karlpejera: The fight for the future of Formula One is taking an uncertain twist

Bernie Ecclestone's grip on Formula One is beginning to loosen but it is anybody's guess who will control the future of the sport

The battle for the future of Formula One has taken a fresh twist with the news that teams would want a stake in any change of ownership of the sport.

The McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh, who is chairman of the Formula One Teams' Association (Fota), said on Friday: "I think it ultimately is desirable to have team ownership of commercial rights."

Following reports that News Corporation, together with Italy's Agnelli dynasty, the owners of Fiat and Ferrari, may attempt to wrest control from the private equity firm CVC, Fota will meet here on Sunday to establish a unified position before talks with the media organisation.

Whitmarsh said: "CVC claimed that they are not looking to sell, but there are not many venture capitalists who want to keep businesses on their books ad infinitum. Who knows? I have no insight into it and I have not had the discussion personally with CVC.

"I think the teams want to ensure first and foremost that we have stability. We want to ensure that the sport is sustainable and to be sustainable you need the appropriate level of investment to promote and develop the sport. You need the appropriate distribution of the revenues to teams to make it sustainable and those are the primary things. Largely, who owns it, to most teams, is not the biggest concern."

There is an increasing awareness here that the 80-year-old Bernie Ecclestone, like the Ottoman Empire, will not last for ever. The commercial rights holder has run his exorbitant roost for more than three decades but is distracted by an investigation by German authorities into alleged bribes in connection with the purchase of Formula One by CVC in 2005.

And now there are takeover and stakeholder talks. There is also renewed speculation that this may be Turkey's last race, even though the Hermann Tilke-designed circuit, opened only six years ago, is one of the best on the calendar.

Istanbul Park is traditionally billed as Formula One's return to Europe, even though it takes place on the Asian side of this opulent city. On arrival on Friday there were more security guards than spectators. It has been Ecclestone's genius to persuade various governments that they are in urgent need of a grand prix. Another stadium is erected on some wasteland far removed from the main city; there are now a herd of these white elephants scattered across the globe.

It is hardly surprising that few bother to turn up at Bahrain, South Korea, Valencia, Malaysia, China and Turkey, while traditional centres, such as France, Portugal and South Africa, are now off the schedule. But at least the poor turnout on Friday made it easier to get to one of the sport's saner voices. John Booth is team principal of the unfailingly genial Virgin, who live at the far end of the paddock, well away from the big names, McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari.

In relation to the takeover talks, Yorkshireman Booth said: "Sometimes the speculation is put out there for political reasons so we don't try to second-guess what people are up to ? especially people with the nous of Bernie Ecclestone. We concentrate on what we can control.

"Even with the talk of the sale of Formula One we don't know whether it's a red herring or there is genuine interest. Obviously we crave stability and sustainability. The sustainability is driven by the TV figures and they're as strong as ever, if not getting stronger."

Like most people in the sport, he is strongly opposed to the idea of Formula One moving to Sky. "I think it would be a disaster for Formula One to go on to pay-for-view. I'm not a fan of pay-for-view for any sport. I love my boxing but I wouldn't pay for it. I think it works great on the BBC and it would be fantastic to see it stay there. They're pretty lucky, of course, because the racing over the past two years has been really exciting.

"The sport is in good shape. The last race, in China, was one of the best races I've ever seen. The combination of the rear wing and the tyres has made it made it the most exciting F1 has been for 20 years."

At the other end of the paddock, Whitmarsh said: "I think it's clear that the business model of all the teams relies on free-to-air. We're selling a large, broad, media exposure. That's the business model and I'm sure that that's the business model of all the Formula One teams will require going forward."

But Whitmarsh added: "From a different angle, I think that for the last 20 years, perhaps we, collectively, have not managed the sport as well as we can. There's been in-fighting, there's a competitive spirit in Formula One that sometimes has been quite damaging. But recently there's been a period of unprecedented co-operation between the teams."

Paul Weaver

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