'Fundamentally wrong': F1 legend slams new $200m rule

The introduction of a new 'anti-dilution' fee to be imposed on new teams seeking to enter Formula One has been denounced by one of the sport's icons.

Former F1 team owner and motorsport legend Eddie Jordan, the founder of the successful Jordan team which lives on in F1 today as Aston Martin, said the introduction of a $200 million fee for new entrants was 'fundamentally wrong'.

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The rule, which was first revealed in 2019, officially comes into play this season as the sport's 2021-2025 Concorde Agreement comes into effect.

The agreement is a contractual relationship between teams, the FIA and Formula One itself, which covers the distribution of prizemoney and television revenue.

Jordan, known for being one of F1's more colourful characters during his time as a team boss, said the $200m entry fee would effectively prevent teams like his from joining F1 in the modern era.

“I think it’s absolutely fundamentally wrong,” Jordan said.

“I can see that it creates a value on the existing teams, as people will buy a team rather than enter a new one.

“But I’m not in favour of it, because it makes the sport a bit like a franchise and it would have curtailed teams like Jordan entering Formula 1.

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“Jordan came through Formula 4, Formula 3 and 3000 and won all the races in those categories to be able to get the superlicence to move forward.

"This stops all of that, so I’m wholly against it.”

The 2021 F1 season is set to get underway this weekend, with the Bahrain Grand Prix leading off the provisional 23-race calendar.

Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren at centre of F1 conspiracy

Daniel Ricciardo's new McLaren team have been accused of deliberately taking their foot off the pedal to hide their true potential during pre-season testing.

The Australian driver topped the timesheets in the morning sessions of the first two days of testing at Bahrain, with rivals teams impressed by McLaren't innovative solution to a rule change designed to limit rear downforce.

An F1 edict to limit the size of diffuser strakes at the rear of the car was creatively interpreted by McLaren's aerodynamics team, with the team instead able to increase the size of the strakes by altering the design of their floor.

They were the only team do exploit the design loophole, leaving McLaren technical director James Key pleasantly surprised.

“It’s a normal design idea. I think we are maybe a bit surprised that we are maybe the only team with that,” Key said.

“I think it’s always nice for a team to come out with an idea which is unique, you know? And credit fully goes to our aero department and the guys in the rear aero group for realising that there was an opportunity there to use the new regulations in such a way, so full credit to them.

“It’s just one feature of many in an area which changed for this year.

“It was a little bit baby steps to get us to this week and hope that we could be reliable, but fingers crossed, so far it’s been quite reasonable."

In addition to recruiting Ricciardo, McLaren also switched engine suppliers for the 2021 season, from Renault to Mercedes.

Many expected them to be one of the last teams out for testing due to the massive task of redesigning their car to fit the Mercedes power unit, but the fact they were first out on track impressed many who expected a more secretive approach.

However, a report from Sky Sports’ pit-lane expert Ted Kravitz claims McLaren became "spooked" by their early success in testing and decided to back off so they didn't overplay their hand to rival teams.

“It was weird at the test actually, McLaren, they had a very good day one in the dusty conditions and then they had a good day two,” Kravitz told the In The Fast Lane Podcast.

“And then they went all sort of coy and they thought, ‘Oh my goodness, we better not show everything’."

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