10/10/2024
FEATURE BY MAX NOBLE
The internet remains the 21st century digital Wild West as it was in the days of Doc Holiday. Gunslingers on every Main Street, hustlers and rustlers in every bar, and a main store owner making more money than every gold digger in town combined.
Those two loveable students of Mother Teresa, Donald J. T. and Elon M., continue to push the new-age theory that he who shouts his opinion loudest wins. The fact such opinion can be baseless, factually mostly incorrect or simply provably wrong on all counts appears to matter no more. The guy with the big pot of gold under the bed shouted it loudest, and often longest, so it must be true. They know, you know.
Which brings us to the common internet views of many of the leading figures in Formula One.
Daniel's a gem! Bottas is past it! Hulk should be a five time world champion he was robbed! The only one of those with any grounds on planet earth is the provable fact that Hulk has zero drivers' championships to his name. Both Daniel and Bottas are as deserving of championship wins, yet all three have zero between them. (In Hulk's case not even a podium, far less a race win - Ed).
It is then simple opinion that Daniel is the finest gentlemen (formally) on the grid, and Bottas is past his sell-by date. Having shared a fine glass of aged Australian Syrah with precisely zero of the current drivers all my views are shaped by mainstream information, and the occasional piece of well sourced gossip. General views of them all would appear to at least be "...in the right ballpark" as the American's love to affirm.
Then we move into the universe of "fan boys", those with extreme views about a specific driver. Do we blame Drive To Survive for this or has it always been a problem which has now been amplified via modern media? The binary view of "Love Lewis, Hate V. Max!", or the other way around, is a particularly fierce one. Why not respect both, based on the proven fact that both win races and championships? Sure, one swears more than the other. But then one has more piercings, and has on occasion knelt on track next to his car to pray, both things which annoy some. Indeed our beloved head of the FIA (a.k.a. Captain Happy-go-lucky, more on him shortly...) is busy being annoyed about many things right now. He has a right to his opinion on these topics, but does he have a right to force his opinion on others?
Teams and senior team personnel. "They are just a fizzy drink company!" "What does Marko know about motorsport?" "The Strolls are spoilt billionaires!" "What does Mohammed ben Sulayem know about ,motorsport?" "Felipe/Lewis/Daniel/Leclerc (add your favourite driver here) was robbed!" "The races are fixed!" And last but not least, a personal favourite, "The cost cap is here to improve the racing!"
Let's unpack those.
Just a fizzy drink company... Tag Heuer was an invention to sell watches. Camel used to be but one of the large number of tobacco companies in F1. The JPS Lotus and the Marlboro McLaren being two leading examples. Did anyone moan they "just sold cigarettes?" Few of the teams over the years have produced every item, that is, engine, chassis, body work and electronics in house. Red Bull came, tried, and won.
Helmut Marko. What does he know? Over a period in 1971-72 he had nine F1 race starts with BRM, and a non-works McLaren. Didn't podium but he has raced in F1, with a best finish of 8th in a Marlboro BRM at the 1972 Monaco GP. He's won Le Mans twice in 1970, and 71. He's raced in a few other categories with limited success. He and co-driver Gijs van Lennep set a distance record for the 1971 Le Mans race in their Martini-Porsche 917K covering 5,335.313 kms at an average speed of 222.304 kph, a distance not bettered until 2010. Took others 39 years to beat that record.
In 1972 Marko drove a lap record around the 72km road circuit of the Targa Florio, in his Alfa Romeo 33 he lapped in 33 minutes and 41 seconds at an average of 128.253 kph. As a result he gained over two minutes on the leader, and finished second by only 17 seconds.
A few weeks after the Targa, while competing the 1972 French GP, Helmut was struck by a stone thrown up by Ronnie Peterson's March. The stone smashed through his visor and permanently blinded him in his left eye, ending his racing career.
Off track, Marko has a doctorate in law, owns and runs hotels, and was the manager for drivers including Gerhard Berger and Karl Wendlinger. From 1989 onward he ran a Formula 3 and a Formula 3000 team, before transforming this into Red Bull junior racing in 1999. Since running Red Bull junior...? Oh, he's only discovered Vettel, Ricciardo, Sainz Junior, and V. Max among others. So, what does he know about motor racing...?
Strolls spoilt billionaires? Well no. More "typical" than spoiled. Lawrence is a tough, intelligent, capable business man with a long history of collecting cars, and loving motorsport. His son has produced a couple of wet race performances showing his car control is superior to many other mid-field drivers, but, yes... they are worth more than many small African nations.
Speaking of wealth, Mohammad ben Sulayem, it surprised me to learn, is worth an estimated $7bn US dollars. Being roughly double what Stroll senior is worth. Ouch. But does he know motorsport? Well yes. 14 time Middle East Rally Championship Drivers' Champion. 12 points in the WRC while contesting 23 rallies during 1988 and 1990 to 1995. President of various middle Eastern Motor Sport bodies. Key leader in making the initial 2009 Abu Dhabi GP happen. Joined the FIA World Motorsport Council in 2009, going on to be FIA President in December 2021 when Jean Todd stepped-down. Yes. He has some knowledge of motorsport.
Drivers being robbed? Like the speed skaters that fell at the Winter Olympics, allowing an improbable Australian Gold, or the horse tripping at the last fence, or the runner or cyclist slowing to celebrate the win before the line and thus finishing second. (Like 'Our Nige' in Monaco that time? - Ed). No one is robbed. They can be up-set. They can blame fate. They get down on themselves. They were not robbed. They did their best, as did all others in the race, then existence happened... and here we are as a result. Iceberg 200 metres to starboard, or Titanic 200 metres to port, and it is all cheers and bunting in New York. Sure, some silly decisions had to multiply to get to the scale of disaster realised, but it was by fractions. Neither the iceberg nor Titanic were robbed.
Lando Norris, July 11th 2021 outside Wembley stadium? Bright orange McLaren GT (165,000 pounds) street parked, with a 144,000 pound Richard Mille on his wrist? Yes. He was robbed.
Race fixing? Umm. When is a fix a fix? When Rubens hands it back a centimetre from the line? When Fangio finishes in his teammate's car? When Masi goes rogue on the rules? When a teammate causes a 'perfect' safety car period for his team mate? Crash-gate was an attempt at race fixing, and was dealt with in the usual bizarre FIA way. Most other race fixing is simply the way Miss Physics and the fates felt that day. "You mere mortal, you tried your best and failed. Move on..."
If we do suffer race fixing it is nothing compared to that in the boxing, dog or horse racing universes.
Finally the cost cap. Bless me! It's all for the fans! Liberty Media and the FIA know a show when they see it, and limiting dollars is a sure fire way to achieve fan delight! No. What do they know? Well actually rather a lot when it comes to turning a dollar, and smiling at the fans with an innocent look.
Consider the recent Renault engines to close saga. They claim engine costs will drop from around $200m to around $20m... a tenfold reduction. So an extra $180m to spend on racing? No. Cost Cap. So extra dollars to pull to the bottom line as pure profit. If you look across the grid at what teams are pulling in from sponsors in many cases it exceeds the cost cap. How does that maths work? Some exclusions, how the rules apply to chassis and then engines. The different rules for capital investments (that is new buildings wind tunnels etc.). Then one thing the teams, the FIA, and Liberty all agree on, the most beloved word in F1, "Profit". Not racing. Not fans. Not close competition. No, profit. That's what the cost cap enables. It's why Cadillac are chasing a place on the grid like a drunk fighting a werewolf over a dropped $100 bill on the Las Vegas sidewalk. It's why I've previously written a number of articles on how the teams can "legally" work around the cost cap, and the FIA will always be playing catch-up. The best know how to win and turn a profit. Now the field is closing up on how to turn a profit, even when not winning.
But hey, dear reader. He knows, do we?
Max Noble
Learn more about Max and check out his previous features, here