Needell: F1 is a ten-team clique that want all the money

Tiff Needell, a former Formula 1/racing driver and respected motoring journalist, has blasted F1 for focusing just on the money, denying new talent a chance while shifting the focus off real racing.

While we genuinely try to see the F1 glass half full, there is no denying that there are some worrying signs on the direction the top tier of motorsport has taken recently with a tendency to race at artificial/street circuits, the push for electrification at any cost even if that affects the racing, heavier cars, not to mention the obsession with money that seems to be driving the decision making process.

And while F1 is not a charity, it is a business, but too much focus on the bank account while affecting the quality of the racing will no doubt have a long term negative effect.

It has become increasingly tough for any driving talent to make it into F1 without considerable financial backing, which seems to outweigh talent these days – Lance Stroll holding on to his seat at Aston Martin a clear example as of now.

This writer, almost one year ago, penned an Editor’s Desk calling for a continued faith in F1, and while those sentiments remain unchanged, there is no doubt that not everyone is happy with the current status quo of the sport.

F1 is obscene at the moment

Needell is one of those voices, dreading what F1 has become or becoming, and when someone like him, sometimes it is worth listening and taking note.

Speaking to the Feulling Around podcast, Needell was asked about Oliver Bearman’s chances of becoming a full time F1 driver, a question that opened the door for the former racer to touch on various topics currently in debate these days, including the ongoing Andretti Cadillac drama, as F1 continues to push the American project out, while the FIA has seen the benefits behind it, and under Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s presidency, went through a rigorous process of screening and short listing potential candidate F1 teams, to make sure Andretti Cadillac are up to the standards the governing body, a custodian over the sport, has set.

Needell said: “Ollie Bearman is a fantastic British driver that’s doing stunning stuff in Formula 2 but whether he ever gets a Grand Prix drive, especially when the Formula 1 flipping clique won’t allow another team to bring two more cars in with this banning of Andretti.

“Formula 1 is obscene at the moment,” he lamented. “I’m going so off Formula 1 because it’s just about the money. A contract for Madrid, a circuit nobody has raced around, for 10 years!

“I’ve seen the computer simulation; no overtaking, no overtaking, just so that more partygoers can spend £7,000 in Paddock Club and Formula 1 can get richer,” he added of the latest venue to join the F1 calendar.

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