Business

Saturday June 20, 2009

SIC monitoring dispute between F1 teams and FIA

By EUGENE MAHALINGAM


PETALING JAYA: Track operator Sepang International Circuit (SIC) is monitoring closely the bitter dispute between Formula One (F1) major teams and its governing body the FIA (International Automobile Federation) that’s threatening to split the big players from the motor sport.

However, chairman Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir said he hoped that the split would not happen as “it is not going to be good” for SIC, which has been hosting F1 since 1999 and in 2008 extended its contract to host the event until 2015.

Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir ... ‘we have to give what the fans want.’

“F1 is the pinnacle of motorsports and it’s the teams that make it happen. We hope there will be a compromise (between the FIA and the teams) and the status quo would remain,” Mokhzani told StarBizWeek.

According to foreign news reports, eight F1 teams – Ferrari, Brawn GP, McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso – are set to leave F1 after the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) said it could not agree to the FIA’s conditions.

In light of the current economic downturn, the FIA in April announced that it was implementing an optional budget cap of £40mil for the 2010 season, with teams choosing to take up the budget cap being allowed greater technical freedom, together with unlimited testing.

Teams choosing not to take up the budget cap may spend freely, but would have technical and testing constraints. This did not sit well with many of the more financially stable teams, with Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo calling the move “fundamentally unfair.”

In a statement on Thursday, FOTA said: “The teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 world championship.

“These teams, therefore, have no alternative other than to commence the preparation for a new championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners.”

A split between the “FIA F1” and a series comprising the big teams would leave fans with the tough choice of deciding which is “the real F1”. “It becomes a beauty contest,” said Mokhzani, adding that the SIC was obligated to inform FOM (Formula One Management, the F1 commercial rights holders) if it chose to host a new racing series.

“It’s a condition under our contract with FOM that we have to let them know of our intention to host a separate series. We did the same when we decided to host the A1GP series,” he said.

Mokhzani said FOM could not prevent the SIC from hosting another racing series.

“If there is an alternative series comprising the teams, we will have to look at the potential economics of hosting it.”

Should the split happen, SIC would have to figure out with FOM whether it was worth continuing the series without the big names as they were the ones to pull in the crowd, he said, adding “we have to give what the fans want.”

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