F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone said that the sport is "in crisis," according to Andrew Benson of the BBC. TV audiences are down, Ecclestone says, "teams are struggling to survive." Something "needs to be done." That is what Ecclestone told a meeting of the FIA World Council last week. The "upshot of that," and the conversation that followed within the governing body's HQ in Paris, was Ecclestone and FIA President Jean Todt were granted unprecedented powers "to make recommendations and decisions regarding a number of pressing issues in F1." It is the "latest salvo in an increasingly tense fight for power and influence in F1." The plan discussed by Ecclestone and Todt with the FIA World Council was to "cut the F1 teams out of the decision-making process, to which they have had a legal right for 35 years." Why? Because Ecclestone's power is "arguably at an all-time low." The subject over which "this battle will be fought is engines." While the manufacturers managed to stop the "alternative engine" at the F1 Commission stage, they did agree to "address several concerns." These were: the supply of engines to customer teams; reducing engine cost; simplifying engines, and "improving" the sound they make. The manufacturers have been given a date -- Jan. 15 -- to report back with their proposals. And there is "another date of importance" -- Jan. 31, by which time, the World Council said, Todt and Ecclestone will "produce their own conclusions as to what they will do with their apparent new mandate." The "implicit threat is obvious -- come up with solutions to what is deemed to be a problem with the engines," or have the "alternative" engine forced upon you (BBC, 12/8). SKY SPORTS' William Esler reported Ecclestone "is ready for a war with the engine manufacturers over power unit regulation changes." Ecclestone: "What we are trying to do at the moment is to get regulations for a new engine that is the same for everyone. We don't want different engines for different teams if we don't have to, if we have to that is what will happen, but that is what we would rather not happen." Ecclestone hopes Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda "will agree with his proposals when they discuss them, but is prepared for a fight." He added, "If they don't then maybe the FIA will have to write the regulations. If you like it, good, if you don't, sorry, but you've a choice of stop [competing in F1] or you can arbitrate" (SKY SPORTS, 12/8).
KEY TO SURVIVAL: PITPASS reported Ecclestone insisted that "finding an independent engine supplier is paramount." Though the idea has been shelved while the current manufacturers "come up with their own proposals, Ecclestone and Todt clearly see an independent supplier as key to their own plans." Other than the fact that engine costs have "driven up overall team spending, and the fact that, as proven by the Red Bull saga, engine manufacturers are choosing who they supply, and with what," the reality is that the manufacturers "suddenly appear to hold most of the cards." This, "of course, is not a situation desired by the FIA, the commercial rights holder or any potential purchaser of F1." Ecclestone: "It does not mean we want to get rid of the manufacturers, on the contrary. We just want to have powerful engines that can be bought and run cheaper than at the moment" (PITPASS, 12/8).
