FOTA doesn't need FIA or FOM – Legault

Former Canadian Grand Prix promoter Normand Legault believes Formula One teams should abandon the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone.

The 53-year-old told the French language La Presse newspaper that FOTA, the teams' new unified alliance, is their ticket to shedding the sport's current outdated structure.

Legault revealed that, shortly before the Formula One Teams Association was enacted, he made a presentation to the teams in Montreal.

"I said to them 'why don't you reorganise yourselves like a North American sports league? When the (Montreal) Canadiens play the Boston Bruins, they don't ask the International Hockey Federation to referee the match.”

"In the world of North American pro sports, each league has a board of governors, a commissioner and vice Presidents who manage the business. The owners of the sport manage themselves.”

"The National Hockey League doesn't have to ask anyone if it wants to increase the size of the net by six inches," he exclaimed.

Legault said the winds of change are already blowing, and a recent example of this is the recent flexing of muscles between the teams, the FIA and commercial rights holder Ecclestone over the scoring system.

He also says F1 could live without Ecclestone, and the time is ripe for this to happen, given the absence of a Concorde agreement.

"The teams could leave tomorrow morning. They could call it the Grand Prix World Championship. If you have Ferrari, BMW, Williams, if you have Lewis Hamilton, that seems pretty much like the real thing."

Legault said the problem with Ecclestone and FOM is the 50-50 revenue split.

"To go back to the model of the NHL, if the league administrative costs are $50 million, and overall revenues are $1.8 billion, then that amounts to three percent.”

"In F1, the guy who manages the business costs you 50 percent of your revenues," said Legault.

E.A. © CAPSIS International
Source: GMM