iSport | For the Fans, by the Fans

Maharshi Vaishnav, iSport`s current 'Writer of the month' speaks on what he feels Jean Todt the newly elected president of FIA should have on his 'to do' list as soon as he is in action.

It happens only in Formula 1. A team’s recent (just retired) ex-boss becomes the chief of the sport’s (supposedly) pristine governing body, while the team still has voting / veto rights on all the decisions concerning the sport.

And boy! We have Jean Todt as the new boss of the Fédération Internationale de L'Automobile (FIA) replacing Max Mosley. Now, I am very much in favor of this. Todt’s been a gentleman all his life and seems to be a guy whom the F1 fraternity likes. Its just that Todt’s stint at Ferrari has ended pretty recently and the FIA is adequately condemned for its pro Ferrari stance.

Todt’s got his task cut out considering that Mosley in the last few years did more to disrepute the sport than resurrect it. Mosley was always in the eye of the storm. Supercilious, unapproachable and confrontational, Max Mosley never had a paucity of controversies. While he was persuasive and charming to the sport's power-brokers, he also demonstrated brusqueness and lacerating self-assurance in his dealings with the teams.

To add to his elitist behavior, he hails from a ‘neo-Nazi’ family who was unabashed about their connection with the Fuehrer. His last bit of shame too involved a Nazi styled orgy that was based on the infamous Holocaust concentration camps styled theme. And it was not just his personal life that was the area of concern. His professional dealings were increasingly getting high handed and detrimental. The FIA vs FOTA wrangle almost brought the sport on the brink of a self-inflicted break down.

Mosley’s recent travails had brought tremendous disgrace to the sport. The sport has become controversy ridden and we have seen a surfeit of these this year. This famously abrasive head of motor sport's governing body was definitely a far cry from what his position and power commanded.

F1 is a macho, egotistical milieu, where Todt is expected to bring in a calming and reassuring presence. He was superb at Ferrari where he resuscitated a dying team to unparalleled glory. He is known for his strategic knack and man management skills. More importantly, having been on the other side, he is expected to do more for the sport than for the money mongers.

However, it won’t be easy considering that the world and the sport are witnessing unprecedented circumstances. The global financial health has been grave for the last 2 years. The liquidity crunch is fast strangling the sport and the FIA hasn’t done anything substantial to alleviate this.

Todt needs to adopt a multi pronged approach which would bring the spunk back in to the sport, share the spoils with the teams and encourage more manufacturers / nations to enter Formula 1. Here is what I feel should be on Todt’s priority list:

i) Establish neutrality and rescind any Ferrari prejudice notions
While he was at the helm of the Maranello based outfit, FIA was allegedly notorious to favor Ferrari on more than 1 occasion. Whether it was the ‘barge board’ controversy that helped Eddie Irvine to almost snatch the 1999 title from Mika Hakkinen or the infamous Austria gate where Barrichello was instructed to move aside under team orders so that Schumi would win the race or the 2005 US GP where ideally the race shouldn’t have been allowed but was held with only 6 Bridgestone cars competing and Ferrari winning because the Michelin cars were deemed unsafe to race and many more.

Also, Todt’s high profile fight with Ari Vatanen was overtly supported by Michael Schumacher who is still on Ferrari’s rolls as a consultant. While other team managements chose to stay muted (read neutral here), Ferrari went out of their way to back Todt.

The FIA has been severe on other teams, quite notably the USD 100mn fine to McLaren post the ‘spy gate’ and the expulsion of Flavio Briatore for life post the ‘Nelson gate.’ It needs to maintain its standards and act with consistency. Todt badly needs to be consciously & conscientiously neutral in his workings with the F1 teams and make sure that he doesn’t feel emotionally / rationally compelled to favor his ex-paymasters.

ii) FIA-FOTA consensus is an imperative
Mosley thoughtlessly burnt all bridges with the FOTA. Todt needs to be empathetic to FOTA and offer an olive branch straight up. He needs to understand that the sport is worthless without the teams and the administrators come into the picture only because the sport is alive.

Whether it’s the share of television rights or technical / sporting regulations, the FIA & the FOTA need to work ‘hand in glove’ for the smooth functioning of the sport. It is well documented that Messrs Bernie and Mosley had vested interests in keeping the share of the television revenues with them. But an additional share, especially in these turbulent times will go a long way in establishing peace.

In the post Schumi era, the sport has seen an erosion of fan base. But constant revamping of the technical / sporting regulations will not guarantee the revival of interest. If the sport wants to draw back the fans, we need more excitement on the track, not off it. Despite the entire overhaul including the Diffuser & the KERS, most races this year were snore-fests.

The 2010 rule change (once again??) prohibits refueling. Now, exploding refueling lines and the refueling pit crew being ran over by frenzied  drivers were the last straw of excitement available to the fans considering that the on track overtaking was either not possible because of the weird nature of the new circuits or because FIA thinks it is dangerous to overtake.

FIA & FOTA need to imbibe a little bit of inspiration and imagination and bring back the excitement in qualifying and racing. They need to jointly sort out and smoothen overtaking norms so that we see some old style true blue racing.

Todt also need to understand that frequent changes in the regulations enforce an additional burden on the already grappling teams because a chunk of their budgets goes in the research around the new set of regulations.

iii) Banish the current stewards
F1’s stewarding is in absolute contrariety from the refereeing in any other sport. It is mysterious and procrastinated beyond comprehension. Almost all other sports have instantaneous decisions which are mostly neutral. I always wonder why the stewards after looking at a few replays cannot announce their decision akin to the yellow / red card system in football. Why do they need days to announce their decision under the guise of a ridiculous clause? It is a blatant mockery of sacrosanct norms which are always found to be flexible in nature.

The current levels of stewarding are casting a shadow on the credibility of the sport as well. F1 is no longer viewed as an honest sport. The sport is in dire need of professional refereeing devoid of any vested interests in order to have the F1 fan reinstate his faith in the sport.

Todt’s presidential campaign had two pivotal promises: Transparency and openness. He needs to adhere and abide by it. It’s about time that he mandates the formation of a neutral professional steward body.

iv) Plug the exodus of teams; especially the manufacturers
Ford, Honda, BMW and now Toyota! The global auto industry is in the worst ever slump. Motowns across the globe are in dire straits.  These tumultuous times have forced the erstwhile big boys of motorsport to pull their purse strings and focus on improving their ‘bread & butter’ passenger car business.

F1 is fast losing the original guys….the innovators….who cascade the superior racing technology onto passenger cars. Its extremely distressing to see that barring Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault, we do not have any more manufacturers who find the pinnacle of motorsport appealing and affordable.

The FIA has never really bothered to make the sport an attractive proposition. Todt needs to realize that the sport wouldn’t survive on money alone. It isn’t necessarily the fiefdom of a rich Emir or a tycoon from an emerging economy. While these guys can pour money because F1 is a great hobby for them, the sport requires the original engine manufacturers so that we see technological marvels from time to time and the essence of racing between similar peers holds true.

Once again, if the sport is kept uncomplicated without frequent rule changes and if Todt manages the television rights revenues dispute astutely, the FIA can endear the manufacturers and attract them back to the sport.

v) Traditional venues or modern bore-dromes
The FIA for almost 3 decades didn’t do anything particular about expanding the sport. Till almost the early part of this century, F1 was very Europe centric with rare trips to the Americas and the Asia Pacific. The fan following was also immense will almost full houses at all the venues year after year.

With stringent tobacco regulations and the rise of the emerging economies, Bernie sensed money making avenues in Asia. Hence the advent of the new age circuits hastily designed by Hermann Tilke. Todt needs to reign in Bernie’s lust which has cost F1 tremendously in the recent times. I doubt whether he would be effective on this front but the gradual decline of the traditional / purist race venues like Silverstone, A1 ring, Magny Cours, Gilles Villeneuve, Nurburgring and Indianapolis has robbed the excitement out of the sport. Instead we are forced to watch drab, almost robotic races on Hermann Tilke designed mechanical tracks.

Valencia, Istanbul, China, Bahrain & Abu Dhabi are definitely not the venues that provide excitement to the television audiences worldwide. To make matters worse, they have failed to generate audiences to fill their own stands.

Bernie, citing lack of facilities or non payment of hiked hosting fees has persistently created circumstances for the traditional circuits to lose out to the new age circuits whose promoters are anyways willing to splurge.

Todt needs to take a call on whether the sport needs its fans more or it needs circuits that boast theme styled parks, 5 star hotels and live pyrotechnics but no audience to watch the races. The FIA needs to apportion races only to those circuits which can guarantee a certain threshold of audience during the race weekends.

No more of Max Mosley or any of his flunkies. Todt needs to breathe in fresh life into the beleaguered FIA. Even if it means that he has to chuck Charlie Whiting whose judgment is increasingly getting occluded or for that matter Allan Donnelly (whom Todt may appoint as the F1 Commissioner…) who is known to be a Mosley disciple and a vehement supporter of Todt. Todt needs to ensure that the panel at Place dela Concorde needs to be revered and looked upon.

I would like to wish Jean Todt all the very best as he is in for a rough ride; at least initially. He has been a master strategist all his life. Whether his skills percolate into being a master administrator...only time will tell.