Page 80 - Bespoke Issue

Another long-standing concern has been the cost cap. Liberty have mentioned a cost cap of circa 150 million Euros per annum. This has caused a lot of ‘Sabre’ rattling and underlying threats from the top two big teams, who are the main protagonists against this. This dominance from Ferrari and Mercedes could see a continuation of absolutely ‘no change’ at the top. With Ferrari and Mercedes only really being competitive against each other and with the other smaller teams not able to develop ground breaking engines due to nancial restrictions, this could see the sport stumble on with only two highly developed and competitive teams vying it out on track. This will in effect damage the viewing public as to the real sporting values in Formula One. The fans may not put up with much more dictatorship of
the sport by the big two, as it effects the value and the experience and as to the reasons why they get involved and support the sport in the rst instance. You can’t please all the people (teams) all the time but Liberty and the FIA need to take into account the fans and what is best for the sport globally. Could Formula one still have such a huge global presence on the top rung of international motorsport without Ferrari and Mercedes? We mentioned this in our last issue, would Ferrari follow through with their threats to walk away? If so, where would they go, would they start their own series or Formula? Would the sport of Formula One survive on a global viewing and fan base scale as it has in the past, without Ferrari and or Mercedes?
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