The new world of Formula one

Their case, of course, is that over the past twenty years or so F1 has moved from a sport where individuals and teams pitted their skills against each other on a level playing field to one in which the only possible winners are those with the big corporate battalions behind them.

Since the last great privateer, Jack Brabham, won with driver Nelson Piquet in 1983 the championship has been a closed shop with the only successful teams being those with huge funding available.

The battle (they say) was not really between McLaren, Williams, Benetton/Renault and Ferrari (the only championship winners over these years) but between Philip Morris, Imperial Tobacco, Japan tobacco and Rothmans. Well there is a lot of truth in this charge and many of us regretted that for so long Grands Prix were sullied by the fact that the competing cars were visually moving billboards for Big Tobacco.

The Motor Manufacturer Giants take over

With tobacco promotion legislation tightening its grip (at last) the F1 teams have been forced to seek alternative sources of funds to compete. The costs of F1 today are huge - the top teams will have spent around $400million dollars each in the 2006 season.

This is not the sort of money that the privateer can possibly find (even Frank Williams, seven times winner of the Drivers' Championship, has had to make do with "only" around $150m this year - far too little to really compete).

When costs reach these levels it has to be big business that picks up the bill - and that really means the motor giants. The biggest brand promotion benefits in F1, by far, are only available to the motor manufacturers - so F1 is now a battle between Mercedes (McLaren), BMW (Sauber), Renault, Toyota, Honda... and of course Ferrari.

Ferrari the exception to every rule

Ferrari's historic involvement in Formula one is unique - they are the only team from the first season in 1950 who are still around. Whilst BMW, Mercedes and Toyota (etc.) hope that their involvement in F1 will help them sell more cars this is not Ferrari's motivation.

The waiting lists at Maranello are proof of the fact that Ferrari doesn't really need the brand benefits of Formula one to sell its iconic luxury cars. So the Scuderia (as Ferrari is loving referred to by its fans), with more constraints on their finances than other teams, will be the big team which most welcomes the changes to the technical regulations in the sport which come into effect next year.

New technical regulations to try and lower F1 costs

The new technical rules are designed not only to reduce the cost of running an F1 team but also to provide a greater opportunity for the motor manufacturers to claim that Formula one is genuinely a test bed which results in improvements in the cars that roll off their production lines.

There will be a freeze on engine development for two years, except where environmentally friendly energy efficiency changes are made. There is also a move towards more common parts between the cars which some critics feel will make the sport more of a "specification Formula" than it is now. Bridgestone will be the only tyre supplier from 2007, for example - so one field where there was real competition in the past will be eliminated at a stroke.

Formula one at the crossroads

He who pays the piper calls the tune and it is inevitable that the new world of Formula one will be one in which it is increasingly designed to meet the needs of the motor manufacturers. For the ordinary spectator this may not be a bad thing.

Whilst Ferrari transcends its drivers (although Michael Schumacher has undoubtedly been an integral part of the Ferrari brand equity for years) the other teams have much less of a driver led culture. If the cars are more similar in performance, and if the costs of entry and operation really are reduced, then the day of the driver may well return.

And that could be good for the sport - surely any sport has to be more about the battle between men (or women) rather than just a battle between machines?