Let the best F1 driver win: force them to rotate teams every race

Mosley realised that but knew it was complicated to sort out and controversial, so kind of mischievously lobbed in a hand grenade as a diversionary distraction to take people’s minds off other things he was trying to force through which he knew he’d have aggravation with. That was how he operated.

When Max wanted to do it, the maths didn’t really work. He was thinking 18 races and twelve teams. The order in which drivers drove each car for the first 12 races would be decided by lot. After 12 races, the championship leader would nominate the six teams he wished to drive for the remainder of the year. The second-place man would then do likewise, etc. Not ideal.

Today though, we’re up to 24 races had China not bitten the dust. We need a couple more teams, Andretti plus A.N Other, and to hell with diluting a team franchise value. Then they all do two races in each car. And you’d have a proper championship.

Whenever the idea has been mooted, the top drivers and teams have been against it. Wouldn’t you be if you were guaranteed $40m plus for the next few years to drive a car with a preposterous advantage with one guy to beat. Hell, Verstappen doesn’t even like a sprint because it tosses in some jeopardy. Or, if you ran a well-funded team who could afford to pay the perceived top guys that sort of money, you wouldn’t want it either. For a budget cap to truly mean something, driver salaries need to be included.

Under a rotation system, drivers would be paid a basic salary for being on the F1 grid, whatever number is considered appropriate, then so many dollars per point in the races, with really big money for the championship top three. The bottom three (or maybe five) would lose their F1 drives at the end of the year, replaced by up-and-comers from feeder series.

F1 team rotation: the objections

Arguments against include, “If F1 ain’t broke, why fix it?”

Well, heading to Miami, if the greatest intrigue is whether Perez can hang onto Verstappen or whether the higher temperature will melt the Ferrari tyres sufficiently for Fernando Alonso to beat Charles Leclerc, it could be an awful lot better! Imagine if we were waiting to see what Logan Sargeant or Esteban Ocon can do with a Red Bull, or where Max Verstappen might put a Williams?

Fry, meantime, knew that Simon Fuller, Hamilton’s then manager – who’d made his name promoting the Spice Girls – had fallen out with McLaren’s Ron Dennis, who was used to dealing with racing people, not some music wallah. Initially though, Mercedes big boss Dieter Zetsche was not that interested, thinking instead about Nick Heidfeld… Which was when Lauda arrived as non-executive chairman, told Fry to go and get the deal done and he’d ask for Mercedes forgiveness later.

The sticking point was money. Alonso was apparently on £30m at Ferrari and so Fry knew they were going to have to pay Lewis at least that. Mercedes though, would only stump up 90% and no more, so Fry had to go cap in hand to Petronas for some more dosh in return for more stickers on the car.

McLaren, meanwhile, was desperately trying to hang onto Lewis, who would make the final decision. At the Singapore GP, team principal Martin Whitmarsh quietly told the press he was 99% sure Hamilton would re-sign. But that was counting without a ploy from Dennis that spectacularly backfired.

In the background, The Sun newspaper had printed a story about Hamilton going clubbing with rapper J Cole, then partying into the small hours with some friends and 10 women at a London hotel, hinting at a whiff of supposed scandal. So Dennis flew to Germany to see Zetsche (McLaren used the Mercedes engine) and told him that McLaren could wear such behaviour but, for corporate Mercedes, hiring Hamilton would lead to a PR/media backlash they couldn’t afford.

Lauda, meantime, had almost blown the deal by telling Fuller that the money side was sorted when Fry, who Fuller was in daily contact with, knew that it wasn’t. Then Zetsche, by now on-side with the Hamilton idea, rang Brawn about Ron’s visit. Ross told Fry and Fry told Fuller, at the same time as briefing Hamilton’s lawyer… Instead of scuppering the Hamilton / Mercedes deal, Dennis’s ploy moved a furious Hamilton firmly towards it. And so, you could say that Hamilton has Dennis to thank for the most beneficial move in F1 history, just as much as for his McLaren success!

So no, it’s much more down to the lap of the gods than you might think. All you can really say with any degree of certainty is that if Adrian Newey has had anything to do with it, you should be sat in it. So, go on Liberty, from 2026, give us a proper drivers’ championship.