Formula 1 motor racing

As a fan of motorsport I find the current dispute between the teams and the FIA as governing body over the proposed rules from 2010 including a budget cap both fascinating and frustrating in equal measure - fascinating from the perspective of understanding the power struggles in the sport and how it has been run in the past, many details of which are being revealed after years of secrecy and frustrating because the politics is getting in the way of the sport.

As a marketer, however, I noticed an interesting point with regards to the proposals for the budget cap. That is that marketing expenditure is not included within the £40million cap which as I write is in the rules for those teams choosing to run to the cap in 2010. The regulations specifically stating:

Section 5.4 - Relevant expenditure shall include all expenditure, valued in accordance with these Regulations, which, irrespective of its source, is directly or indirectly connected with the CRT’s (Cost-Regulated Team) participation in the Championship save for expenditure : (a) the sole purpose of which is marketing or hospitality;

In my view, and generally accepted within marketing, product development is a marketing activity. The product of a Formula 1 team is the car they produce. Therefore taking the regulation literally, as a marketer, the teams would not be limited on the amount of money they spend on car development which is precisely the area the FIA are trying to limit!

It does say in the rules "In the event that the provisions of these Regulations admit of more than one interpretation, they shall be interpreted in a manner designed to facilitate the achievement of the overriding objective" which I guess would over-rule my thought, as would the rule "The burden is on the CRTs to ensure that they comply with the letter and the spirit both of these Regulations in general and the Cost Cap in Article 5 in particular.". Despite those comments, however, I do get the feeling that the FIA do not understand the term "marketing" and are therefore responsible for another crime against marketing!