Article:FIA = F***ing Idiots in Automobiles

This whole issue with the standardized engines in Formula One has gotten utterly ridiculous. Yesterday, golden children Ferrari said that if the FIA continues on the path to one, standardized engine, they might leave the series. The FIA's response, "it's not our job to cut costs, it's the teams."

This says to me that the powers that be in Formula One have no clue of how to actually run it. Leaving it up to teams is simply leaving thing status quo, where cutting costs is a game of chicken. It needs a regulatory body to make those changes.

Is a standard engine the right route though? It would kill one of the key distinctions F1 has over the large majority of other racing series: the distinctiveness of it's cars. Re-permitting customer cars is a better option, perhaps with a proviso that no one can own more than one team to prevent some teams from using one as the test subject. Limiting testing would be another way, since that is expensive as well. But to kill the one thing that makes F1 "superior" to most of the rest of the racing world? Madness.

In this cost cutting world, it would also behoove the Bernie & Max Circus to reconsider the global expansion initiative that has become ever present this past decade. Sure as sugar making all these trips to the Middle East and the Pacific Rim aren't cheap, while less costly options just whither away. Certainly trips to Brno, Imola, or the new track in the Algarve would costs millions less in transport than the races in Bahrain or Malaysia. Unfortunately, venue selection has been more focused on how much money Bernie Ecclestone makes from an event than other factors, such as enjoyable racing.

The problem is that these ideas seem to be falling on deaf ears. It may come to a manufacturer exodus that ultimately changes the sport for the better, but being a fan of American Open Wheel that road should be avoided if possible.