09/10/2005
NEWS STORY
Burkhard Goeschel, executive board member of BMW, and (sometime) spokesman for the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association, has warned that F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, and FIA President Max Mosley, must be prepared to listen to the manufacturers and teams or risk F1 falling apart.
In an interview with Welt am Sonntag, Goeschel warned that there must be more openness, with regards money and also the way the sport is governed.
Talking about the alliance between the five manufacturers, that comprise the GPMA, and race teams which have not signed up to Ecclestone's new Concorde Agreement, Goeschel said: "We stand together stronger than ever before. The alliance is stable.
"The teams and manufacturers have been united for a long time on a series of common goals and principles," he added. "Above all, more transparency, an improved offering for motorsport fans and a regulation which genuinely lowers costs. The manufacturers invest each year over a billion euros in Formula 1. The most interesting teams are tied to us, we have the most interesting sponsors and we will also have the best drivers. We should bear that in mind. Without us Formula 1 is no longer top level sport. We hope that the current Formula 1 management will implement our goals which we are proposing to put into effect on behalf of the many millions of fans. If that doesn't happen we are now prepared to start a new race series which then becomes the top class.
"We are firm about making the top level of motorsport transparent," he continued. "The current Formula 1 is not. We want a clear corporate management and control, an independent jurisdiction and an equitable distribution of the profits.
"I have respect for Ecclestone's earnings but every system needs reforms and Ecclestone's system is sitting on a thin branch," he added. "Every business receives new impulse from the exchange of board members. That makes the business competitive. The motorsport business is no exception. This realisation may be painful for Mr Ecclestone but is correct nevertheless. Some faces within our alliance may have changed but our message has always been the same: a reform has to take place - for the benefit of the sport and its fans."
As for the FIA: "The FIA should concentrate on its role as the sport's authority and supervising the fairness of motorsport," he declared. "Today the FIA wants to be the technical and sporting law giver, judge and police officer in one person.
"Other large sports are more democratically organised. We also want a separation of powers in Formula 1. It cannot go on that those who finance the sport and send out cars and drivers are constantly surprised by expensive rule changes."
Whereas Ecclestone appears to believe that Ferrari is F1, Goeschel doesn't: "Fair sport for us means equal treatment of all teams. We won't give any backhanders but the monies will be distributed strictly according to sporting achievement.
"The door is wide open for Ferrari but to the same conditions as for all the others," he added. "Perspective is at least as important as tradition. Behind our Japanese colleagues lies a great potential. Honda has made an important mark this week with the takeover of BAR. In the long-term the participation of Toyota and Honda could be more important that that of Ferrari.
"We also need independent teams. A significant component of our business model is that these teams can also manage on a stable basis."
"The teams clearly have a right to a bigger share than that which has been distributed until now," he said, of one of the main bug bears in F1, money. "But we are not dealing with Ecclestone, but with the banks. They are the main shareholder of Formula 1's Holding company SLEC. They must also be interested that their investment is secured for the future by bearing in mind the interests of all participants."
Asked how talks with SLEC, which effectively owns F1 - and is 75% owned by the banks and 25% owned by Ecclestone's family trust - are progressing, he said: "I am convinced that there is much common ground. Now we have to act. The structure of SLEC is still non-transparent. We need to inspect the books and must know the special agreement between Ecclestone and the FIA. The banks want to earn money, we want to invest in motorsport as a platform for technology and marketing.
"We don't want to buy any shares," he added. "The current owners, together with us, can also make Formula 1 more attractive. Even when the banks sued Ecclestone everyone could talk to each other. The will is decisive. We are open.
Although Max Mosley insists that he is trying to cut costs, the members of the GPMA, and the teams, believe the opposite is true: "The biggest drivers of costs were the FIA's rapid regulation changes," he said. "We the manufacturers stand on the racetrack in brutal competition. That also fascinates the motorsport fans. This should not be broken by a standardisation of the technology as the FIA plans. Decreasing costs and technology is no contradiction. We want to save with stable regulations, with a limitation on testing and a saving in the tyre sector."