NEWTON, Iowa — IndyCar driver Justin Wilson used to race in Formula One, and even he’s mystified about the turmoil currently engulfing F1.
Ferrari, McLaren and six other Formula One teams have announced plans for a rival series after heated negotiations with the sport’s organizers over a budget cap for next season fell through.
The rift doesn’t figure to have much of an impact on the U.S.-based IndyCar Series — though some IRL drivers and personnel could, in theory, make the jump to a revamped F1 in 2010.
But the subject hit home for Wilson, who raced for Minardi and Jaguar Racing in F1 in 2003 before joining Champ Car and now the IRL.
Wilson said on Friday that he never thought that a split would happen in F1. The dissension has the Englishman shaking his head.
“The whole saga is just too much,” said Wilson, who was in Iowa preparing for Sunday’s Iowa Corn Indy 250. “I don’t have enough time in the day to follow it and understand it. That’s why it’s not enjoyable to watch anymore, let alone be a part of.”
The chief cause of the F1 split was the $60 million voluntary budget cap proposed by FIA, the sport’s governing body, in response to the economic downturn. Teams not adhering to the cap would be subject to technical restrictions.
IRL rookie Robert Doornbos, who raced in Formula One for Minardi in 2005 and Red Bull Racing in 2006, is siding with the Formula One Teams Association, which is against the restrictions.
Doornbos believes placing restraints on F1 teams goes against what the circuit is all about.
“It should be unlimited. Formula One should be the highest reachable series in the world. The highest development, the highest technical knowledge, and the fastest cars in the world. That’s what they’re famous for,” Doornbos said. “That we’re already going in the opposite direction of that, and now, what they’re trying to do to attract new teams — it’s like going back to the ’60s or the ’50s.”
Though Wilson said he’d “never say never” to a return to F1, he insisted that he’s enjoyed his time in the IRL much more than he ever did in F1.
Wilson is in his second season in the IRL. He finished 11th in 2008 with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, and that’s where he stands this season driving for Dale Coyne Racing.
Wilson hasn’t cracked the top 10 since finishing third at the Streets of St. Petersburg in April, but he said he’s thrilled to be racing in a circuit where he can “enjoy it.”
“That’s the biggest thing, the difference between racing in the States and racing Formula One,” Wilson said. “You look back on Formula One and think ‘O.K, that’s great. I’ve done that.’ But at the time I hated it.”
Of course, the open-wheel community in America knows all about splits and the damage they can cause, having lived through the rift that existed for more than a decade until Champ Car and the IRL merged in 2008.
That split damaged open-wheel racing’s popularity in the U.S. and allowed NASCAR to strengthen its hold on American race fans.
“They have they have to look at the history books, I think, with what happened with CART, IndyCar, the whole thing that happened in the early ’90s, mid-90s,” IRL driver Ryan Hunter-Reay said. “I really don’t know what’s going on over there. It seems a bit odd.”
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