F1 2015: The political year in review

The seeds for Formula 1's 2015 season were sown a good two months before 2014 gave way to the new year, when Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne replaced long-time Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo with his good self as part of an overall management restructure..

It was at this point that, for Ferrari, F1 mutated from a marginally profitable global-marketing pedestal for the company's road cars to a full-on profit centre within Gruppo Fiat. It was also the point at which Marchionne started playing an active role in F1 by attending Strategy Group and F1 Commission meetings - convened by the Italo-Canadian's former subordinate, Jean Todt.

Observers maintain Marchionne lost no time in making his former superiority over the bafflingly laissez-faire Todt clear. In addition, they claim, he flaunted his status as the sole holder of a regulatory veto (which he triggered within a year) more often than all his predecessors combined.

The effects of this power historically vested in Ferrari - but previously seldom used - will roll into next year and extend through to 2020, when the current veto expires.

The crux of that matter lays in Marchionne's determination to milk Ferrari for the good of the Gruppo by spinning the company off from Fiat and listing Ferrari on New York's stock exchange. The successful IPO occurred in late October and directly and indirectly fed $4 billion into the Fiat-Chrysler Alliance.

With that in mind, is it any wonder that every move made against Ferrari's political power and commercial dominance of F1 is met with stony resistance? Never was this clearer than when Todt attempted to introduce cost caps on engines and operations, and Ferrari vetoed every such move.

Marchionne made his presence felt in Strategy Group and F1 Commission meetings © LAT

This engine debacle provides a perfect example. When Todt announced his intention to reduce the price for two-car annual supplies to around €12million (£8million), Ferrari simply vetoed the plan, then mobilised its troops among sponsors and circuit promoters to vote against the alternate engine Todt wanted to introduce from 2018 onwards as a foil for the cost of the current hybrids.

True, the parties eventually struck a compromise: a Powertrain Working Group was formed with the specific mandate to reduce prices, increase supplies to other teams where possible, and increase noise. But cynics recall the results of the similarly constituted Overtaking Working Group, which delivered uglier cars and not much more overtaking.

Whatever, engine politics became the defining issue of 2015. But here Ferrari worked hand in glove with Mercedes.

Seldom, if ever before, has there been so much public accord and agreement between two major competitors; so much so, in fact, that Mercedes motorsport director Toto Wolff regularly refers to Ferrari as "our frenemy" while smilingly embracing Maurizio Arrivabene, his Italian opposite number. In virtually every Friday FIA press conference there was total agreement between them on otherwise contentious points.

Take the latest political storm as example. In requesting clarity from the FIA and Abu Dhabi stewards on Ferrari and Haas's technical and aerodynamic co-operation, Mercedes risked some unintended consequences that could easily scupper its "frenemy", yet both before and after these proceedings praised Ferrari for having exploited a regulatory loophole it, Mercedes, had been aware of for at least one year.

Rumours that Ferrari had somehow gained an aero advantage simmered during the Spanish Grand Prix after the Scuderia arrived with an unprecedented number of aero parts, yet it was only in October, when the Three Pointed Star also wished to explore some form of shared windtunnel testing, that Mercedes requested clarity.

Wolff and Arrivabene quickly established a rapport © XPB

The Mercedes-Ferrari axis forced Todt and Formula One Management CEO Bernie Ecclestone into an uncomfortable double act, both championing the budget engine proposal. It may be too early to speak of full alliance between them - or of war against the manufacturers - but, where once nothing but rancour existed between them, there now appears to be a semblance of alignment.

For proof look no further than the wording of a media release issued by the FIA immediately after last week's World Motorsport Council meeting:

"The World Motor Sport Council approved, by a near unanimous number (one vote against), a mandate for the FIA president, Jean Todt, and the representative of the commercial rights holder, Bernie Ecclestone, to make recommendations and decisions regarding a number of pressing issues in Formula 1 such as governance, power units and cost reduction."

Pretty clear, that, and obviously a shot across the bows of the Reds and Silvers.

Mercedes also played a leading - albeit far from primary - role in the ongoing Red Bull/Renault farrago. Having spoken of a deal to supply engines, Mercedes decided against it when pen hovered above paper. The full ins and outs remain known only to the players directly involved, but paddock chatter has it that Mercedes non-executive chair Niki Lauda agreed the deal, whereafter Wolff torpedoed it.

This is understood to have caused a fall-out on two fronts. First, a rift is believed to have developed between the two Mercedes executives, which Wolff denies.

Second, Red Bull Racing, together with sister squad Toro Rosso, was left engineless, having served notice on Renault after a winless season in which the partnership broke down irretrievably in a storm of mutual recriminations.

Red Bull's management had been less than complimentary about the engine partner with which it won its last of four straight titles just two years ago. Yet when it became apparent that no engines would be making the 50-odd-mile journey from Mercedes' Brixworth facility to Red Bull Towers, they rushed to reopen diplomatic channels once again, having already found doors closed at Ferrari and Honda.

Red Bull did not hide its frustration during Renault's torrid start to the season © XPB

Eventually, a rather expensive deal was agreed to continue with French power, but such was the rancour between the two operations that the engines in RB12 will not be known as 'Renault', but as TAG Heuers in deference to a badging deal struck with McLaren's former long-time watch sponsor (and once associate company), which had, of course, struck a similar TAG engine branding deal back in the mid-eighties.

That was not the only saga Renault found itself embroiled in: earlier in the year, as it became clear developments had not yielded much more power or reliability, and Red Bull's criticism became increasingly trenchant, the French company suggested that a return to full team ownership could cure its ills.

Four teams were candidates, including Lotus, which Renault had sold to Genii Capital in 2010 for knockdown money in the wake of the Singapore Grand Prix crash controversy.

Beleaguered Lotus initially claimed ignorance of any such intentions until July, when a string of pending creditor actions became public knowledge. Then, suddenly, Renault was hailed as a potential saviour, and the motor company even issued a letter of intent to stave off urgent actions, which postponed by 10 weeks Lotus's date in the High Court to face Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs over unpaid PAYE contributions.

In the interim, the chances of any deal reaching completion wavered from 'full-on' to 'totally off' almost on a weekly basis, and the increasingly cash-strapped Lotus suffered embarrassments such as being locked out of hospitality units until circuit bills were paid. Its freight was variously delivered at the last minute, giving the crew on the ground additional challenges in getting ready for on-track action.

Ecclestone stepped in to ensure the Lotus mechanics were fed at Suzuka © LAT

Eventually agreement was struck - if the signing of only "primary contracts" points to a done deal - but clearly much cross-Channel travel between Viry-Chatillion (engine department) and Enstone (chassis) lies ahead if the team is to return to its 2005/6 winning form.

Time and a lack of results have decimated both operations since, but at least the jobs of more than 800 F1 personnel in England and France are safe.

That a business turning over billions in any currency is unable to ensure the survival of one its longest-standing operations (Lotus joined F1 in 1981 as Toleman) absolutely beggars belief. The situation is as much a reflection on the team management's ability to bring in additional funds via sponsorship as it is of venture fund CVC Capital Partners, which controls the sport's commercial rights and relentlessly squeezes every penny.

This delay does not reflect well on Renault either, and is understood to be rooted in demands put to FOM - majority controlled by CVC - for the financial benefits that flow from the team's status as a double championship winner in 2005-06. These have been (re)negotiated from pillar to post and back since July, and the matter has been complicated further by the official European Commission complaint filed by two teams.

Sauber and Force India - who consider themselves disadvantaged through their omission from the Strategy Group, and the sport's opaque revenue structures - have sought outside help in resolving their claims. The figures are large: Ferrari earns double the share of Williams, despite the Italian squad ending behind the British team in the 2014 classification.

There has been no news at the time of writing whether the action has legs, nor any prognosis of outcome should it even go the distance, but the move has certainly caused prospective buyers of the sport, the number of which seemingly grows with each passing month, to place such plans on hold.

Unlike last year no teams went under - indeed, nascent Haas, by all reports, made excellent progress - and no outright war erupted, yet the uneasy feeling lingers that full or partial meltdown is on the horizon, and that the major players are biding their time for a power grab.

After all, Ecclestone celebrated his 85th birthday in October, yet still no clear succession plan has been instituted by CVC...