Q: Now that F1 is operating under a cost cap, I think it is time for F1 to consider fines for causing a collision. When a driver is judged guilty of colliding with another car, he is assessed a time penalty. The injured party will usually have to repair or replace parts on their car that would otherwise still be usable. That is a direct hit to their bottom line.
Wouldn’t it be fair to require the guilty party to pay some sort of restitution to the injured party? And that restitution would come out of the offender’s cost basis, decreasing what they would otherwise have available within their cost cap.
I don’t suggest that those found guilty would necessarily pay the entire repair cost — that would tempt some teams to pad their damage cost. Just enough of a fine to help cover costs and to make some pain for the offenders.
Bob Mason, Winston Salem, NC
CM: It’s a tough one, Bob, because while I understand the sentiment you’re going for, I don’t want to see drivers told not to race each other hard for fear of being involved in a collision that they end up having to pay financially for, too.
Teams do budget for crash damage, so I don’t think it’s a massive issue at the moment, but the only way I’d see something like this working would be if there was an agreed price for certain components and that a fine would only be imposed in specific cases where there is clear and substantial fault by one team/driver.
Even so, like you say it would become an area where teams would claim they’ve incurred massive damage when in reality they’d patch up a part at low cost and use it again, so I don’t know if we need to add the complexity!
Q: Seems to me that the Hamilton-to-Ferrari rumor has received way more attention than warranted, but there is a piece of it that I wonder about. It does seem credible that John Elkann, who controls the controlling interest of Ferrari, might be getting impatient with the Scuderia’s inability to deliver a championship. This, naturally, calls to mind the mid ’90s move to snatch up Jean Todt and key players of the Le Mans-winning Peugeot team, followed by extracting Michael Schumacher, Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne and others from the championship-winning Benetton team.
Which leads to the question: Is such a mega-deal even possible now? There is the cost cap (although a small number of salaries are exempt), and Ferrari no longer has a Marlboro blank check. To say nothing of the fact that everybody equivalent to Schumacher, Todt, Brawn, and Byrne are tied up in long-term contracts.
So, humor me: If Elkann has an itch to scratch, who/what’s out there for him to buy? And does the Le Mans win create more pressure on the F1 team?
Al from Boston
CM: In terms of if such a deal is possible, yes it is because of the exemptions attributed to top execs and driver salaries at the moment, so to poach a driver and maybe a technical director or two would be doable. But as you say, many are in long-term deals, or someone like Hamilton probably not at the right stage in their career to take on such a rebuilding project.
In terms of what’s out there for him to buy, F1 is unique so it would have to be the grid’s most successful personnel, and if we’re honest that still means Adrian Newey. He doesn’t deal with the Red Bull design in full at all, but his influence in that team is massive and you could be sure that if Ferrari got him then it would be able to attract a number of others, too.
But whoever Ferrari went after, it would need Elkann to allow them full autonomy to make it a success. That’s something that appears to have been severely lacking for a number of years and has really been hurting Ferrari’s chances. You only need to look at how separate Red Bull Racing is from Red Bull interference — and Mercedes from Daimler — to see that.
Funny you should ask about Le Mans as I’m writing a column about that win and the F1 team as I type, but no I don’t think it does create more pressure. F1 doesn’t have BOP, and the success of another arm of the company should only really reinforce that there are good people there who know what they are doing, and serve as an overall boost.
Q: I would like to hear what you think about F1 stewards. Guenther Steiner brought up what I would consider to be a strong concept that could, and I repeat could, significantly reduce complaints about that part of the penalty process for F1. I realize that there would potentially be additional costs, but how are stewards taken care of today? I assume that they don’t have to pay for travel and other related expenses, so salaries would be the primary increase that I can see.
Craig Nelson
CM: I’m glad you brought this up, because I felt the summons for Steiner was completely unwarranted and sets a dangerous precedent. The comments were fair and well-reasoned, and did not directly criticize a steward, just the current system.
You’re spot-on about the financial increase. Stewards are volunteers but they have their costs covered, so the only difference would be the salary and benefits aspect. While I’m sure they wouldn’t be cheap if you’re wanting to attract the best possible candidates, that’s not a massive step up in outlay to professionalize it.
That said, when I asked the FIA if there was anything else stewards receive they joked, “A load of grief!” Which to be fair is motivation in itself to want to do the best job possible, even without a salary being involved.
THE FINAL WORD
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, June 11, 2014
Q: The book “Black Noon: The Year They Stopped the Indy 500” has recently been published. It is always great to see more Indy-related books being written and this book covers the tragedy that occurred during the 1964 race. Do you have any stories related to that day and about the author, Art Garner?
Denny Z. Dallas, TX
ROBIN MILLER: I never met Art until last month, but he did an amazing job of talking to all the right people and recreating one of the most pivotal and emotion Mays of all time. My dad finally talked my mom into attending the race and, as fate had it, we were sitting just south of the crash and across from Ronnie Duman, who jumped out of his burning car. My mother said she wanted to leave and I begged Dad to stay, so we made it halfway before heading home. And Ronnie, who lost his life at Milwaukee in 1968, had a son, Rick, who was my mechanic on the first midget I ran in USAC in 1975. His sister, Rhonda, was the president of my fan club and I think it had 11 members.