Fia should consider awarding extra points to teams that­ have stayed within the rules or 'clean' for a­ certain time if like some people suggest that cheating­ is near standard in F1-That would please the big money­ teams to no end..not,and make it fairer for everyone.

arshad, I admit Brazil slipped my mind. While not part­ of the "F1 (European) Triangle" I alluded to,­ it cannot really be classified as the same as Japan or­ Spain (Brazil has shown support for F1 with a passion­ of the big three Europeans even when they don't­ have a driver of note), nor can it be classifies like­ Belgium or the USA (because it does have someone to­ cheer for most of the time). They fit comfortably in­ the gap in between these latter two and the central­ three, and are the moon to the world that centres­ there, always there and always pulling at the tides of­ F1 without fail (and with full justification).

A suggestion, Get rid of Ecclestone and replace him­ with a person, or group of investors who really have­ the welfare of F1 at heart. Then completely­ restructure the FIA and build a sport with races, at­ much lower cost to promote, at venues in the­ traditional F1 countries of Italy, Germany, Britain,­ France, Belgium, Monaco, and Spain. Then races in­ Australia, Japan, India, China, and Malaysia. Add to­ that races in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina along with­ Canada and the United States. That is seventeen races­ at venues that should be able to support them. The­ races in Asia are going to be necessary because­ sponsorship is going to come, increasingly from those­ developing countries.

Allow privateer teams to­ purchase chassis and engines from approved suppliers. ­ Require that F1 promote all races through the rights­ holder exclusively, at his/their cost. Require that­ the FIA fully staff the race meets with fully trained­ and experienced corner workers, emergency and medical­ personnel with a fully equipped emergency clinic, and­ professional race stewards beholden only to F1. The­ only connection with the venue is that they have a­ contract with the rights holder.

Then maybe the sport­ can thrive, grow, and maybe represent the nations that­ participate in it.

Let's examine another facet of why Japanese drivers­ haven't been successful in F1, and even GP@, F2,­ F3000, and F3 to cover most of the feeder series for­ the last 40 years or so. Almost always, in F1 the team­ was forced to use a driver selected by Toyota, or­ Honda, who were the engine suppliers or putative team­ owners. There is nothing slower, or more hard headed­ than a driver who knows he will still have his seat at­ the end of the day because he got the seat because he­ was Japanese and not due to any overwhelming exhibition­ of driving talent. It sounds provincial as all hell,­ but there it is.

None of the young Japanese drivers­ are required to progress through the feeder series in­ order to prove their ability against the best yound­ drivers of Europe and those Aussie, American, and­ Canadian drivers who do race in Europe to work there­ way up. If the U.S. didn't have NASCAR, ALMS,­ Rolex Series, and IndyCar for young drivers to aspire­ to be successful in, then maybe they would be forces to­ be dealt with in competing for drives in F1. A yound­ american road racer can live at home and drive to all­ his race meets and if successful become very well off,­ so why live like a cretin to save enough money to get­ to the next race in a series where no one understands­ what you are saying and really doesn't give a damn­ whether you succeed or not. Why do it at all.

I­ suspect that if Toyota, or Honda would subscribe to­ supporting a couple of young drivers, like the young­ Aussies and New Zeelanders used to have in the 50's­ and 60's. Support them with Japanese teams, teach­ them English, and bring them along with a support­ system, then maybe in 6 to 8 years there might actually­ be a Japanese driver competing for a championship.

Japanese drivers dont' have the talent, background­ nor the will(courage) to win in F1. And sons of former­ champions are never as good as the father.

If I may, I will like to say that Formula 1 is not that­ big in America because is hard to follow for the time­ difference.
I do live in the East cost ( Washington DC­ area) and on Sundays, I have to be up at 8 in the­ morning!!!!! :( to catch it on the laptop.
If is hard­ to follow, is hard to get to know drivers, brands,­ circuits, hard to become a fan....
I am from­ Argentina, from the time when Carlos Reutemann used to­ race and became a fan then !

Great comment 616.
I'd just like to add that in­ Spain before Alonso , the Spanish GP didn't even­ begin to fill. They couldn't give the tickets­ away!
They were so desperate for a Spanish F1 driver­ that the TV commentators "adopted"­ Heinz-Harold Frenzen as an honorary Spaniard! (He has a­ Spanish mother). Gené and De la Rosa, for differing­ reasons, were disappointments (despite the fact I rate­ DLR).
Once Alonso began to do well in Renault F1 fever­ attracted the futboleros on their days off and suddenly­ F1 was outselling Moto GP!
Once Alonso bombs, which I­ feel he will as he's had two lucky escapes now, F1­ will be forgotten in a country with two (of the worst)­ GPs.

Japan seems to produce top-flight motorcycle racers­ (Noriyuki Haga, Nori Abe, Tetsuya Harada et al), but it­ is strange the nation has never produced a race-winning­ F1 driver. I thought Taku Sato would be the one, but­ his machinery was never quite up to it, there was a­ youngster in the 90's, Tora (Tiger)Tanake, but he­ didn't stay in the top flight long enough. I for­ one would love to see a Japanese pilot on the top step­ of the podium and fighting for the Championship. I­ agree with Neil M, Taku Sato was above Grosjean, Piquet­ and co. in ability and experience, so why no seat? His­ one-time team-mate Ant Davidson is no slouch either.

SixOneSix, excellent comment no.17. You perfectly­ summed up how fickle the fans can be in some countries.­ There are empty stands in Spain when Alonso isn't­ in the top five while I remember the Brits roaring­ their hearts out when Hamilton passed Alonso for 15th­ this year. Britain, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Canada­ are passionate about F1 but don't know about­ America. I'll also add Brazil into the mix for­ having one of the most passionate fans but maybe that­ is because they have had a potential race winning­ Brazilian racing throughout the years

You could say a stagnant Rising sun...

93 starts, 1 podium and Sato is considered the best­ ever Japanese driver in F1? 93 races and he's just­ getting to grips with the car?

Bishop, I refrained from including America as an­ example because F1 has had much more of a following­ there historically than it has in say Spain. My gripe­ is the pandering to fickle nations with no long term­ interest in the sport.

In Spain, ticket sales to the­ two GPs have fallen in 2009 and 2008 compared to 2007­ and 2006. And what is the big difference in those­ years? Fernando Alonso is no longer a reigning Wolrd­ Champion with a car competitive enough to make him a­ race winner. The F1 hype in Spain is tantamount to­ glory hunting and is very much dependent upon the­ success of their kinsman. Watch ticket sales jump­ again next year if Ferrari start the season with a­ winning car, and watch them continue to stagnate if­ their new charge strands Alonso towards the back of the­ grid.

And the same short term fickle support can be­ seen in 2009 in Turkey for example. Not the best, but­ definately one of the better tracks on the F1 calendar,­ and yet the grandstands were virtually empty.

Now­ compare that to the "heartland" of F1 -­ Britain, Germany & Italy. The three countries­ around which the sport is arguably based. In Britain­ you still saw support for a lacklustre Lewis Hamilton,­ and how many other fans through away the idea of­ national pride to support Ferrari? In Germany they may­ have had Vettel to cheer about this year, but they­ still didn't struggle with crowds in 2007 &­ 2008 with no German challenger for the title because­ the fans love the sport. And in Italy Ferrari fans­ make Monza a pilgrimage - even when Ferrari aren't­ winning.

And then there are 3 host countries that have­ no real national identity in the sport but always seem­ to draw large crowds - Belgium, Canada and America. ­ Why? Because the fans there are of the same cut as the­ 3 places above - they are F1 fans first (whether they­ realise it or not).

Wizzo. simple answer; NO! It's that sort of sport.

Adrian,is there ANYONE who has not been playing with­ the rules.

Wizzo, Toyota were caught cheating big time in the WRC­ & had to sit out a year so they are not whiter than­ white. Also I believe Honda F1 were caught­ "bending the rules" over using fuel as­ ballast.

Sato could do a solid journeyman's job - no more.

@SixOneSix, you make a good point. F1 is fairly popular­ in the US, even without an American F1 team or drivers.­ Few will wax poetically about the heady days of Mario­ Andretti or Phil Hill in this modern era of F1.­ Americans have a completely different problem: too much­ of everything. Too many different series to follow,­ both motorsports and other sports. Will overall­ American interest improve when USF1 comes around?­ Doubtful, but I look forward to it anyways. Will USF1­ find decent enough American drivers? Hard to say. We­ have good drivers here, but few grow up dreaming about­ F1, like they do in the EU. That's a different­ mindset that hasn't always gone well when we cross­ the Pond. Our effort probably won't meet your­ standard, SixOneSix. But it's no less worthy to­ cheer about it.

Maybe they are the only ones who have not been­ 'cheating'.

Japanese drivers have never succeed in F1, they have­ had the sponsors but not the results, but Japan has had­ no stand out driver. Honda has been the only shining­ light for Japanese F1 motoersport, but sadly the Honda­ F1 team failed mainly due to it's driver line ups­ over the years. Toyota should have remained in­ sportscars and had success in that type of motorsport­ before making the switch to F1. Mazda are the only­ Japanese constructor to win Le Mans back in 1991.­ Toyota and Honda should have focused on supplying­ engines only to teams in F1, and not become the team­ itself.

There's alot of realy good drivers in Japan but­ they have no wish to be treated like a second class­ person by the round eye Europeans of F1 !