F1 is officially under new management:

Flavio Briatore:
In charge of making the sport more appealing to fans. Okay that worries me a bit.
Also has a hand in commercial aspects of FOTA.

Luca Di Montezemolo:
In charge of the political and organisational side of FOTA

Ross Brawn
Chiefly in charge of setting the technical regulations

Also the future replacement for Max Mosley better me made of stern stuff.

Unknown times lay ahead...

That's a rather sweeping statement to make, but, does it have any basis in factual content? I think not.

Actually, i'm quite relieved to see that they've been appointed. I was worried that, despite assurances the FOTA-series would be organised according to some of the wishes of the fans, it would all go as it used to, with the only change that the teams received more money. Ross Brawn is capable enough to think of decent regulations to ensure good racing, with Luca Montezemolo and Flavio Briatore in charge i just don't know .. at least they tried to think of the fans ...wait and see i guess ...

gr.Jeroen

It is indeed a case of wait and see, that's why I said unknown times lay ahead.

F1 is in a state of flux.

I would question if F1 is under new commercial management, since Bernie Ecclestone and CVC remain supreme.

As for regulatory management - it would appear that there is temporary agreement between FOTA and FIA, and Max Moseley has voluntarily agreed to step aside this fall, but there are still four months remaining for more fireworks... I remain unconvinced that the power of management has been fully transferred to FOTA. Charlie Whiting remains in power as chief steward, and Albert Donnelly remains active. While a new president for FIA seems likely, who that will be remains to be determined? Is there a power vacuum waiting to be filled by Jean Todt, or someone else?

These are just things you are assuming from the few articles in the news section yea?

Untill we here something official 2010 is going to be ran to the same sporting/technical regulations and governance as 2009 but with a new fia president.

For the last 3+ years, in media quotes and interviews etc, Flavio has appeared as the one person who works within F1 who can relate to the fan. Maybe it's that he is more of a personel manager rather then technical director, and this lack of technical knowledge allows him to see a race for what it is. When there is a snoozefest procession, it annoys him just as much as it annoys us. He's the only one of the team leaders who has spoken out against it, and he's been doing it for years.

Most other team leaders are worrying about the track temp, the air temp, the fuel strategies, the margins after the race between teams, possibility of SC's. Meanwhile Flav is sitting there thinking how boring it all was. He's the only man for the job IMO, and is the only who can see the television screen the same way the fan does. When people say in live chat "cool sparks " Flav is thinking the same thing.

Based on todays statements I'd say it's quite a good representation of the current structure of F1.

I must admit, I have not seen any official statements, although, I have seen some speculative accounts. (non-financial)

Maybe you could furnish me with links?

I think the OP is overstating FOTAs strength. FOTA are probably equal partners in the drafting of regulations, but they've got no foothold in the commercial side other than their threat to walk out. I don't know that Flavio is the best man to talk to Bernie, but I guess they wanted to pit someone against Ecclestone who is equally indefatigable. Hopefully, the strategy is to drive down team costs and use the money freed up to reduce costs to the circuits (and hence ticket prices), which would tie in with Briatore's pronouncements about a return to traditional circuits.

They're all in the F1 news section of this site.

This one about Flavio improving the show:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76517

Is interesting, but the general talk about deciding rules and so forth seems to suggest they have a lot of power right now.

Are Williams, Force Inida and the new teams going to be part of FOTA now?

The only one i can find of substance is:


I am not against any of the Op's statement, just that there has been so much bandied about over the past week or so "he said, we said, they said" that I have now become sceptical of news items.

What new management? Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Whitmarsh:

Maybe they will now put out those suggestions again.

It also led to some really stupid ideas being proposed by the teams, like a point for the fastest pitstop...

Briatore worries me, he has some wacky ideas. I don't want pitstop contests, points for pitstops, qualifying races, reverse grids, 2 smaller races per weekend. He seems to think that's what the fans want - well I sure as hell don't.

briatore is nutcase it wont go through, they just let him speak inorder to amuse themselves. briatore is clown.

I can just see all the pitcrews in their new outfits - thongs two sizes too small.

That's actually quite a cool idea.

Clearly there are F1 purists and....um...clowns. Go and watch Nascar instead.

2 scenarios for you Madras:

1) Half the grid knows they are not going to score a point today so they immediately switch to a cunning 75 stop strategy to try and steal a point.

2) Lewis Hamilton and Seb Vettel are equal on points in the last race of the season. Lewis has a spin and drops to 19th, Vettel's engine blows up.... Lewis then pits like a bastard 40 times to try and grab a last point. Can you imagine what a laughnig stock F1 would be if he won the WDC like that?

Whats next from FOTA, a 'brand contest' - who has the pit girls with the cutest titties, who has the best corporate slogan...?

Given the latest developments I'm pessimistic about FOTA's capacity in the role as the leaders of the sport. Clearly they are unfit to lead when they can't put their own interests ahead of massaging their own egos, just like they did after their "win". They lowered themselves to the same behavior they have been critisising Mosley for.

And all this talk about unity... I would be more interested in knowing how they will deal with matters when they are not united. Right now they have a love affair with themselves but that's gonna end someday and that's when they will be put to the test.

What a surprise.

Williams and FI are part of FOTA, they were just suspended not kicked out.

guess again. bull whip max is having a rethink.

"We have heard a lot from FOTA about an independent court of appeal," revealed Mosley. "Yet during the controversy over the "double diffuser", a manufacturer team repeatedly lobbied me (wholly improperly) to intervene with the FIA Court of Appeal and have the double diffuser declared illegal.

"The FIA Court would never listen to such an approach but it shows that for the team in question, "independent" means independent of the other teams and under the control of particular interests."



He's obviously desperate for FOTA to enter a slanging match, I think they ought to simply reply that he's proven himself unfit for office.

So you'd be in favour of an FIA president that WOULD favour particular teams? The quote you've provided in no way shows that MM is unfit for office...