AUGUST 12, 2008

More races versus the need for cost-cutting

The Formula 1 life is a tough one and the annual summer break - in which F1 is at the moment - gives most of those on the race teams the chance to get one week of vacation with their families in the summer holiday period. The latest F1 calendar for 2009 wipes out the summer break in order to accomodate more races. This works for the Formula One group which gets more money from each race added but it does not work for everyone else. More raises mean higher costs and although, in theory, everyone will earn more money by doing more races some teams report that sponsors are not keen to pay more than they are contracted to pay and so the earnings do not immediately increase with the number of races going up. There is some additional money from the Formula One group, but this does not create a profit. The media is also feeling the heat of more and more expensive new races.

The downside is that with more races, people become more tired and without a summer break in 2009, some teams are now getting serious about the need to have different crews at different events. McLaren is now saying that in order to keep the team operating effectively and give staff time with their families in the summer, there will have to be more crew members. More crew members will mean more costs.

So increasing the number of races pushes up the costs.

This is a complaint being heard in NASCAR as well at the moment with the manufacturers saying that they want six races chopped from the 36-event Sprint Cup calendar in order to pull down the costs involved. There is opposition to this from the promoters because they will lose money if they lose races.