FISA–FOCA war
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The FISA–FOCA war was a political battle contested throughout the early 1980s by two now-defunct representative organizations in
Introduction
The battle for control of Formula One was contested between the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA), at the time an autonomous subcommittee of the FIA, and the Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA).
The key figures involved were Jean-Marie Balestre, the FISA president at the time, Bernie Ecclestone, who led FOCA and owned the Brabham Formula One team, and Max Mosley, who later became the president of the FIA but then served as a legal advisor to both Ecclestone's Brabham team and FOCA in general.
The beginnings of the dispute are numerous, and many of the underlying reasons may be lost in history. The teams (except Ferrari and the other major manufacturers – Renault and Alfa Romeo in particular) were of the opinion that their rights and ability to compete against the larger and better funded teams were being negatively affected by a perceived bias on the part of FISA, the controlling organisation, toward the major manufacturers.
In addition, the battle revolved around the commercial aspects of the sport (the FOCA teams were unhappy with the disbursement of proceeds from the races) and the technical regulations which, in FOCA's opinion, tended to be malleable according to the nature of the transgressor more than the nature of the transgression.
The battles raged throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, the first major confrontation being at the
A notable point of the dispute was the formation of a short lived "World Federation of Motorsport" in November 1980. This new, rival federation published a rule book and a calendar for a rival championship under the title "World Professional Drivers Championship". [3]
Proposed World Professional Drivers Championship 1981 Events
- South African GP
- Long Beach GP
- Brazilian GP
- New York GP
- Italian GP
- Monaco GP
- Spanish GP
- Belgian GP
- French GP
- Swedish GP
- British GP
- German GP
- Austrian GP
- Dutch GP
- Canadian GP
- Watkins Glen GP
- Mexican GP
- Las Vegas GP
The FOCA teams staged a Formula One race under the WFMS banner in South Africa in February 1981, won by Carlos Reutemann in a Williams-Ford. However, the lack of major factory team attendance, the resulting poor fan support and limited media coverage meant that the viability of the rival series was compromised immediately.[4] A grudging settlement was reached thereafter which allowed the FOCA teams to return to the "FISA" world championship in time for the first race in March.
Things came to a head just before the beginning of the 1982 season. FISA had introduced a clause into the drivers' super licences, stipulating that they must drive for the team they were currently contracted to and no others. The Grand Prix Drivers' Association led by Didier Pironi and Niki Lauda organised a 'drivers' strike' at the 1982 South African Grand Prix in protest, with the majority of the drivers in support (Italian driver Teo Fabi was the only one not to participate in the strike). After lengthy debates and negotiation between the GPDA, FISA and FOCA the dispute was settled in favour of the drivers, and the clause was dropped.
The war culminated in a FOCA boycott of the
Boycott and water-cooled brakes
The
This disqualification was a response to the FOCA teams' attempts to overcome their cars' power deficit to the other (mainly manufacturer backed or owned) teams'
Before the Brazilian race, the FOCA teams found a loophole in the weighing procedure used at the races. The rules stated a car would be weighed with all coolants and lubricants on board, and said nothing about whether those coolants and lubricants needed to be in the car when the race finished. The FOCA teams claimed this meant that all coolants and lubricants could be 'topped up' after the race. This practice was illegal in all other forms of FIA racing, but was not explicitly banned in Formula One.
With this in mind, the FOCA teams showed up at the 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix with "water-cooled brakes". The cars were also fitted with large water tanks, which the teams claimed were to hold the water needed to cool the brakes. In reality, the water in the tanks wasn't used for cooling the brakes at all, but was instead sprayed out of the car in the early laps of the race. This resulted in the cars running most of the race significantly under the mandated minimum weight limit. However, after the race (or on occasion during a late race pit stop) the teams refilled the tanks before the cars were weighed. Since the cars were supposed to be weighed with all coolants and lubricants on board, and the water was supposed to be a coolant, this was not a violation of the letter of the rules of Formula One.
In the Brazilian Grand Prix of 1982, the Brabham-Ford/Cosworth of Nelson Piquet and the Williams-Ford/Cosworth of Keke Rosberg finished first and second respectively, with the turbocharged Renault of Alain Prost finishing third (without the water-cooled brakes). Renault immediately protested the top two cars, and Piquet and Rosberg were disqualified for finishing the race underweight. The FISA teams accused the FOCA teams of intentionally mis-interpreting the rule in question, while the FOCA teams claimed since 'topping up' the tanks wasn't specifically illegal, it had to be legal. Brabham and Williams appealed the disqualification of their cars.
As per normal procedure, there was a delay before the
Whether this episode influenced the FIA Court of Appeals or not is unknown, but either way the appeals from Williams and Brabham were rejected, and the disqualifications stood. Ironically, the rest of the FOCA teams' cars in the Brazilian Grand Prix (some of which had scored points) were not disqualified despite the fact they ran the same water-cooled brakes system. The reason was simple: Renault had only protested the cars which had finished in front of their driver (Prost). None of the other cars using the system had been protested, meaning they were allowed to keep their points.
Rules and breaches
During this period, the Formula One rules specified that any car must weigh at least 585 kg to be deemed in compliance with the rules. The method of testing was somewhat haphazard – teams would be notified that they would be "weight checked" when they exited the pits during practice or qualifying. This gave the teams ample opportunity to add weight to their cars while in the pits so as to pass the test. Former Formula One driver
Similarly, after the limiting of
Concorde Agreement
Some elements of the dispute were resolved by the
Repercussions
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The fallout from the FISA–FOCA war is significant and worthy of mention.
Firstly, the Concorde Agreement hastened the commercial development of the sport. The fact that promoters could guarantee that "all 26" cars (as was the custom) would appear at every race led to increased sponsorships and commercial opportunities. This, in turn, led to a significant increase in financial remuneration to each of the teams (including the non-FOCA teams – the manufacturers).
Secondly, those teams who had backed out of the
Finally, the entente cordiale between FISA and FOCA led more or less to the inclusion of some of FOCA's principals within the FIA, namely Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley. The commercial aspects of Formula One have grown immensely since their involvement in the late 1980s, although the neutrality of the governing bodies and their judgements is still debated by the press and followers of the sport.
See also
- FIA–FOTA dispute, a similar disagreement between the sport's governing body and its participants in 2009.
- FIM–IRTA war, a similar disagreement between Grand Prix motorcycle racing's governing body and its participants in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Notes
References
- Bower, Tom (2011). No Angel: The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-26929-7.
- Griffiths, Trevor R. (1997). Grand Prix: The Complete Guide. Third Edition. Bookmart Ltd. ISBN 1-85605-391-1.
- Henry, Alan (1985). Brabham, the Grand Prix Cars. Osprey. ISBN 0-905138-36-8.