conducts himself in his country, but FOM and the teams don't live there., and he needs them more than they need him and the FIA. And he needs to remember that.

One has to wonder how much the circuits are expected to pay for things to monitor track limits, for example? Or are the FIA considering setting up their own equipment and moving it around each circuit they visit. That would be a cost, but fairly minimal in the scheme of things. Maybe they could tighten their financial belt a bit, and run everything from their rather expensive building in the centre of Paris. And is AI software that expensive; I would have thought it would be considerably cheaper that employing humans to do the job?