Todt Wins - Donington Fails

Jean Todt won the FIA Presidential election. I don't want to sound unsurprised, but I am, so it comes out that way.

Ari, even though he was the people's choice for President, never stood a chance. In fact, the fact he was the people's choice meant he never stood a chance. Going against the grain of the FIA wasn't such a smart idea because they are the ones that cast the votes.

The FIA desperately needed change. Mosley has improved one thing in Formula One, safety, and for that he deserves plenty of credit. However, his other rule changes have pretty much seen Formula One descend into the era of no overtaking, stupid stewards decisions, and ridiculous spending.

Lets make a list of things the Mosley has changed which really did not help:

1. Changing from Slicks to grooved tyres in 1998.
2. Raising front wing height in 2000
3. Raising front wing height in 2002
4. Raising front wing height in 2005
5. 1 Race engines
6. v8 engines
7. 2 race engines
8. 17 races on 8 engines

They are the most obvious ones. The raising of the wing height just meant F1 designers stuck wings on everywhere, which lead to the aero/wind tunnel era. The race engines nowadays are dreadfully under powered, and they have to last 900km (not including practice sessions and qualifying). It's more like an endurance race.

The cars are easy to drive, but hard to over take, even with the overtaking groups best efforts to fix Mosley's mistake.

With Mosley gone all we can hope for with Todt is that he doesn't just continue on the same path as Mosley. We can hope he doesn't favour any teams imp articular, and that he can create a group of stewards which actually know the rules of Formula One, and can apply penalties fairly. I don't want to judge Todt before he actually does anything, so I will wait until next year. I just wish him good luck, and hope he knows what F1, motor racing fans in general, want.

And what do motor racing fans want? Alot, is the easy answer. There is so much wrong with the current state of F1 it's no wonder why most people just don't bother any more. F1 needs to improve the show. Sure, they say it's the 'pinnacle of motorsport' but overall the event is rather dull. Singapore helped this with a huge concert, and a night race, but apart from that F1 races are rather bland. We need more grid girls like MotoGP, drivers to be allowed to express their feelings, like in Moto GP, Overtaking, like in MotoGP, post race celebrations that vary from the standard 'I'd like to thank the team' PR babble to doughnuts and planting flags in gravel traps.... Like in Moto GP....

MotoGP has a great professional racing, but with a mix of insanity that makes it even more fun to watch. Rossi once signed his contract in the gravel trap after winning a race. What does F1 have compared to that? The team radio with the same 'great job guys, we did it, yeah baby!', then a crawl back to the pitlane where they can't touch anyone incase they get slipped a weight. Then the podium, where the drivers look mostly bored, then to the even more boring press conference. F1 has no personality, and it's manly down to draconian FIA rules.

F1 ticket prices are also too high. I'd have to sell a lung, and stop eating, to be able to afford a ticket to next years Singaporean Grand Prix. No wonder tracks in developing countries have barely anyone there, it would cost them their year's wages to sit on a seat 600 metres from the track.

And speaking of tracks, why do we keep moving to crappy tracks, custom built for F1, that promote no overtaking, when their are plenty of tracks which we could go to instead?

And here is a perfect example. Donington Park's bond scheme to secure funding for the British Grand Prix has failed. Again, I wish I could say I was surprised, but I am not. They got the deal way to late, the plans were too big, and they had no money. It was never going to happen.

And I don't care. Silverstone is a great venue to hold the British Grand Prix, what is the problem with holding it there? Sure there isn't Abu Dhabi / Tilke styles press rooms, with 7 star hospitality suits, but normally the races are a little more exciting than Singapore or Valencia.

I just hope a deal is signed to send the GP back to Silverstone. It would be a joke if the country, which held the first race in 1950, didn't have a place on the calendar. We have already lost France.

I am all for expanding F1, but there has to be some heritage behind it, otherwise what is the point for the teams spending billions of dollars to race in a series that has no resembalance to F1 and races on circuits with no one watching?

Jean Todt has that to add to the list of things to sort out. He will be a very busy man.