2007 Formula 1 World Campion will make his WRC debut at his home rally in Finland. The rally which takes place at the end of July will be the Finns first rally on a gravel surface. The current Ferrari champion has said he will eventually make a switch between F1 and the WRC; it was just a matter of when. It looked as though that could have been a real possibility for the next season, however a deal that saved the championship and Formula 1 altogether was reached and the…
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F1 – Mosley’s “Planned” Departure
After a devastating blow dealt to the FIA and FOM from the FOTA organization, Max Mosley has tried to save face by stating his departure was planned and was always going to happen at the end of the season. He indicated there was no pressure or anything the teams did to expedite the process. Are you serious?? This man has lied and cheated so much that making stuff up is actually believable to him. Regardless of what Herr Max states to the press, the simple fact is that FOTA has…
Read MoreF1 – Peace Deal Brokered
Yesterday, Max Mosley sent out a letter describing in detail why he felt it was in the FIA’s best interest that he stand for re-election when his 4th term as FIA president ends in the fall. This despite his spankgate pledge to stand down from his position when his term expired. However, it looks like Mosley has again reconsidered. According to Autosport’s sources, Mosley, Luca Di Montezemelo and Bernie Ecclestone last night had meetings which have resulted in a deal. At this point, it sounds like the following has been…
Read MoreF1 – FOTA Moving Forward
While the initial shot from FOTA is still being felt by most fans of Formula 1, FOTA have already began moving forward with their new series. Max Mosley’s threat of legal action against those forming a breakaway series has had little to no affect on those who have already made the decision. This week will prove to be an interesting news week as we have a WMSC meeting scheduled for Wednesday and what would appear to be a FOTA rebuttal meeting on Thursday. There were some very strong words this…
Read MoreF1 – British Grand Prix
With all of the talk based around FOTA and a breakaway series, many may have not even realized that one of the crown jewel events on the F1 calendar were taking place. What better weekend for the British crowd then hometown boy Jenson Button coming home with a hefty points lead and a seemingly bullet proof car. Things however, did not work out how Brawn GP had hoped for their homecoming. Red Bull Racing came to Britain with loads of upgrades including a completely different aerodynamics package. Sebastian Vettel took…
Read MoreF1 – FIA Responds with Lawyers
The FIA has now released a statement which threatens the FOTA teams with legal action. This is no surprise since the FIA has already hinted in the past that they would pursue such recourse if necessary. The FIA’s lawyers have now examined the FOTA threat to begin a breakaway series. The actions of FOTA as a whole, and Ferrari in particular, amount to serious violations of law including willful interference with contractual relations, direct breaches of Ferrari’s legal obligations and a grave violation of competition law. The FIA will be…
Read MoreF1 – Is F1 Viable Without FOTA?
First we have to ask if Ferrari, RBR & STR will be part of both F1 and FOTA1 since they will most likely still be listed on the entry list when it comes out today. Look for these three teams to file breach of contract lawsuits against the FIA immediately after the entry list is posted. But let’s assume that all 8 FOTA teams will be exclusive to the new breakaway series. Lola and N Technologies have withdrawn their entries from consideration which may be the start of a disturbing…
Read MoreF1 – Why So Quiet Bernie?
This is the sport that Bernie and Max brought to prominence. It has been Bernie’s life for decades. Mr. Ecclestone has proven to all that he is an unimaginably shrewd and capable businessman. So, why has he stood by the sidelines while Max and FOTA scuttled the ship? We can only make conjecture at this point. Bernie did make a statement this morning, “You’ll have to ask Max about it. For me, this situation is just back to the future.” Maybe referring to how he and Max gained control of…
Read MoreF1 – FOTA’s Gambit
We here at Open Paddock have been pretty shy about jumping on the F1 media train for the last couple months since the politics of F1 have overshadowed the racing. But this situation has finally come to a head, so let’s discuss. Is this a page out of Max’s handbook of extreme bargaining tactics, or is that FOTA’s final word? Max has become a broken record when it comes to negotiations. He comes out with a monstrously extreme position that is only intended to make the other bargaining party enter…
Read MoreF1 – Lola Withdraws Bid
Max Mosely attempted to dazzle the world by announcing that no less than 15 bids for entry into the 2010 F1 Championship were lodged, all as a result of his amazing new plan to reshape F1. Nevermind the fact that the last time the FIA opened up the entry process, 22 teams bid to enter, but not a single one ended up making the grid the following season. Further tarnishing Max’s excitement is the potential departure of the eight FOTA teams, including Ferrari and McLaren. In the midst of heated…
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