The RACER Mailbag, January 11

Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. Due to the high volume of questions received, we can’t guarantee that every letter will be published, but we’ll answer as many as we can. Published questions may be edited for length and clarity. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will appear the following week.

Q: Michael Andretti keeps impressing me on the business side of things since his days of being a driver. First he acquires the IndyCar team in late 1990s or 2000, then slowly ventures into smaller formulae in Indy Lights, then Supercars, then Formula E, Extreme E, Mexican NASCAR and so on, and now F1. He was denied first and now lines up Cadillac which came all the way from left field. This is what is needed if you have to make heads turn.

This is where a Michael-kind of person should run IndyCar. I thought IndyCar would flourish under Penske due to his business acumen; instead, it’s floundering.  On the other hand, Michael is showing to everyone in IndyCar and the world you need to do aggressive moves to capture people's attention, and this type of announcement is what is needed in IndyCar -- but its lacking at the moment.

Shyam Cherupalla

MARSHALL PRUETT: Michael’s ambitions, combined with the ambitions of his investors, are something spectacular to behold. With the buyout of Barry Green and the transition from Andretti Green Racing to Andretti Autosport, real purpose was found and he’s continued to build his business into an empire. As for the rest, we’re living in surreal times.

Q: In your opinion, what will happen to Andretti's and Honda's relationship in IndyCar in the medium-term after the F1 announcement? I know teams like Andretti, CGR, and Penske have multiple programs with multiple manufacturers, but this feels too significant to allow that to happen. Will Andretti simply switch leases with a team like ECR or Foyt when the time comes?

Also what about their partnership with WTR? This feels less likely to swap given WTR has been helping Acura with its LMDh development.

Andrew

MP: Honda doesn’t have a Formula 1 deal to offer Andretti, so I don’t think anything will happen to their relationship. Ganassi represents Honda in IndyCar and GM/Cadillac in IMSA. Penske represents GM/Chevy in IndyCar and Ford in NASCAR. And at the moment, Michael represents Honda in IndyCar and Acura in IMSA, with a hope to represent GM/Cadillac in F1. And yet there’s no drama to be found. I know some folks think this Andretti Cadillac F1 thing is some sort of big conflict, but it’s not.

Andretti’s under contract to Honda and as they do at every interval, I’m sure they’ll weigh what Chevy and Honda have to offer before signing the next contract. They were the second-best Honda team last season, but a distant second. I’d say the Andretti team should be more concerned about giving Honda a reason to offer an extension -- or to give Chevy a reason to covet its results and try to sign them away -- than anything else.

WTR is one of two factory Acura GTP teams, so by buying into WTR, Andretti has become a co-owner of that factory program.

Penske won championships for two different manufacturers last year, so a bit of OEM double-dipping by Andretti wouldn't be a problem. Motorsport Images

Q: With the pipe dream of a third OEM in IndyCar well flushed by now, where does the long-term future stand with the existing OEMs? It certainly does not sound exceedingly positive. HPD’s brass recently alluded to the 2.4l for the Acura DPi as being its last new ICE to be developed, and GM just announced a deal for the new Andretti F1 bid. If one of them leaves, what’s the solution? It would be an obvious negative and it’s been alluded to that neither are willing to (or perhaps can) support a full field.

You’ve discussed the limitations of the engine bays of the now historic-eligible DW12 for fitting other engines, say from DPi or GT3 machinery, so it does not sound like a solution would be there. With some of the negative news over the off-season it seems things are now culminating to create a number of potentially even larger issues in the not-too-distant future.

Kevin

MP: Chevy and Honda are committed to IndyCar for the near future, so there’s no immediate concern, and as GM told us, it won’t be leaving IndyCar if Cadillac makes it to F1. But what happens if Chevy or Honda elect to leave a few years down the road? If it’s just one that’s leaving, I’d expect the other to step up and go the single-supplier route, just as Honda did when Chevy bailed in the mid-2000s. It would suck, but we’ve been here before, with the same manufacturers, so it’s not uncharted territory.

Q: I have a growing interest in sports car racing although I find the different classes are never concisely explained -- especially the GT classes. There is now a good presence of international racing in the U.S. (three F1 races and one WEC). Why did Porsche go the commercially available chassis route rather than an organic Hypercar route? After all, they seem to have a pretty good bead on endurance prototypes based on their history.

Jack Woodruff

MP: The cost-effective nature of GTP/LMDh is what has drawn big interest, and after spending trillions on its former LMP1-Hybrid program, Porsche saw the modest budget for a LMP2-based formula as the one that met its needs. Also, its upfront plans to sell customer cars was also a natural fit for GTP/LMDh with the formula’s heavy reliance on spec components.

Q: I know it’s all about money, but I am astonished that not one team owner has stepped up and signed Linus Lundqvist. His track record suggests that he would be able to compete at the sharp end and prove to be a good long-term investment. Mr. Penske must feel that the series ladder needs to show its purpose and integrity by checking the champion moves up. I’m disappointed for Linus big-time and really hope he is on the grid soon.

Oliver Wells

MP: Sadly, none of the open seats heading into the offseason were of the paying variety, and with his $500,000 advancement prize from Penske Entertainment -- 10 percent of the budget needed to run a decent midfield entry -- he never had a chance. Indy NXT’s owner has had months to step in and offer meaningful help to get its first champion on the IndyCar grid. To date, it has done nothing to suggest it will.

Q: During the 2022 IndyCar season there were frequent references to Will Power having a new strategy in his quest for the championship. Those references always indicated that his new strategy would be revealed at the conclusion of the season. Was that strategy ever revealed?

Steve in Florida

MP: No, and our boy DJ Willy P has offered the "I won’t tell you until the season is over/until I retire" routine a few times throughout his career. I love it when he does that -- it’s the IndyCar equivalent of the old Peanuts cartoon where Lucy pulls the football away after promising she wouldn’t -- just as Charlie Brown goes to kick it and he falls on his ass. Power loves doing the "I won’t tell you until…", gets people to bite, then yanks the football.

Q: The iRacing situation points out how tone-deaf IndyCar management currently is. One thing that hasn’t been mentioned, I don’t think, is that it will force users to take on an additional set of fees if they are going to take on Motorsport Games in addition to iRacing. Some may be willing to do that, but I bet many won’t, including me. I like driving different cars and on different tracks: IndyCar at Milwaukee, Road America and Laguna Seca, the Radical at Watkins Glen, F1 at Monza, Spa and Silverstone, NASCAR Cup at Bristol and Talladega, NASCAR Modifieds at Thompson and New Hampshire. That richness is important to me, and so far rFactor 2 doesn’t have that.

Also, I suspect that the current rFactor 2 and the IndyCar side will have separate subscription schemes. Again, not helpful to the fan base.

As others have said, the age demographics for iRacing are very favorable for IndyCar. As the fanbase ages, and I include myself at 74, it is imperative that we understand what attracts and retains younger folks. If you don’t, this all becomes a pointless exercise.

One final thing that chaps my ass is that the name of the company is Motorsport Games These are not games, they are simulations. There are no extra lives and extra parts earned here.

Do you know the duration of the contract? I don’t recall seeing that.

Don Hopings, Cathedral City, CA

MP: Thanks for writing in on this, Don. I have no clue on the contract length; this looked like a cluster from the moment it was announced so I’ve made no effort to give a fart.

Q: With all the fallout from the iRacing deal, I thought I would offer up a positive. Dirty Mo Media's Speed Street with Conor Daly and Joey Mulinaro is a fine example of how IndyCar can be presented in a social media world. Besides giving a driver's perspective on IndyCar racing, they are not afraid to show the dirty side, too. After only hearing two episodes, Conor Daly has a new fan. Dale Jr. fans will give it a listen because of Dale Jr. and Conor will set the hook and bring some more fans to the table.

Eddie F, Dover Plains, NY

MP: There’s a reason I’ve had Conor on my podcast 13 times (just counted) and call him on a regular basis to get his thoughts on things. The kid’s smart and honest to a fault, and a damn good driver. And Joey, who I was introduced to a few years ago by my friend Jeremiah Morrell, is a big Labrador who brings great energy and humor to everything he does. Well worth a listen, and as I told them, I constantly struggle to remember the proper title of their show so I just default to calling it "Street Meat."

Inspired by the answer to the question above, we decided to look for a racing-related shot of a Labrador. And amazingly, we found one. Here's Alex Yoong swimming with 'Lisa' in Malaysia's Lake Tasik Biru in 2002. Motorsport Images

Q: Beyond an apparent lack of willpower from IndyCar to change the chassis, are there other reasons that would stop IndyCar from adopting the new Dallara Super Formula chassis? Would there be technical hurdles (for example, the lack of oval aero considerations in the new SF chassis) or more nebulous political and cultural considerations, such as SF's use of the halo vs the aeroscreen and just plain ol' American exceptionalism of not wanting to be so closely linked with a foreign racing series?

On a related note, I seem to recall that there was a rough plan to gradually phase in technical changes (hybrid, new engine, and new chassis) so as to avoid running up expensive bills for team owners. Don't the powers that be run the risk of pushing so many changes off as to make them necessary simultaneously, this creating the very financial headaches they were trying to avoid in the first place?

Ryan in Rhode Island

MP: Yes, the main reason IndyCar wouldn’t adopt another series’ car is because IndyCar is a proud series of its own that has set its own formulas for more than 100 years. What would it say about IndyCar as a viable business -- to its teams and corporate partners -- if it gave up on itself and copied the formula of an open-wheel series from Japan?

Also, are we talking about the same Super Formula cars that were never designed to hit walls at 240mph and keep its drivers alive? That’s what we’d be doing -- asking teams to spend money on new and less-safe cars that are completely unsuitable for oval racing? Not sure that’s going to get the green light.

Kicking a new car and new engines down the road should make it easier for teams to make the change as it gives them more time to save money for the changeovers. That’s what I’d like to believe, at least.

Q: I’m writing to send a book recommendation to you and fellow readers. I just received my copies of Porsche Kremer Racing – The complete team history and Brun Motorsport 1966-2009.

Both are so well written and finished, with loads of photos. The Walter Brun one is a mammoth three volume pack, with a nice slipcase and hand signed by the man himself. It´s a very nice perk for fans who, like me, loved the Group C era and IMSA in the ’80s.

See you at Long Beach,

Daniel B. Martins, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

MP: Thanks for the recommendation, Daniel. That one’s definitely on my list.

Q: Green Savoree normally does its ticket renewals in the fall for Toronto, but has notified subscribers that renewals will be delayed until this spring. We’re speculating that this could be to accommodate a change or expansion of the seating, possibly due to a reconfiguration of our crazy pit lane or even moving it to Lakeshore Blvd. Do you have any insight in to what is happening? This would also really help to extinguish any negative thoughts about the future of the race.

Steve in Toronto, attending since 1986

MP: From GSRP: “We anticipate opening renewals to our Honda Indy Toronto fans near the start of the NTT IndyCar Series season. Shifting our ticket launch to spring last year was highly effective, so we are following that same timeline again for 2023.”

Q: Roman de Angelis definitely had a great couple of seasons driving the Heart of Racing Aston Martin. I thought Porsche would at least look at him for an eventual factory drive after ripping it up in the Porsche Cup. Even with great results in an Aston Martin program, I would have to think Aston would be interested in having him as a factory driver. What would it take for him to get to that point in his career, and is he interested in going that far?

Brandon Karsten

MP: The Canadian is definitely talented and has shown teams and manufacturers he has the right stuff. He told me a few years ago his main goal is to be a professional driver -- to have a long career where he is paid for his services -- and with the GTD championship in his pocket, his value has never been higher. Only potential issue is Aston Martin isn’t as deep as it once was with hiring factory drivers, so if being a factory pro is his main goal, it might need to happen with a different brand. Hopefully, The Heart of Racing keep him happy and employed -- team principal Ian James has done wonders to help develop Roman’s skills -- for years to come.

Q: At last year’s 500 we were very disappointed that the vintage cars weren't running on Saturday. It is always a highlight of the weekend. The owners are always happy to talk about their cars and it is a great way to learn about the Indy's heritage. I even got a pic of my brother with Johnny Rutherford. Why didn't they run last year, and will they return this year? Thanks.

Jeff, Kingsley, Michigan

MP: From IMS president Doug Boles: “They last ran in 2019. Unfortunately the group had a significant incident that included an injury and created some track prep challenges leading into race day. More challenging from a timing standpoint is managing the public drivers meeting and then getting immediately into the full NBC pre-race dress rehearsal and walk-throughs.

“We continue to focus our vintage efforts in 2021, 2022 and again this year on cars that we know the preparation and maintenance (museum owned and maintained in most instances), have won the 500, or have a significant place in 500 history, often times driven by former winners, on race morning.”

Vintage Indy races are off the schedule for the Indy 500 weekend for now, but Indy's heritage will be represented in other ways. F. Peirce Williams/Motorsport Images

Q: I know you folks resist best-ever lists because you insist drivers from different eras cannot be compared. But please indulge an old man for a moment.

My idea of the "best" driver is linked to that driver being able to compete and win at the highest levels of all motorsports.  I would consider those levels to be Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR and sports cars. Having said that, I would consider the best drivers of all time to be Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney and Juan Pablo Montoya. All of these men won races in all of the series mentioned above.  They were all incredibly brave, fast and versatile, and they beat the finest drivers in the top racing series.

I also would offer honorable mentions to the only drivers who won both an IndyCar and a Formula 1 championship:  Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, Jacques Villeneuve, and Nigel Mansell.

One final thought: Dan Gurney also won the first Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Memorial Trophy Dash in 1971.

Thanks for listening!

Bob Isabella

MP: The GOAT, the Big Eagle, and Monterrier. I love it, Bob.

Q: Two things. First, I’m wondering if Ryan Hunter-Reay has found a part-time or full-time ride in IndyCar for 2023? I followed him during his Andretti Autosport tenure and hate to see him fall off the radar and out of the sport. Any updates would be appreciated.

Second, having read some of the dissatisfaction about the blunders and future of IndyCar in the RACER Mailbag, I am curious what the team owners and drivers are saying about the state of their sport. I’m sure nobody will go on record, but you must have a sense of what the opinions are and what is being said in the race shops. Can you give us a taste without using names?

I love this sport and wish somebody would take a leadership role and show us fans the way forward!

Brad, Traverse City, MI

MP: Spoke with RHR last week and he’s got something brewing but isn’t ready to discuss it openly at this point.

Most owners are deathly afraid of saying anything critical, and the same goes for most drivers. Dating back to the 1990s when I started working for IndyCar teams, I’ve never experienced this much collective fear of saying something critical about the series. RACER needs to print more of the “Everything Is Awesome” t-shirts it made seven or eight years ago after the series threatened to put a gag order on its drivers, but maybe update them in the spirit of Indy NXT to “Everything is AWSM.”

Q: After the news broke that Wayne Taylor Racing and Andretti Autosport were partnering up in IMSA (with WTR moving racing operations to Andretti's new facility in Fishers in 2025), it got me thinking: Will this lead to Andretti acquiring WTR outright? Wayne said that Michael has purchased a stake in WTR but declined to say how much. Maybe I'm inferring too much, but it seems like this is the first stage in a one-way trip that ends with Andretti absorbing WTR, much like it did Bryan Herta Autosport and Harding Racing in IndyCar.

As much as I would hate to see WTR relegated to an associate partner in IMSA, it would be cool to see all of IndyCar's traditional heavyweights (Andretti, Ganassi, and Penske) competing in IMSA's top class in earnest.

Garrick

MP: I hope to gain more insights on this when I get to Daytona for the Roar and Rolex 24. Michael and his investors have been on a buying and expansion spree, so I’d assume he bought some or all of WTR, and if it wasn’t 100 percent at the outset, I’d think it would become 100 percent in the near future.

Q: If memory serves me correctly, 2.4 liters was the displacement that Honda proposed for the then-new DW12. IndyCar later announced that engine displacement would be reduced to 2.2 liters. Do you know what drove that decision? Maybe we wouldn't be in the mess we find ourselves in now.

A number of the big OEMs have introduced "hot-V"engine configurations. Would there be any technical advantage to this configuration for IndyCar? I can think of a marketing advantage for the OEMs. It is same engine they put in their sportscars and sports sedans. Relevance -- isn't that what the marketeers call it these days?

Jonathan and Cleide Morris, Ventura, CA

MP: I seem to recall 2.4L as being super relevant at the time to Chevy and Honda, with both brands having strong sales with 2.4L production cars, and then there was something about going smaller to be more future-minded as engine capacities were expected to get smaller in the years ahead.

As for the hot-V arrangement, it would be easier if IndyCar had a single-turbo formula, but with two turbos and very cramped spacing, you’d have taller engine covers and a higher center of gravity. Doing a hot-V would allow for narrower sidepods where the exhausts once lived, but with the DW12’s upcoming increase in weight with the ERS units and the funky handling challenges the high-up aeroscreen creates, chucking more weight up high in the engine bay with turbos and wastegates and the rest of the paraphernalia would only add to the handling woes.

How big is AA's stake in WTR? Gavin Baker/Motorsport Images

Q: There are quite a few young racers, male and female, who are tearing things up in winged and non-winged sprint car, midget, and Silver Crown racing across the U.S. This is the kind of racing that produced champions named Foyt, Andretti, and Unser. Is there a reason why no IndyCar teams seem interested in recruiting these talented open-wheelers today? I don’t want to hear the lame excuse about lack of seat time in rear-engine cars because the late dirt track ace Bryan Clauson proved at the 500 in 2012, 2015, and 2016 that argument was false. You want to attract new fans? Give them some homegrown talent to cheer for instead of obscure F2 drivers and F1 testers. Interrupt the NASCAR pipeline and grab the next Larson or Bell before it’s too late.

KK, St. Louis, MO

MP: True, and those champions named Foyt, Andretti, and numerous Unsers also complemented their dirt and paved oval escapades with heavy rations of road racing in order to become complete drivers in IndyCar’s mixed-discipline championships.

Unless we’re talking about bringing in a modern version of Clauson just for the ovals, there’s no reason for any IndyCar team to recruit beyond Indy NXT, F2, or F1. Not when 12 of the 17 races on the calendar are road and street courses. It’s the same reason why NASCAR teams only look to road course specialists for a few races per year when the series heads to Sonoma or similar; road racers are not on the shopping list for Talladega or Martinsville because they lack the oval expertise in the very unique Cup car formula.

Having been there for all of Bryan’s Indy 500 runs, let’s also not gloss over the fact that he readily admitted to being out of his comfort zone on his initial appearances and it wasn’t until his final run where he said he had the laps and confidence to give a full demonstration of his skills.

Q: OK, it's the off-season and rather than send in another complaint about how IndyCar is self-destructing, I wanted to offer the following question to the team, just for fun. Assume the "IndyCar Apocalypse" became a reality and the echo chamber at 16th and G-town finally dealt themselves a final self-inflicted wound to render the series extinct. Would it be possible to hold the Indianapolis 500 as a part of the Formula 1 world championship?

Are the F1 cars safe enough under their current regulations to run at those speeds on the SAFER barrier-lined oval? Would it be even remotely difficult to drive a lap around the oval with the Monza aero package? What about durability? Would the cars and power units survive a 500-mile race? How big a tear-up to add refueling to the game?

Let's hope this never happens, but you never know. Hope you have fun with this one. Happy New Year, RACER!

Andy R., Brighton, MI 

MP: Anything’s possible, and since Indy was once (and briefly) counted as part of the first F1 calendars, there’s a precedent, even though nobody from that woebegone era is still involved with running F1.

Given the comparatively brittle nature of an F1 car compared to an IndyCar, there’s no sanctioning body on earth that should allow modern F1 cars to race on the big oval. You could line all 2.5 miles with SAFER barriers, but if a car got up into the fences at 200-plus mph, there’d be nothing left.

You can always lift and brake and coast through the corners, if that’s what it takes to keep the car under control. Would it make for great racing? Probably not. F1 power units aren’t designed to spend three hours in top gear at maximum revs, so that’s a show-stopper. F1 tubs would have to be redesigned to accept a refueling probe, so it would be a big tear-up.

It might just be easier for F1 to give teams the blueprints to a 1950s Kurtis Kraft Indy roadster and go with that as the formula for the race. Watching Max Verstappen drift around the Speedway with smoke pouring off the right-rear tire for 200 laps would be spectacular.

CHRIS MEDLAND: Refueling is actually quite a big thing, Andy. We don’t have the systems in F1 at present to refuel outside of garages, plus you’d need the full pit garages installed again due to how the cars are run. With the current PUs and fuel tanks, refueling would definitely be needed.

I’m not convinced the Pirelli tires could hold up to it either (as they haven’t been designed to -- you saw how Michelin fared with one corner a few years ago), but the SAFER barrier is used in F1 too, so I don’t see that being a hindrance.

Downforce levels are interesting but I’m pretty sure you’re right they’d be chasing full Monza spec. The new floor regulations and ground effect should also work fine on the banking, because for comparison, Zandvoort’s final corner is banked at 18 degrees -- double that of IMS.

These guys would certainly like to see F1 cars at the Speedway. Motorsport Images

Q: Chris, I always enjoy your insightful F1 coverage and wonder if you can explain something to me. What does Aston Martin contribute to Formula 1? They've been associated with Red Bull, Force India, and now Cognizant, but I can't figure out what they bring to the party. Is it strictly a paid sponsorship deal, or is there more to it than that?

David in Vancouver

CM: There’s more to it than a straight sponsorship deal, David, although that probably highlights a lack of effective marketing from the team’s side. Lawrence Stroll not only owns the F1 team but is the Executive Chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda -- the car company -- so it is an arm of the business in that sense. It’s similar to the way the Mercedes F1 team is actually a separate company owned in three equal parts by Toto Wolff, Ineos and Mercedes itself -- not a whole subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz.

Like any OEM-associated team, it is a marketing exercise to promote the car brand. The difference to say Ferrari, Mercedes or even Alpine is the lack of its own power unit division, but then Aston Martin’s road cars use Mercedes-Benz engines as part of a technical partnership, so the F1 team is alike in that way.

Of the history you mention -- at Red Bull it was a sponsorship deal, then at Force India/Racing Point it was part of the evolution as Stroll increased his stake in the car company. From what was a team that went into administration it takes time to build up, so the door is open to build its own gearboxes and more components in future, but it’s getting its massive new factory built first.

Q: Chris, close on the heels of the uproar over FIFA’s notorious silencing of soccer (football for everyone outside of the U.S.) teams and players, I was surprised to find the FIA doubling down on the gagging of international athletes. Have you heard any blowback from the drivers? Are they under strict orders not to rock the boat? Maybe in the annual grid photo the drivers will replicate the German soccer team’s hands-over-mouths pose.

Tom Hinshaw, Santa Barbara, CA

CM: I’m glad you kept this current Tom, because it really angered me that FIFA’s stance basically empowered other governing bodies to be more strict on this sort of thing rather than be the platforms for discussion and progress they claim to be.

As of yet there’s been no driver comment but that’s just due to timing rather than anything more sinister -- they’re all away on training camps and spent time with family and friends over the holidays so they’re off the grid in terms of being reachable to media. With such an intense season, F1 can go frustratingly quiet in January, but with car launches coming early next month I’m sure this will be a big topic then.

Q: With all the talk this past season of Colton Herta not having enough points to obtain a license to compete in F1, who are the IndyCar drivers who have enough points to obtain a license? And are there NASCAR drivers who have the correct number of points?

Kevin, Pennsylvania

CM: We had a similar letter a few months ago but it’s a good question now that more drivers have earned one. Will Power, Alex Palou and Scott Dixon have enough as the last three IndyCar champions, plus Josef Newgarden with three P2s in a row. Callum Ilott also has one for finishing second in F2 in 2020.

Romain Grosjean, Marcus Ericsson, Alexander Rossi and Takuma Sato are all eligible based on having raced in F1 in the past (though only Grosjean still has his -- the others would need to do a 300km test in recent machinery to activate it).

The IndyCar weighting is annoying but the one that really gets to me is Scott McLaughlin, who has a Supercars title and fourth last year in a title challenge in IndyCar, but only has 25 of the 40 points as a result.

By my math there are no NASCAR drivers who qualify, as the champion only gets 15 points and it decreases from there. Closest is Chase Elliott with 29 points after two fourths and a title.

Q: I know a lot of the mail this week will inevitably be about Andretti's foray with GM to get involved with Formula 1, which brings me to my issue. Ever since the 2021 season ended I've found myself watching F1 races more out of a force of habit rather than finding any joy in them. I can't recall any races I watched for the second half of 2022. I used to feel an incredible spark of joy watching F1, even during the Red Bull/Vettel years and the following Mercedes/Hamilton years. Then 2021 came along, and I believe it exceeded anyone's expectations when it came to a championship fight. Even when Lewis Hamilton had a 17 second lead during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it felt like the most intense F1 race I've ever seen.

Then we all know what happened with the decisions made by Michael Masi at the conclusion of that race that essentially handed Verstappen the 2021 championship. Now, I am admittedly a Lewis Hamilton fan, so I'm ultimately prepared for the comments about "sweet, sweet tears" and such that will inevitably be posted below. However, I continue to have a bad taste over how that season ended. It feels to me like Lewis Hamilton should be an eight-time champion. Instead, I watched an entire season of intense battles end up feeling meaningless because in the end race control helped decide the champion by going against established rules and precedent. 

So… how do I get that spark for F1 back? I don't care that Verstappen and Red Bull crushed the competition last season. I watched every race of 2011 when Sebastian Vettel only finished off of the podium twice. I also think Verstappen is obviously an incredible talent that can legitimately break all of Hamilton's records. But I really want to enjoy Formula 1 again and I'm just not sure how to go about it. I'm sure this seems like an incredibly dumb email (and I'm sure the resident commenters will let it be known if it is), but if you could come up with an eloquent response that allows me to enjoy F1 again I'd be incredibly appreciative.

Anonymous

CM: I’ve had a few of these questions that always make me feel like my job is on the line! But at the same time, that shows you’re not alone in being disillusioned by what happened.

I genuinely think 2022 has kept that emotion raw for many people because Hamilton wasn’t given the machinery to try and fight back. But if you’re a Hamilton fan, I’d suggest the prospect of him one day getting that eighth title is what should fire you up. Lewis himself said in an interview we ran here a few months ago that his career has been lengthened because of the challenge in front of him to return Mercedes to title contention.

The fact he could be doing that not only against Max but also the likes of Charles Leclerc and Ferrari is exciting, plus the handover to that generation isn’t happening quickly with Fernando Alonso staying put. Just re-watch Silverstone last year, too, for the example of how good F1 can be in this new era, and that was just the first attempt with these rules. It’s going to become even more of a drivers’ championship in future than it has been for many years, I’m really confident in that.

Silverstone was one for the books. Glenn Dunbar/Motorsport Images

Q: Hi Chris. What's the deal with F1 and FIA having to both approve new entries? Section 8.5 of the latest Concorde Agreement says that the FIA has "absolute discretion" to accept or reject new entries.  Is there another agreement that contractually/legally gives the teams approval/veto? If so, does it have to be unanimous? Or is this the FIA trying to play nice and "give them a say" they are not legally obligated to? Or is this just an example of the inmates running the asylum? 

Chris from Colorado Springs

CM: It’s kind of none of the above actually, Chris. The teams don’t get a say (but have a strong voice), it’s that F1 itself needs to agree a commercial deal with any new team that the FIA might accept. Expanding the grid could also require changes to regulations that teams do get to vote on, so in an indirect way they get to influence the decisions, but they don’t need to be unanimous.

Q: The negative reaction from F1 to the announcement of an Andretti/GM F1 collaboration shouldn't be a surprise to any American racing fan. It just enforces the long-suspected discrimination against American manufacturers and drivers. The Haas F1 team is more European than American, so they are tolerated by the other teams. It also helps that they have not been a legitimate threat to the established teams. Ben Sulayem appears to be supportive of Andretti and hopefully he can persuade F1 to see the positive aspects of this addition to the F1 ranks. Do you know what the specific objections to this collaboration are? This appears to be an uphill fight for Andretti no matter how good his proposal appears. 

Dave Wells, French Lick, IN

CM: Don’t forget Haas had a lot of opposition too, but it’s because teams didn’t want to lose prize money to Haas, and the big teams didn’t want Ferrari getting a competitive advantage out of it. That’s not an American thing, it’s just a protecting-their-own-interests thing. As this is now.

The specific objections are that Andretti isn’t the only team wanting to come in, but it has tried to garner public support that leads to this sort of pressure which F1 doesn’t appreciate when it’s also discussing futures with the likes of VW Group, Ford etc. It needs to keep everyone interested rather than make it seem like one option that has been very public will be accepted and nobody else has a chance.

Adding GM is a plus, but if it’s just a Cadillac sponsorship deal of a Renault PU then it’s not bringing an OEM firmly into the sport, so it wants guarantees there’s more to it than that. Maybe those will be forthcoming, but we’re not at that stage yet.

Teams don’t want to give up ever-growing revenues after having been around for a long time (except Haas) and through some extremely tough years (including Haas). F1 either needs the teams to give up some of those revenues or give up some of its own, which it also doesn’t want to do.

Don’t forget the interest is there because F1 is financially attractive and booming. There’s a history of teams and brands coming and going, and F1 wants to make sure it has continuity and any new entrant is well set up for the long term. That could be Andretti (despite rubbing up the teams and Stefano Domenicali the wrong way by trying to get signatures of support back in Miami last year) but until the FIA opens up Expressions of Interest and all potential teams can submit plans and business models, that’s not yet clear.

Where I do agree is that I think Andretti’s got some backs up that has made life harder than it needed to be. Private discussions with F1 and the FIA would have been more effective on that front, rather than such public lobbying -- as great as that is for us all to know about! 

Q: Now that it’s apparent, if it wasn’t before, that Mercedes, Ferrari and the rest simply don’t want to open up F1 to additional teams, no matter how well-funded, no matter what auto manufacturers they bring, does F1 risk creating an opportunity for a second series? What does F1 control vs the FIA? When the NFL, in the 1950s, when it was seeing a growth spurt, refused to allow expansion teams, the AFL was created, enabling the Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders to be formed. I wonder if GM, Hyundai, Panthera and all the other potential teams could create a rival series? The FIA clearly wants GM, and they own the world championship.  

Brian Gabriel

CM: I’ll ask back to that, though -- why should they? You use a 1950s example Brian, but the NFL’s last expansion team was the Texans. That got approved by the existing teams in 1999, and were they giving away an entry into the sport for free? No, that cost Houston $700 million. In 1999!

An F1 franchise is worth way more than $200m but the latest Concorde Agreement put that amount in place amid the pandemic and massively undervalued its potential growth. So I get why the teams want that figure revisited to accept a new competitor who could not only beat them but also take prize money off them. They’re huge businesses and would be foolish to give up anything for free to any new team -- Andretti or not -- that wants a slice of the pie.

F1 controls the commercial rights (that it leases from the FIA) but the FIA controls the sport. F1 itself could break away and set up its own series, but couldn’t call it Formula 1. In that case it would be whether all the teams go with it, in which case you’d have an official FIA Formula 1 World Championship featuring whichever teams want to come in, and a new rival series featuring all the existing F1 teams and drivers.

Only one would succeed, but both would surely be massively hurt in that case.

Breakaway championships are a great idea, until you get to the track and see half-empty grandstands and people like this guy managing race teams. Image via Marshall Pruett

THE FINAL WORD

From Robin Miller's Mailbag, January 14, 2015

Q: Diego Rodriguez, Bobby Unser and the other people interviewed for "IndyCar 2018" believe that what IRL needs is to bring innovation back since the racing (although you disagree) sucks (68 passes by 14 drivers). Heck, a kid with a hand-held computer can do that, and since all cars are the same… who cares?

But since the team owners really control the series nothing will happen in 2018, or any other year until the series folds for lack of interest. So isn’t it time to change the name from IndyCar to GAP -- you know, Ganassi, Andretti, Penske! Roger has four cars, Chip has four, and Michael, it appears, may have five. And with the socialized racing series paying over $1,000,000 for each car up to what, 20? So $13,000,000 goes to them, and even though the other teams win an occasional race or lead a couple, I have no doubt GAP will win the championship.

Until someone at 16th and Georgetown listens to fans and professionals like Mark Dill, Robert Clarke, and Diego Rodriguez (not Boston Consulting), and stop listening to the owners, and by extension the drivers who better back “Daddy Roger,” or they’ll be gone, it’ll be GAP to me!

Terrible Ted