Hamilton and rivals face major cuts in pay, says Ecclestone

20 comments on “Hamilton and rivals face major cuts in pay, says Ecclestone”

1. 

   Jon Bee
   9th June 2020, 0:24

   Nurse, nurse, old Bernie is out of bed again. He’s on about Formula 1 again…
   1. 

      @HoHum (@hohum)
      9th June 2020, 0:57

      :-) ; But one should never underestimate Bernie and the destruction he has wreaked on F1 by loading it with $Billions of debt. In this case though, one would think that the exceptions to the price cap would be the major differentiators in performance, in which case the very best designer and the very best driver should be worth more, not less. Should the cars start to become equivalent in performance due to design restrictions then the best driver will be the key to winning.
      1. 

         ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
         9th June 2020, 3:18

         As a F1 fan, I hope Liberty will actually take the step of making the sport more transparent to the public, because we all like a good story. And because it would upset Bernie.
2. 

   swh1386 (@swh1386)
   9th June 2020, 0:41

   Why not kill three birds with one stone for the remainder the season and run F3, F2 and F1 in the same race? (Hear me out on this one!) Given the current plight of teams such as Williams and Jean Alesi’s recent comments on the lower categories, it isn’t inconceivable that several (goodness forbid many) teams may not survive the next year or two.

   How great would it be to see all three series racing on track at once? It would shorten the weekends, therefore cut costs, and provide much more on track action, think about classic F1 or LMP1 where cutting through much slower back markers is a skill of it’s own! It would also provide ‘lower league’ teams and junior drivers with a global audience to showcase talents and gain much needed exposure, maybe even facilitating a teams promotion / relegation system?

   Sure there would be issues such as pit and garage space, large (ish) pace discrepancies and grid / start logistics, but nothing that hasn’t been solved in the LeMans series. But what a spectacle it would be!
   Maybe lets try ‘mixing things up’ this way rather than reverse grids!
   1. 

      Gusmaia
      9th June 2020, 1:13

      How many pit slots would be required for +40 cars at the same time.
   2. 

      svianna (@svianna)
      9th June 2020, 1:17

      Why not kill three birds with one stone for the remainder the season and run F3, F2 and F1 in the same race?

      Why are you leaving the W series out? Misogyny?
      1. 

         Johns
         9th June 2020, 1:50

         Race many series together? This was done very effectively within IMSA racing the GTP, GTO and GTU classes all together.. very fun races to watch. IMSA was forced to do this in the 1980s due to very small fields, from what I understand. ( before my time)
         1. 

            Jack (@jt1234)
            9th June 2020, 3:08

            It was done with F1 as well.
      2. 

         SteveR
         9th June 2020, 4:55

         Why are you leaving the W series out? Misogyny?

         Maybe because they said they wouldn’t be racing this season?…… Get a grip.
      3. 

         anon
         9th June 2020, 23:00

         @svianna did you not see the article stating that the W Series has already cancelled all races for 2020 with the intention of focussing their resources on 2021?

         @swh1386 with regards to the World Endurance Championship, it is worth noting that series doesn’t have as many cars at other venues. The Circuit de la Sarthe has been upgraded in recent years to accommodate 60 cars, but it is worth noting that the remainder of the season typically has about 34-35 cars, which is not that much larger than, say, the Formula 3 grid (that is 30 cars by itself).

         As others note, the sheer number of cars involved in your proposal – 72 cars (30 Formula 3 cars, 22 Formula 2 cars and 20 Formula 1 cars) – means it’s physically impossible, as most circuits can’t physically accommodate that many cars starting to begin with.

         Just for the start, if you wanted 72 grid slots then, if the circuits are using the 8m spacing requirement for F1 cars, that’s 576m between pole and 72nd on the grid – there are several circuits that F1 uses which don’t even have a main straight that is that long. It also means there are several circuits which don’t even have enough garages for all of those teams to fit or a long enough pit lane to accommodate that many cars.
         1. 

            swh1386 (@swh1386)
            10th June 2020, 1:53

            Good points! My proposal presupposes the unfortunate scenario of teams collapsing resulting in fewer cars throughout all series. And there’s definitely room to include Formula W, my vision is fully inclusive! The grid scenario would be an issue as you mention, maybe ‘B’ and ‘C’ grids around the circuit, or a rolling start either behind or including the F1 grid. I still have no idea how a live pit lane for 72 cars would work! Maybe BMW could advise on rolling pit stops from their longest drift world record!
   3. 

      ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
      9th June 2020, 3:20

      Cheers on the stoned birds.
3. 

   Jere (@jerejj)
   9th June 2020, 4:36

   I see where the COTD is coming from and can share the same sentiment.

   According to the Blick-article, Singapore and Japanese GPs are cancelled even though they aren’t officially. High probability for this to happen, though, as well as, for Baku. I can’t really see COTA getting replaced by IMS for this year due to how cold the latter gets (or can get) at that phase of the autumn.
   1. 

      bosyber (@bosyber)
      9th June 2020, 8:28

      I agree with quite a bit @jerejj, but this part:

      I had the impression that the aero regulations had been added to temporarily try to get more balance, albeit artificially, in the short term. I’d actually thought I’d seen that referenced somewhere (that it was a temporary measure) but maybe I just misinterpreted the rules.

      not sure where that comes from, but as far as I know the official reason for them was to make the cars easier to race, ie. follow close, and thus allow more overtaking and re-overtaking, as in a fight for position that lasts after one car got close enough to use DRS.

      It was paired with the budget cap to help tighten the field so cars would have the pace to chase other cars, I thought. In that sense – in early time of budget cap, when its full effect has not yet been felt, handicap system to augment it, seems not a bad idea.
      1. 

         DB-C90 (@dbradock)
         9th June 2020, 11:10

         @bosyber aren’t you agreeing that it should be temporary then if it’s designed to have an impact before the full effect of the budget cap is felt?
         My concern was that Ross is now saying it’s permanent. Well it’s one of my concerns anyway.

         The whole “easier to race” part of your argument – that’s the point of the 2022 regulations – the reduction of dirty air to allow for closer racing. This new handicap has nothing to do with that.
         1. 

            bosyber (@bosyber)
            9th June 2020, 12:48

            I think I read your comment wrongly @drbradock, sorry, yes, I guess I do fully agree then!
            1. 

               Robbie (@robbie)
               9th June 2020, 15:08

               @dbradock Take this as a gentle jibe but I think it is you that is on the ‘panic path.’ I say that because of your wording that they are trying to ‘throw in a whole heap of things…’ No they’re not.

               I think of it this way. The budget cap and the better money distribution is not meant to, and never will nor should, make the top teams and the lesser teams equivalent. But it will tighten things up amongst the teams. The lesser teams and potential new entrants need to regain some semblance of hope that they have the potential to grow and compete and eventually get to the top three. They have lost that in the hybrid era. The technical regs are meant to make the cars race more closely.

               They know that the changes they are making are to make F1 a better and very importantly a more sustainable product, but they also know the measures they have taken will still leave the teams in the general same running order, subject to some time with the new overhauled F1, so this aero handicap is just a small measure to assist in keeping the top teams from running away with it as usual. Again, it’s a small measure and isn’t likely on it’s own to be a game changer. I think of this handicap as part of the balancing effort, but I think it’s effect will not be so drastic that there will be complaints from the top teams (Wolff is on board) that the lesser teams will gain too much from this.

               No, the gain will be minimal which is why this is not nearly like a BoP measure. It’s just a small, invisible to the viewer measure to help tighten the field up akin to the budget cap and the better money distribution which is also invisible to the viewer. I think the top teams will work around fewer tunnels hours just fine, and the lesser teams could use them, and that is still no guarantee for them that they’ll use them to optimum effect. If they do though, then we win with some added excitement and a shaking up of the order of things once in a while….a chance to finally see some lesser teams actually looking and feeling like they’re progressing and moving up the grid for a change, offering hope for their fans along the way.
            2. 

               DB-C90 (@dbradock)
               10th June 2020, 2:30

               @robbie as always we’ll no doubt agree to disagree.

               I don’t think there’s any doubt about what you think they are trying to do and yes they are probably.

               However where we will always have disagreement is that you are prepared to have blind faith in them knowing what they are doing in that regard whereas I take the view that throwing yet more changes to a new set of rules before a wheel is turned suggests that they are not confident in the direction they are taking which is going to lead to a more scattergun approach.

               Short form answer is you trust them – I don’t. I’d like to, but I’ve been around too many corporate takeovers to take the ideas and statements from new owners at face value..
            3. 

               Robbie (@robbie)
               10th June 2020, 7:05

               @dbradock Yeah for me I think the big main changes so badly needed on the financial and the technical side overwhelm all else. I am stoked for a much better F1 than we’ve had. I’m confident they have and are addressing all the most important points that needed attention, and virus willing, we’ll eventually see the results on the track. The teams are brought in and are on board and signing off on the new direction, and not signing off on reverse grids for example, so what good would me in my armchair do by resisting that which I cannot affect nor change? So yeah, I’m gladly trusting Liberty and Brawn along with the teams, to do it a much better way than BE, for this is what we have, and it’s exciting. I have absolutely no sense of some erosion going on from supposed gimmicks, or focus on the show, or whatever other minor aspects have been mentally bundled up together like strikes against them, that have some predicting disaster. Rather, I’m just grateful.
4. 

   The limit
   10th June 2020, 0:35

   But Bernie, black lives matter.

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