P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Relegation and promotion are commonplace in football and the idea was once floated for F1 – quite obviously, it was met with backlash.
On February 15, 2006, F1 was preparing for a new season with changes like the V8 engine and the three-part qualifying format. FIA president Max Mosley proposed a radical idea of introducing a football-style relegation system to F1 to promote competitiveness. Mosley suggested underperforming teams could be dropped to the GP2 feeder series for improvement. However, concerns arose about the huge cost discrepancy between operating a GP2 team and an F1 squad. Plan to reduce F1 team operating costs to $100 million faced resistance given teams’ free-spending culture. Mosley’s idea to balance end-of-year payouts to stabilize issues was met with skepticism, as it would affect sponsorship and team revenues unevenly. Ultimately, Mosley’s proposal for F1 relegation system never materialized due to opposition from existing teams and financial challenges.
