08/06/2006
NEWS STORY
One might easily be forgiven for thinking, based on comments from leading lights within the pitlane, that the sense of imminent peace in Formula One is largely the work of Alain Dassas, Senior Vice President of Financial Operations at Renault and a member of the Management Committee, who recently took over as President of the Renault F1 Team. However, it should not be forgotten that the Frenchman only took over from former Renault boss (Patrick Faure) on April 3.
In reality, the progress made thus far is the result of a group effort. If someone were to be singled out surely it should be the Chairman of the manufacturer alliance, BMW's Professor Burkhard Goeschel, who has been a major part of the negotiations since they began five years ago.
Indeed, it was Goeschel who, along with McLaren's Ron Dennis, met with representatives of CVC in Jersey last month and resolved many of the outstanding issues. As Pitpass exclusively reported, one of their negotiation successes was that the teams no longer have to pay Ferrari annual special payments from their share, but that the commercial rights holder is doing so.
If the manufacturers would have given in to Renault's pressure - let's not forget that Flavio Briatore was already saying before the start of the season that he was ready to sign - the teams would have been worse off.
It is all very well acknowledging Mr Dassas' contribution, however, let's not forget the tireless work of the executives who are less in the spotlight, and give credit where its really due.