FIA President Max Mosley shared his vision of racing in 2013 by introducing the world to a universal engine that could be used across several series like F1, F2 and WRC. Yes the FIA President has set aside his copy of “Blacks Law” and opted for the “applied engineering” book. The suggestion is…well, I’ll let Max explain it:
“It would work in turbocharged form for F1 and then all the way down to naturally aspirated form for the lesser categories and in a turbocharged or naturally aspirated form for the world rally championship.”
No…please…hold your applause. There is more:
“If we can – and I’m not sure we can – find a way of combining all forms of motor sport in that system then this would be useful because of the huge sums spent on motor sport.”
This comes on the heels of Commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley’s strong desire to see Formula 1 become more specified in its parts, pieces and goal. A common engine, chassis and many parts that, in his mind, can be reproduced for use among all teams. The regulations of the sport have evolved more in the last 10 years than any other period that I can recall and the effort was originally to reduce the speed of the cars but it has now become the grand effort to reduce costs and lead the “Green” or eco-friendly movement.
I am just not in the mood to confront this assault on the sport of which I have cherished and longed to be a part of, even if only on the periphery as a fan, since my long forgotten youth. It is a passion. A sense of achievement. To carry the nobility of racing royalty in the haze of memory’s sweet recollection. To hold the tears of its tragic hindsight for those who dared and realized the rage and finality of its fatal allure.
In the beginning it was a measure of man and machine. A quest for the dreams of the few who dared to suggest they could go farther and faster than any other before. It was called a gentleman’s sport and as gentlemen, they achieved great heights. It weathered wars, shifting borders, ideologues, religion, tyrants, kings and the most cruel of enemies; time. The history of Formula 1 is the silent road disturbed for just a brief moment by the violent rush of wind, noise and metal. It is of legend, myth and mystery. It’s Noble Guard made of names like Fangio, Ascari, Nuvolari, Moss, Amon, Hill, Hawthorn, Clark, Brabham, Surtees, Stewart, Piquet, Cervert, Peterson, Watson, Hunt, Villeneuve, Mansell, Jones, Senna and Prost. It’s kingdom so wide and vast as to be represented by such majestic Castles of Speed as Anderstorp, Estoril, Interlagos, Kyalami, Magny-cours, Mont-Tremblant, Silverstone, Spa, Francorchamps, Nurburgring and Zandvoort.
Time, tyrants, ideology, religion and wars have not conquered Formula 1. It has stood the test of all who have sallied forth to lay waste to its kingdoms. To rend the very chest of this noble and dangerous sport and remove its prideful heart lest it beat one more time. It has been prostrate before fear, death, technology and expense. It has faced the wrath of humanities more dour attempts and yet it survived in exalted fashion.
I am sorry to inform you that Formula 1 has died. It is with great remorse that I write these words as beholden to its history as I am. It was betrayed and murdered from within and it is the cruelest and coldest knife of all that removes a soul. May it rest in peace and may we all humble ourselves as we have failed our forbears. We have allowed the unthinkable to happen and in doing so, it can be said it was done for pride, power and money. Had we known then what we know now, perhaps we’d have fashioned a better redoubt but as it is; we are to blame. Pride, power and money have existed in Formula 1 for decades and while it has always been restrained in the noble hearts who bore it out of collegial attitudes and notions, this was something different. Pride, power and money have been the prime mover for this sport since inception but this was something different.
It makes little sense to carry on now; rendering opinion of a sport that is deceased. It provides little fruit and only the slightest spark of imagination. The history we now cling to is betrayed and the majesty of its nuance ripped from its dusty pages. All seemingly lost in the four hands of two men who carry the blood stained banner of victory. The deaths of Clark, Watson, von Trips, Bandini, Pryce, Peterson, Villenueve, Senna, Cervert, Lewis-Evans, Schlesser, Courage, Revson and Depaillier mean very little outside their respective friends and family. Their sacrifice has been mitigated as the history they created has been marginalized in the mustard gas of trench warfare among power brokers, lawyers and banks. Many may suggest they were men seeking glory, fame and fortune and some were down right coarse people. I say bullocks! Any man or women who views this sport with the astigmatic gaze of marginalization doesn’t get it. I know the men in charge of this sport used to get it but I fear that was purged from their systems long ago. Before they were owners and regulators; they were fans. So long a forgotten dream but for us, the fans, we have not forgotten.
There is one small, insignificant hope. That resurrection could be afforded Formula 1 through the most unlikely hands of the men and women who participate. It is how it was in the beginning and perhaps it will one day be again. Long live FOTA.
