While champions were being crowned around the globe, the news floating out of the Formula One circle was bleak. Two teams have fallen on financial hardship and will not be coming Stateside this upcoming weekend and that is disappointing for the so called premier division of motorsports. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
Remember When Formula One Nearly Split?
Five years ago, the teams that formed the Formula One Teams Association (Everyone but Williams and Force India) announced the formation of a breakaway series.
Of course it never came to fruition, although the breakaway series schedule was pretty killer, but five years later we sit with Caterham falling to pieces in front of our very eyes, as is Marussia, the debate over three-car teams becoming stagnant and Bernie Ecclestone pretty much telling the teams he is in charge and they can't stop him.
Maybe the split should have happen. Maybe it should have gone down the path of USAC-CART, CART-IRL and Grand-Am-ALMS. The three teams added to the 2010 grid tentatively appear down to none as HRT folded after three season, Caterham is on the cutting room floor and Marussia will miss Austin as well. Sauber has been on a decline ever since BMW pulled out after the 2009 season. And we've been over the three-car team issue. If it is enforced, the struggle we see with Caterham, Marussia and Sauber are now occurring at Lotus, Force India and Williams.
Then there is Bernie. I think he has been watching a little bit too much NASCAR in the two weeks since Sochi. The me, me, me attitude the 78-year old has is more like a 7-year old. The "If I want more races, then we will have more races regardless of what the teams say" dictatorship mindset is ridiculous. Formula One cannot be adding races to whoever has the largest paycheck to line Bernie's pockets, especially when teams can't make the current amount of races scheduled. Forget Baku and Las Vegas. It is time to strengthen the races that have been the backbone of the series for over six decades. Attendance has been down at places such as Germany and TV ratings have been down around the globe. If places such as Germany, Italy and the rest of Europe, the heart and soul of the series, lose interest and faith, nothing can make up for it, not even a seven-figure check.
Formula One has to get their act together. They need to get back to their roots. They need to not price out the average citizen. They need to worry less about money and more about people. If you lose enough people, you eventually will start losing money. Things have to change and quick. Otherwise you mind as well just start all over again from scratch.
Could IndyCar Save the Day?
With Caterham and Marussia stiffing Austin, maybe IndyCar could fill those final four spots on the grid?
Put the regulations aside and realize that having four IndyCars running at Austin would hurt nobody. The cars are just as slow as the Marussias and Caterhams. I bet they would make it under the 107% rule and if not, then just turn up the turbo to get them there. After all, who would be against a little more power? Refueling makes an IndyCar pit stop four times longer than a Formula One stop, putting the invited IndyCar teams as a greater disadvantage. Who cares if they are on Firestone? They aren't going to be an advantage over the Pirellis. The drivers are professional, will stay out of the way of the full-time teams and will be competitive amongst themselves to put on the best showing for IndyCar and try to get as many positions as possible. The only thing to worry about is the standing start but as long as you get the right drivers, that won't be a problem.
It's not like the IndyCars are doing anything but collecting dust. What's the worst that could happen? If I was Mark Miles I would be on the phone immediately inquiring about allowing four cars to round out the field. I've said it before and I will say it again, IndyCar should run support races with Formula One when they head to Montreal and Austin because racing on those Saturdays would provide bigger crowds than every other IndyCar race but the Indianapolis 500 and I would ask for little to no sanctioning fee because it would be free exposure for the series. Plus, it would give NBC and NBCSN more coverage those weekends.
Have two Chevrolets and two Hondas run. Have one be the newly crowned champion Will Power and the other be this year's Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay. The second Chevrolet driver is the toughest. Do you have Juan Pablo Montoya make a Formula One comeback? Or what about Sébastien Bourdais? Do you give Scott Dixon a shot? If it was my call, I would want Dixon on the grid. The second Honda I would want to be an American because this is the United States Grand Prix after all. But instead of Marco Andretti, Josef Newgarden or Graham Rahal, I would want Texas' own A.J. Foyt Racing fielding Alexander Rossi. Rossi has to be wondering what it will take to make his Formula One debut. After it appeared it would happen at Spa and it appeared he would be the logical substitute for the injured Jules Bianchi only to have Marussia skip his home race, Rossi deserves this opportunity.
The only other problem I can think of is numbers and the good news is the #12 and #28 aren't used in Formula One, so Power and Hunter-Reay are good. Marcus Ericsson was using #9 but since Caterham won't be at Austin, I don't see why Dixon couldn't use it. Fernando Alonso uses #14 but Foyt and Rossi could run #41.
It's a pipe dream but it's my pipe dream damn it. IndyCar and Formula One have nothing to lose by putting four cars on the grid. It couldn't be any worse than Caterham.
What Lower Ticket Prices Will Do
The crowd for the MotoGP race at Sepang looked a hell of a lot better than the attendance for the Formula One race there earlier this year. So I decided to look up ticket prices. The most expensive ticket was the "premium roving package" which allows access to all the spectator stands as well as a set of event merchandise and cost about $110. Want to sit in the main grandstand? You could have for $49. You could have sat on the hillside for just over $12.
Name one Formula One race you can get in to see for under $15? Make it affordable for people to attend. Formula One has more money than God and probably a fair amount more than MotoGP, yet the latter is having no problem drawing people and their championship was decided two weeks ago and one guy has dominated the world championship and won ten consecutive races earlier this year. The former has three drivers still alive for the world championship and double points in the final round to keep it interesting. Remember when everyone was pinning blame on Sebastian Vettel for the declines in Formula One attendance and ratings because of his dominance? I call bullshit because you can clearly keep fans engaged and interested when someone has all ready locked up the championship in a dominating fashion.
Random Thoughts
I like Martinsville but shortening their Cup races to 300 laps would be a victory for everybody. Less is more, people.
If you don't have a hood on your car or front fenders, you shouldn't be allowed back out on the track in NASCAR. You are a caution waiting to happen as something is bound to come off your car and it just looks ridiculous.
Good news IndyCar fans! The DTM still hasn't released their 2015 schedule so you are not alone.
Fun Facts
If four IndyCars were allowed to run at Austin, it would be the first time Firestone has competed in a Formula One race since the 1975 Argentine Grand Prix when they were on Mario Andretti's Parnelli VPJ4-Ford. Firestone's last victory in Formula One was the 1972 Italian Grand Prix and Emerson Fittipaldi clinched the 1972 World Drivers' Championship with that victory driving for McLaren.
The last time the #28 was used in Formula One was the 1995 Australian Grand Prix when Gerhard Berger was at Ferrari.
Champions From the Weekend
Sébastien Ogier clinched his second consecutive World Rally Championship with a victory in Rally Catalunya. He won by 11.3 seconds over teammate and championship rival Jari-Mati Latvala. The final round of the WRC season will take place in three weeks from Great Britain.
José María Lopez clinched the 2014 World Touring Car Championship with a victory in race one from Suzuka. This was the Argentine's first season in WTCC. He would finish sixth in race two as Gabriele Tarquini won race two. The final round of the WTCC will take place from Macau in three weeks.
Esteve Rabat clinched the Moto2 title with a third place finish from Sepang, his seven consecutive podium. Maverick Viñales and Mika Kallio finished first and second respectively. The Moto2 season finale will occur in a fortnight from Valencia.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Marc Márquez, Sébastien Ogier, José María López, Gabriele Tarquini and Maverick Viñales but did you know...
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won the NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville. No one clinched a spot in the final race at Homestead.
Shane Van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb won race one of V8 Supercars Castrol Edge Gold Coast 600. Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell won race two and claimed the 2014 Endurance Cup while Whincup extended his championship lead over Mark Winterbottom.
Efrén Vázquez won in Moto3. Jack Miller finished second and kept his title hopes alive. The Australian trails Álex Márquez by 11 points points heading to Valencia,
Darrell Wallace, Jr. won the Truck race from Martinsville.
Coming Up This Weekend
Formula One comes to the United States for the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
NASCAR also heads to Texas.
FIA World Endurance Championship heads to Shanghai.
Blancpain Sprint Series wrap up their 2014 season at the Baku World Challenge.
World Superbike ends their season in Qatar.
Stock Car Brasil returns after a month off at Tarumã.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
