Australia threaten to quit F1

Eurosport - Fri, 10 Jul 15:35:00 2009

Australia's Formula One chief has threatened to scrap the Melbourne Grand Prix if leading teams are not on the grid and called on FIA head Max Mosley to stand down.

FORMULA 1 Feature Rennszene Melbourne - 0

Eight Formula One Teams Association teams including champions Ferrari have not ruled out spurning the FIA to form their own championship, despite reaching a breakthrough deal in Paris last month.

"If the disunity continues Melbourne will seriously consider its position on continuing with Formula One," Australian Grand Prix Corporation chairman Ron Walker told Australian media.

"You can just imagine if the likes of (Roger) Federer and other major players didn't turn up to the Australian Open in January or if some of the best horses didn't come to the Melbourne Cup.

"It's the same scenario, the superstars sell the tickets and if you don't have the superstars then ticket sales sag."

The Australian GP, which is partly underwritten by the venue state's government, lost a record £20 million in 2008 after losing £17m on the race in the previous year, sparking criticism that it has become too big a burden on tax-payers.

Victoria state premier John Brumby backed Walker's comments.

"I want value for money for Victorian tax-payers and that means you want all of the competitors, you want all of the race teams... We won't be paying for half an event, simple as that," Brumby said.

The Paris deal, landed after the FIA agreed to bow to teams' demands to scrap a push by Mosley to introduce budget caps in the sport, has since appeared fragile.

Technical directors of the eight FOTA teams on Wednesday walked out of a meeting to agree to rule changes for 2010 after being told they could only participate as observers.

The walkout followed a threat by Mosley to rip up the deal unless FOTA head and Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo apologised for likening him to a dictator.

Walker laid blame for the crisis at the feet of the 69-year-old Briton and urged him to leave the sport quietly.

"In my view Mr Mosley should walk away from the sport with dignity rather than slowly strangle to death the great brand of Formula One," Walker said.

"The sport needs fresh and dynamic leadership more than ever before to lead F1 into a new era of motor racing.

"(F1 commercial head) Bernie Ecclestone is absolutely trying to be a peacemaker, but if the most successful automotive companies in the world will not agree to the rules laid down by the FIA then that will be the end of it."

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Reuters

Comment 28 - 47 of 47

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  1. Potter this is Yahoo UK not Yahoo Gibberish

    From Andy, on Sun 12 Jul 3:28PM

  2. Dear Holly-Anna Bumface. "Willies" is of­ course short for Williams Christ, which is a schnapps.­ I will be in the UK at the end of August if you want to­ share some.

    From Ian, on Sat 11 Jul 7:55AM

  3. BRING F1 BACK TO INDIANAPOLIS!!!!!!!!!!!

    From J Money!!, on Sat 11 Jul 5:29AM

  4. They should bring the Australia race back to Adelaide.­ If they havve to cut Australia, bring the race back to­ the USA at Indy.

    From Luis, on Sat 11 Jul 5:24AM

  5. how about to bring the opening race to singapore, even­ malaysian can't afford so much to do so

    From boysbe19902006, on Sat 11 Jul 4:48AM

  6. Max is a very naughty boy

    From Tim B, on Sat 11 Jul 4:41AM

  7. bring the race to perth, we got nothing here, we lost­ the rally australia now red bull race is going, there­ more to australia than melbourne and sydney, perth­ could put on a real showcase, and the weather here is­ better, its cheaper for spectators to fly into perth­ from asia/europe than into melbourne etc,

    From melclark_uk, on Sat 11 Jul 2:43AM

  8. i told u guys, australia iz not the best place for the­ opening race of the every single F1 season coz it could­ cause it to lose even more money than to be held at­ starting form race 2.

    From boysbe19902006, on Sat 11 Jul 12:40AM

  9. Be careful assuming that the government in Australia is­ losing money therefore the race is no longer viable.­ Remember they do this to boost the local economy so the­ benefits for the tax payer need to be figured into the­ formula. Say you have 100,000 people come into town for­ the race. For every $100 spent by those people you­ throw $10 million into the local economy. When I go to­ a race weekend I usually spend about $700-1000 for­ hotel, food, and other. That would work out to 70-100­ million injection into the local economy. In that case­ it is money well spent.

    From arjunabug, on Sat 11 Jul 12:27AM

  10. Now if we can as fans be as determined by not attending­ or watch on the TV to show our displeasure maybe, just­ maybe the Max and Bernie debacle will come to an end.

    From David, on Fri 10 Jul 11:58PM

  11. 36.Max and Bernie both need to walk away from Formula­ One­ and the F.I.A.!

    its not just Max and Bernie that­ need to go there is a few in the teams that need to go­ as well for the sport to get back on track so to­ speak

    also when the fia are free from the max and­ bernie show they need to be letf to make the rules as­ teams take part in F1 no one team is F1 but only a­ part of the sport

    hope we can get back to the raceing

    From dan e, on Fri 10 Jul 11:20PM

  12. The Oz race was losing money before any of these­ shenanigans occurred, so this is not really news.

    From Only Human After All, on Fri 10 Jul 10:55PM

  13. Max and Bernie both need to walk away from Formula One­ and the F.I.A.!

    From John 34, on Fri 10 Jul 9:27PM

  14. Yessss!!!!

    From lilla83, on Fri 10 Jul 8:47PM

  15. Aussies are certainly not dumb nor mute....c'mon­ other racetracks, pipe up too !.....let's get­ Mosley out and let's have real F1 again

    From hd-rockerstuff, on Fri 10 Jul 6:25PM

  16. someone obviously didnt like my jokey reference to­ castlemane xxxx I wasnt saying they didnt care about­ the fans I was saying that they conutnt care less about­ lesser drivers

    From liam, on Fri 10 Jul 6:02PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Aussies only want the GP if Stars are racing they­ couldnt give xxxx for anyone else

    From liam, on Fri 10 Jul 5:39PM

  18. Of course muppet.pooter (spelling mistake intentional)­ and LH was the only one running on fumes at the end. ­ As a famous racist pooter we wouldn't expect you to­ make any positive comments about LH but that car looked­ a lot more stable to me.

    From Francis Sterling, on Fri 10 Jul 5:33PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    BRAWN/BUTTON FOR PODIUM SUCCESS WITH EXCITEMENT

    WHAT­ A WONDERFUL SEASON SO FAR AS BRAWN/BUTTON LEAD THE­ WAY

    RUBENS BARICHELLO CAN STAY CLOSE BEHIND ~~ ­ SURELY HIS CAR IS EQUALLY COMPETATAIVE

    From sunita139, on Fri 10 Jul 5:31PM

  20. Oh Reg you are a one. I am not a young lady anymore­ but I can still remember back to the days when I also­ had "one too­ many willies!" - but its been a­ while now. Perhaps when you are in th UK next?

    From Holly-Anna Bumface, on Fri 10 Jul 5:29PM
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