FIA pushing to reduce costs in F1

Yesterday, the FIA announced in a statement to the press that they will be looking at reducing the costs in Formula One as quickly as possible.

Last week it emerged that Caterham had gone into administration and the doors to the factory shut while days later Marussia suffered the same fate. Although both teams are hoping to find buyers and continue in F1, neither will be on the grid in America nor Brazil as they don’t have the funds to compete.

It is a sad showing for Formula 1 as just 18 cars will line up in Austin, the smallest grid since 2005. Some though would say it has been a long time coming and that Formula 1 has brought this on itself by failing to heed the warnings.

Now the FIA has said something must be done to ensure that sport remains an “attraction” championship. In a statement to the press, the FIA said the following as follows below:-

'The FIA has been informed of the financial difficulties of the Caterham and Marussia teams and of the considerable uncertainty surrounding their participation in the final races of the 2014 championship.

'It is the responsibility of the FIA Stewards to determine whether or not a team has failed to fulfil its regulatory obligation to take part in all events on the calendar and to take whatever action they deem appropriate. However, we have every confidence that the Stewards are fully aware of the financial situation of the teams concerned and these matters are always assessed with extreme care and due regard for the circumstances involved.

'Looking beyond the end of the 2014 season, these failings once again acutely raise the question of the economic balance of the FIA Formula One Championship and justify the position, expressed many times by the FIA, in favour of any initiative that will help reduce costs in order to ensure the survival of the existing grid or attract potential new entrants.

'As such, the FIA, in close cooperation with FOM and the different stakeholders in F1, will continue to work towards maintaining the attraction of the championship and the equitable participation of the teams in it in the years to come.'

I feel that this statement has come too late for the sport and it could have been avoided. Even though the FIA and the stewards have been informed of the circumstances surrounding Caterham and Marussia and have taken steps that they feel need to be done and are at the benefit for everyone involved as best as they can.

Even though over the past few months talks have been conducted regarding the rising costs of the sport, I feel that more should have been done before losing two important teams such as Caterham and Marussia from the grid. It is clear that there needs to be a lot of investment, time and capital to be competitive in Formula One and that it is getting harder and harder for teams such as Caterham and Marussia to sustain that level of commitment to competing in the sport, even though that is their objective.

But I really do fear that the FIA have left this matter too late and more could have been done to help the teams stay in the sport for as long as they possibly could. For me personally, more could have and should have been done to help them and if the FIA are serious on sorting this issue out could have enforced something to help regulate the costs in Formula One before this situation occurred.

But that hasn't happened despite everyone wishing that viable solutions could have been made available and we have lost two crucial and important teams from the sport and that is sad to see as a Formula One fan. No matter what team or driver you support, you don't want to see two teams potentially leaving a sport that they have made it their objective to compete in and do as well as they possibly could with the budget and what they have at their disposal.

It is clear that something needs to be agreed by the FIA, the stakeholders and the teams regarding this issue in order to keep the teams in the sport for as long as possible or even attract new teams into the sport. The FIA now to have do something about the rising costs in Formula One before we lose any other team from the sport as quickly as possible.

Sarah Jones