Ferrari and Bernie Ecclestone are the only driving force behind the idea of having a third car per team, nobody else seems keen on the idea at all.
Of course there are benefits to having three cars per team. The grid receives a boost, one which might be much needed should one or more teams drop out as has been speculated. It also gives teams more sponsor real-estate to sell.
In fact a Ferrari spokesperson recently said their backing of the idea is driven by improving the show by having a more competitive grid.
Is that really the case though? Do both Ecclestone and Ferrari want three cars to improve the show or is there a deeper meaning to such vocal support?
The regulations state that a race must consist of 20 or more cars. That is ten teams running two cars each. At present the sport has 11 teams running 22 cars. Should one team drop out, fine. But should two – which isn’t too hard to imagine – then the commercial rights’ holder – aka Ecclestone and CVC – would fail to meet their obligations as set out in the 100-year commercial rights’ contract.
If you’re not aware, the FIA ‘leased’ the sport to Formula One Management (FOM) for a very small fee. That contract has a long time left to run, but the FIA is reportedly keen on taking back control, but can’t do so unless the contract is broken.
Who has the most to lose from the FIA taking control again? Ferrari and FOM (Ecclestone/CVC) of course. Ferrari are paid a substantial ‘sweetener’ by FOM just to compete. In fact if they finished fourth in the constructors’ championship, they’d still receive more prize money than the team in first.
FOM would also lose its source of revenue and would cease to exist. Therefore they are keen to see the grid remain at 20 plus cars and third cars might be the only way to assure that happens.
Ecclestone is smart. The regulations state that should the grid drop below 20 cars then those teams that can afford it, must run a third car. But the key part is ‘if they can afford it’. Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff predicts that an additional car could cost upwards of £26 million to run. With the financial situation in F1, not many can afford that.
Therefore Ecclestone is keen to change the regulation in his favour, but must have agreement from all 11 teams to do so. Sadly for him, nobody else, other than Ferrari, is behind the plan and they’re unlikely to be swayed. If the FIA were to take over F1 again, everyone bar Ferrari and Ecclestone would have something to gain as the governing body would undoubtedly distribute the prize money in a more fair manner and at the same time, Ferrari would certainly lose its sweet deal.
