"Cato Batista" 21/05/2015 4:24:21 ID #757

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are going to Monaco this weekend for the 6th round of the Championship, and this couldn’t happen at a better time since we hope the tight streets of Monte Carlo will bring some much needed excitement to the F1 season.

An interesting development took place in these last days as the Formula 1 decision makers gathered for yet another crisis meeting to discuss yet another revolution of the rules.

The “Strategy Group” (represented by most F1 teams & FIA) wants to find a solution to the boredom that’s taking over F1 racing. If you think Bernie and the FIA don’t really care about us the fans, then the drop in revenue from TV viewership and GP attendance will sure make the alarms ring.

The plan is for 2017 to make F1 cars ‘the fastest in the world’, 5 to 6 seconds per lap quicker than the current ones. Last race in Spain the Marussias were 19 & 20 (and last) in the F1 grid. Their lap times would’ve put them in 22nd & 26th in qualifying for GP2!

The group proposes to reintroduce refueling during races (“and to do it as fast as a tyre change” says Mercedes boss Toto Wolff), more powerful and noisier high-revving engines, lighter cars with wider tyres., with free choice of dry tyre compounds. (that last part to be introduced as early as next year) The FIA also wants chassis to be redesigned to look more aggressive.

Also it was decided to keep for this season the 4 engines per year allowance instead of 5, much to the detriment of the Renault-powered Teams.

I’d never heard of any real aficionado that likes the fuel-savings type of racing we have now, I’m sure we like the idea of bringing the excitement back to F1, but ‘don't believe everything you hear’ as they say. If refueling was banned in 2010 was because the enormous cost and logistics and Pirelli is questioning the free choice of compounds on safety grounds.

So far all this sounds like a PR exercise to me.

Details of the F1 Teams 2014 payouts were recently revealed. According to their position in the Championship standings Mercedes got $92million for winning the Constructor’s, Red Bull got  $82m in 2nd,  Ferrari $67m in 3rd,  then McLaren $73m, Williams $63m,  Force India $60m, Toro Rosso $54m, Marussia $48m & Sauber $44m.

When you add the Premium payments (awarded to the 5 major teams based on seniority, winning record, etc.) Ferrari came ahead with a total of $164m ($97m premiums) Red Bull next with $156 ($74m), then Mercedes $126m ($34m), McLaren $98m (same $34), and Williams $83m ($10m in premiums).

From the estimated revenue of 1,320 million US dollars the sport generated in 2014, 884m went to the teams. Compare that to their earnings in 2010: $658m.

And the latest: HAM negotiated his own contract with Mercedes until  2018. The rumor is that he is getting $140m for the three years.

Now let’s get back to the best part: the real racing. Practice for the GP starts today (Thursday), remember there are no track activities on Fridays as Monaco tradition dictates (Champagne day, you know).

‘Till tomorrow

Cato