Formula One, as is the case with most racing categories, is a simple business. The only corporate mission is to win championships. There are no corporate line extensions or product extensions, so everything done within a race team follows the answer to the question: “Will this make the car go faster?”
It is as simple as that… sometimes.
At other times changes within the sport designed to offer better competition, or meant to lessen the financial burden on teams, or both in the case of current F1 proposals, result in running afoul of the Law of Unintended Consequences.
To hear Sir Frank Williams tell it the latest aerodynamic changes in F1 will result in less revenue for all the F1 teams.
“It will be interesting to see what comes out of it,” Williams says of the downsizing of wings and other aerodynamic components for the 2009 season. “But there’s something I don’t like about these regulations, and I must make it clear.
“I think the decision to reduce the aerodynamic areas was taken by Max Mosley, with the aim of slowing down the cars. And then the teams’ engineers also worked on it.
“But as a marketing man I must say one thing: the rear wing is 25% smaller. The bargeboards will also change, as will the deflectors at the side of the chassis. In general, this means a lot less space. And this space, hell, is worth millions in sponsorship.
“If it had been five or ten per cent less surface… but 25 means, for whoever puts its name on the rear wing, that with the same deal you’ll get 25% less money.”
AT&T Williams current competitive troubles aside, Sir Frank has steered the team through many winning seasons both on track and off track by cajoling, conniving and schmoozing the many sponsors it takes to keep the modern F1 race team afloat.
His thoughts on wing size as it relates to revenue loss shouldn’t be taken lightly, the man spends as much time flipping through the pages of the Financial Times as he does touring the paddock on race weekends.
If he says F1 teams face a potential 25% reduction in sponsorship fees I tend to believe him.
Of course, we may never know for sure, reliable financial information in F1 is on par with what Germany had on the D-Day invasion on June 5th, 1944.
Which is to say not much, and of questionable value.
Technorati Tags: AT&T Williams, Sir Frank Williams, Max Mosley, FIA
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