Has F1 spent itself into oblivion?

I'm hearing a lot of things from across the pond about the Formula 1 series, and the sounds coming from the world's Top motor sports series is not good. Like every sport, F1 is facing trouble from the global economic meltdown that's been affecting more countries than the H1N1 flu virus. But this season, which was supposed to be one of the most exciting ones in the tours recent history, has, according to one report, "a farce."

So far this season, the Brawn GP team, which was formed out of the ashes of the Honda team that disbanded after the 2008 season, has become a virtual juggernaut, winning four of the five races held so far, the only race not won by the Brawn team was Sebastian Vittel's win at the rain-plagued Chinese Grand Prix. But aside from the seemingly improbable domination by the Brawn team, other incidents have plagued the series.

At the opening race in Australia, McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, one of the few drivers I follow in the F1, was penalized for lying about an order from his bosses to allow driver Jarno Trulli to pass him while the safety car was out and take third. Then the Brawn teams' diffuser was challenged by the other teams as being an unfair advantage. (See this story from the BBC for more background on the appeal and the controversy over the diffuser.)

But the biggest problem facing the Series right now are the rules that were announced on St. Patrick's Day regarding budgets for race teams that are expected to be implemented in 2010. The rules, which the website pitpass.com covers here, essentially makes the series a two-tier, have or have-not racing series, where the teams can either spend, spend, spend to their hearts content, or if they opt to the 30 million dollar budget cap, getting certain technical allowances with the cars.

Suffice it to say, the teams have gone ballistic. Already, the Ferrari team has announced that unless the budget cap is either eliminated or redone to a more manageable number, They're pulling out of Formula 1. Now think about this. Ferrari, which has been the longest running race constructor in the series, is willing to walk away because they think the budget caps are unfair. Plus they know that their fans will not stick around if they're gone.

But they're not alone in this threat. The Renault team, a long time manufacturer in the series, is also re-considering participating in the 2010 season as well. The teams are not the only ones upset over the rule changes for the coming season. Driver Kimmi Raikonnen, who won the series championship in 2007, says he's not happy with the changes proposed and might go elsewhere if they get implemented. This could be a potentially fatal move for the Series. However, one of the teams that would normally have an opinion, or at least make their opinion known, so far have kept notoriously silent over this, that's McLaren.

The last time the series was threatened, according to an editorial by pitpass.com's Editor Chris Balfe, Formula one pulled out all the stops to make Ferrari's threats go away. This time, however, Balfe puts the blame right on th shoulders of FIA president Max Mosley. Personally speaking, I think he's right.

R.I.P., Dom Deluise

(Author's Note: I'm cross-blogging this on both the regular page and here, because of his place in Motor Sports Entertainment history, he gets a mention here...)

Boy these last two weeks have been really bad in terms of me losing people I look up to. First, as I chronicled on my racing blog, my dear friend and NASCAR Media colleague, David Poole died suddenly of a heart attack after finishing his daily NASCAR show on Sirius XM Radio.

Then yesterday, while I was out in Manhattan Beach, celebrating Cinco de Mayo with my buddies from KLAC AM 570, I got a text message from my brother that Dom Deluise, the irrepressible comic actor who was one of the funniest actors I ever had the privilege to meet, had died in his sleep the previous evening in a Santa Monica hospital. Yes, that's right I met him. I won't get into the details, but it happened back when I was volunteering at what is now known as the Northern Trust Open, the PGA's annual stop in Los Angeles, at the Riviera Country Club. He was as funny in person as he was on TV and in the movies. I got to tell him that I thought he was the funniest person I had ever seen, thanks to Captain Chaos. I wish I had a camera that day to take a picture with him.

He was in some of my most favorite movies, most importantly, "Cannonball Run," the seminal favorite all-star racing movie out there. Less serious, and deadly, than the David Carradine movie "Cannonball," the first Cannonball Run movie was not only my first exposure to humor like that, but it also would turn out to be the movie my late mentor, Mike Hollander, had a small cameo in, as a photographer at the finish line.

I will always remember him every Halloween for as long as I live, for I will, from this year on, will don the now famous cape and cowl of his "alter ego" int he film, "Captain Chaos."

Farewell, Dom. I was honored to meet you and I know that Dean and Sammy were there waiting for you to arrive.

SPEED Presents the Difference between Open-Wheel and NASCAR fans

Well, it's the Month of May once more, and as I have stated in previous years, I love this month of the year. It's not just because of the NHL and NBA Playoffs and the first two jewels of horse racing's Triple Crown, which after this past Saturday's Kentucky Derby, madkes me wish I had a $2 Superfecta for that race. I mean come on, $557,000 would be a welcome addition to ANYONE, right? What really excites me is that this is month has some of the greatest racing of the entire year.

Already, I've had a chance to watch some great racing in the now-concluded A1 Grand Prix series, which had to truncate the season due to the ongoing H1N1 flu epidemic in Mexico, but the race at England's Brand's Hatch circuit, which allowed Ireland to claim the series title. Also the day the Derby went off, I was standing outside Anaheim Stadium to witness the return of the D1 Grand Prix Drifting series, as it made its return to the U.S. with a great day of drifting that also coincided with the resumption of the "Gumball Rally" cross-country race, which was the subject of a 70's movie and was inspired by the infamous "Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash," which was the inspiration for the "Cannonball Run" movies starring Burt Reynolds, and my late mentor, Mike Hollander, in a small cameo role.

As I said, the end of the month is when the racing hits overload, with what I call, "The Greatest Day in Motorsports," The Sunday before Memorial Day, when the Formula 1, Indy Racing League and NASCAR All run on the same day. For me it starts early in the morning with the Monaco Grand Prix, then after an early breakfast, the Indy 500 rolls out, complete with Jim Nabors ("Surprise, surprise, surprise, Sarge") singing "Back Home Again In Indiana." Granted it's no, "My Old Kentucky Home," but I'm getting ahead of myself.

So tonight, thanks again to my Google Reader application, I found this from my buddy Iannucci over at the My Name is IRL blog. The people over at SPEED have a great way of pointing out the obvious when it comes to the difference between fans of Open-wheeled racing, Like Formula 1 and the IRL and NASCAR fans. It's another great take-off of the great Mac/P.C. commercials that feature Dustin Long and John Hodgman as the Mac and PC, respectively.

What it reminds me of is something that Larry the Cable Guy said when he was Grand Marshal at what was then the Dodge/Sav-Mart 350, now the Toyota/Sav-Mart 350. If I can find the video from that press conference, I'll share it but he pointed out the difference between FOrmula 1 Drivers and NASCAR Drivers with a very hilarious Ward Burton imitation. 

Meanwhile, in that same blog I found a quote from Frankie Muniz, about his continued desire to race in Open-wheeled competition, with an eye to eventually reach the IRL. I'm glad to see he hasn't given up on his racing dream. I know he's got the skills to compete as long as he can find a team that will not only provide him with teh equipment and experience he needs behind the wall, but also has enough faith to give him the opportunity to succeed.