Comments on: Ferrari blames ‘war against big car manufacturers’ for exits

By: Negative Camber

Negative Camber — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:16:06 +0000

They have to hope that the “T” in FOTA holds out. Recall the last time they tried this, it was the GPMA where the “M” was manufacturers. This time they knew to include all teams not just manufacturers.

BUT! Williams and Campos et. al. will be more likely to dissent in this configuration thus reducing control.

By: Tim Dev

Tim Dev — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:45:58 +0000

Well I for one thought when JPM took Williams back to the front, it was awesome and had the flavor of the little guy shoving his fist in Ferrari and Shummies face. Like sod off….
The independents while they are not making road cars….the engines they run (ran) are made by someone. Can I get one? Not without winning the lottery. McLaren? Can I get one? Again…lottery winnings needed. So to say the manufacturers actually are giving me technology born on the track is a bit laughable. Tires? Nope. My tires need to last 70,000.
Brakes? Nope. The freeway would be a disaster area if we ran carbon-carbon brakes. KERS. Yeah, right. Toyota and Honda and others already HAVE that technology pretty well down. $80,000 steering wheel? Nope. I do have Enkei RPF1 wheels on my race car but that was by accident. They were the lightest I could afford. Engines? Nope. Try making an F1 engine push the Family Truckster with water thin lubricants.
Where does that leave us? My car does have aerodynamic mirrors.
Yes, F1 will cease to be F1 without the manufacturers…..but it wont die real soon.
Cant use NASCAR as an example of what happens when a series becomes a SPEC series…most cant tell you if it’s a Ford or Chevy without the decals.

So what to do? Kidnap Todt and Mosley….install Ari and lets get on with racing!

By: nofahz

nofahz — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:53:48 +0000

This weeks Rencken column on Autosport offers his thoughts on both the tires and Toyota exits. He also links back to a column from last summer regarding the history of tire aspect ratios. Why we have those big ol sidewalls in F1.

By: Negative Camber

Negative Camber — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:37:53 +0000

I am also intrigued by that story as well. The Bridgestone departure really surprised me.

By: JD

JD — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:47:39 +0000

If there are fewer manufacturers, then Ferrari has less power versus the FIA. So they had a vested interest in Toyota staying in F1 and every reason to be upset if they left.

Having said that, yes, Mad Max forced through his agenda and didn’t play nice. But let’s also understand that Ferrari enjoyed a sympathetic relationship with the FIA during it’s Schumacher era, which helped grow the Ferrari legend. I doubt that Ferrari would have the same pull if they still had Alboreto and Johansson driving the cars.