2016 Calendar Changes-Bizarre

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Greem

I think I might nip down the bookies and put a fiver on that not happening.

Bernie wants it to happen.

[bella]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

They're back to back in that they are consecutive and the teams will probably need those two weeks to recover, after, all the toing and froing from Australia and then eventually to Spain.

it's not what the teams and media mean by back to back, but i get your point. it's still long enough to get the cars back to the uk, turned around and sent back out again though, and enough for the mechanics and engineers to get time back at home with the family too.

[Alan52]

Bernie was determined to put a race on Le Mans weekend and the Canada/Baku option made sure this will happen.Will FIA do anything to prevent repeat in 2017?

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Alan52

Bernie was determined to put a race on Le Mans weekend and the Canada/Baku option made sure this will happen.Will FIA do anything to prevent repeat in 2017?

Does the FIA no longer approve the dates? I can remember them refusing to allow major events to clash in the past.

[chillibowl]

the asterisk next to Baku has to do with pending approval of the start time so that it does not clash with the conclusion of Le Mans.

My bad as I neglected to include that part with the copy and paste.

[chillibowl]

not sure how serious any of this is, could just be some public venting, but Gerard Neveu has hit out against BE for the conflict with Le Mans and at the FIA for not doing enough to protect the WEC event.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/121327

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by wnut

Does the FIA no longer approve the dates? I can remember them refusing to allow major events to clash in the past.

What is the modern and practical mandate that the FIA operates under? My limited understanding sees their primary focus on managing rules and regulations. Why would they be managing dates for events? Do they have ANY official power on this topic?

Quote from the Autosport article...

Neveu suggested the "FIA should have protected us better".

That is a reference to a gentleman's agreement between the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, the Le Mans organiser and WEC promoter, and the FIA that the weekend of the 24 Hours would be left free on the F1 calendar.

I get that the FIA also somewhat "herds cats" in an semi-official way, but likely can't impose anything? I guess the comments above is that the FIA didn't try hard enough to act as a representative of the WEC series?

Ultimately as everyone says... it is BE who is at fault (is he the "gentleman" in that "gentleman's agreement"? ).

Richard

[chillibowl]

recalling the FISA-FOCA war days i seem to remember the FISA having a lot of control over the calendar...picking which events were championship events or not and exerting control over the local tracks via their respective auto clubs etc.

but how much of that power over F1 the FIA retained after BE and Max set up the new commercial and sporting arraignments is unknown to me.

i would think they have some control over sanctioning events through their inspection and grading process but other than that i would think they have little choice but to rubber stamp whatever order/commercial deals BE has worked out.

interesting question!

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

What is the modern and practical mandate that the FIA operates under? My limited understanding sees their primary focus on managing rules and regulations. Why would they be managing dates for events? Do they have ANY official power on this topic?

FIA has no responsibility of calendars of national championships, of course.

But F1 and WEC are two FIA world championships. I think they should indeed manage their calendars to avoid conflicts.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

FIA has no responsibility of calendars of national championships, of course.

But F1 and WEC are two FIA world championships. I think they should indeed manage their calendars to avoid conflicts.

It behooves the FIA to do so, as it benefits the sport, otherwise what's the point of having a governing body?

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

It behooves the FIA to do so, as it benefits the sport, otherwise what's the point of having a governing body?

The present point in having the FIA is as a toothless rubber stamp outfit that makes it look the sport is well regulated enough to deter any anti-monopoly watchdog that might snoop around.

The FIA is almost toothless in respect to F1 and it's very difficult to plug teeth back into a toothless organisation. It involves Ecclestone (or his successor) and the teams having severe bouts of remorse and uncharacteristic feelings of "fair play" so that they hand back powers to the FIA. A highly unlikely scenario I submit.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

The present point in having the FIA is as a toothless rubber stamp outfit that makes it look the sport is well regulated enough to deter any anti-monopoly watchdog that might snoop around.

The FIA is almost toothless in respect to F1 and it's very difficult to plug teeth back into a toothless organisation. It involves Ecclestone (or his successor) and the teams having severe bouts of remorse and uncharacteristic feelings of "fair play" so that they hand back powers to the FIA. A highly unlikely scenario I submit.

So where is Jean Todt? Yes he was 'instrumental' in helping set up the WEC but the stand off between the ACO and the FIA had to come to an end sooner or later and a good thing too. Otherwise, he's been completely off the radar.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

So where is Jean Todt? Yes he was 'instrumental' in helping set up the WEC but the stand off between the ACO and the FIA had to come to an end sooner or later and a good thing too. Otherwise, he's been completely off the radar.

Jean Todt hasn't much power in respect to F1. The power is all signed over to Eccelstone and the teams.

Jean Todt is basically F1's equivalent to the Queen of England.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

Jean Todt hasn't much power in respect to F1. The power is all signed over to Eccelstone and the teams.

Jean Todt is basically F1's equivalent to the Queen of England.

. God save the Queen.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

Jean Todt hasn't much power in respect to F1. The power is all signed over to Eccelstone and the teams.

Jean Todt is basically F1's equivalent to the Queen of England.

In the German interview with Bernie and MaxM, Bernie stated that he and Todt could change any regulation if they both wanted.agreed the change.
He also stated that Todt was always trying to make everyone happy and would not take the risk of offending anyone.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by wnut

In the German interview with Bernie and MaxM, Bernie stated that he and Todt could change any regulation if they both wanted.agreed the change.
He also stated that Todt was always trying to make everyone happy and would not take the risk of offending anyone.

So Todt is Bernie's Poodle.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

So Todt is Bernie's Poodle.

Not at all; he is the teams' "b*tch". And that is the point that the two of them were trying to make.

[Paradise City]

Bernie has ruled by playing the teams off each other. Which is fairly easy to do given that the teams are rivals and intensely suspicious of each other . Eccelstone just takes some teams aside for "confidential discussions" whilst the other teams look on in suspicion and jealousy. He just rinses and repeats this very simple formula and by such 'divide and rule' methods he has ruled the roost in F1.

And while Eccelstone is still powerful that power has been eroded with the various high profile melodramas he's been involved in and he's clearly trying to claw some of that lost influence back.

He's also hamstrung too given that he might lose teams and there's uncertainty with manufacturers, the leverage is now with the teams and they know it.

Mosley played his part in extracting some of the teeth of the FIA, btw. Particularly in signing over the TV rights to Eccelstone on bizarre 100 year terms.

So I'd take this video with a pinch of salt and I wouldn't necessarily hand out a halo to Mosley nor anoint him as fount of all wisdom.

Clearly there is a political game at work here that goes beyond their words.

[chillibowl]

[Mike Harte]

Anyone care to guess which GP is to be dropped for next year after the FIA have ruled that there will only be 20 races during the 2016 season, according to GrandPrix dot com : http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns32244.html

[S griffin]

At last some common sense. I would love it if the FIA dropped the Azerbaijan race due to it being on Le Mans weekend, but I'm probably dreaming

[wolfhound]

I got the impression Bernie wanted to drop Monza and then Silverstone, all seems to have gone quiet on those fronts recently.

[S griffin]

Silverstone is safe til 2026

[wnut]

This date clash is just deliberately trying to devalue Le Mans, and prevent the F1 drivers competing.

Explanation not accepted Jean!

http://www.pitpass.com/55135/Todt-ap...ans-date-clash


You are in charge of calendar clashes, and you are tasked with representing the best interests of motorsport!

[johnh875]

One minor bizarre thing is listing the Azerbaijan GP as "Baku", the only one that does not list the country. At least it has improved my knowledge of international geography, I suppose.