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Admits engineer Forghieri.
"It's a crazy track".
This is instead the comment of Carlos Reutemann, certainly not enthusiastic about the wet asphalt.
"For me Lauda will not continue to race. How long before the races resume? Two months? Then you'd better listen to what I'm telling you: Niki will not recover from the troubles he's been through. The retirement in Japan was but an episode, but I am convinced that something in him is broken. Otherwise he would not have stopped. He will continue to try Ferraris, to test them, but in the end he will convince himself that he is no longer able to drive in Formula 1. Why do I say this? Because I am convinced. When a driver takes his license he knows what he's getting into. When you start to think too much, to brood, it's over. At Fuji it would have been enough to make a waiting race to win the world title. In fact, the rain and the wet conditions were in Lauda's favor. If the track had been dry, James Hunt would not have had rivals".
This is Vittorio Brambilla's comment, an uncomfortable character, who certainly cannot be denied courage and coherence. Just as he is fierce towards Lauda, he is equally sweet and languid with Ferrari, as he would do anything to drive a Maranello car.
"Why don't they give me a Ferrari to try out? Right away, here now, tomorrow afternoon. I'll show you that it's not true that it's not competitive anymore. Lauda's excuses about the car not working are all excuses".
The regret of not having one of Enzo Ferrari's red cars at his disposal is perhaps the dominant reason of his life, probably because he knows that he will hardly have the great opportunity. Vittorio realizes this and says again with an almost choked voice, in Lombard dialect:
"The fact is that they won't give me this Ferrari, not even with three wheels".
In Monza, together with his father and brother, Vittorio manages a workshop located in the basement of a modern apartment building. The tenants put up with the tearing roars of the engines coming out of the garage because they consider him a good guy. Instead, the constructors and the managers of the stables fear him for his impetuousness, because he speaks without regard, because they also consider him a car breaker.
"Now that I have left the March I was afraid to be without a car. Instead I think I have found a friend in Surtees, who was a motorcyclist like me, and he will give me one of his cars, if we agree. And at Ferrari they will realize they made a mistake not to take me".
In the meantime in Bern, on November 10, 1976, Niki Lauda is in a private clinic in St. Gallen, in eastern Switzerland, to undergo a delicate surgical operation on his right eye. The Austrian pilot made the journey from Salzburg to St. Gallen in his personal airplane alone, as his wife Marlene, who fell ill with bronchitis, had to stay at home. At the airport in Altenrhein, near St. Gallen, the pilot is met by ophthalmologist Rudolf Bangerter, a renowned specialist in ophthalmology. The renowned physician, who has already treated numerous personalities, is said to have suggested the operation to eliminate a slight anomaly in the cavity of Lauda's right eye. In an interview granted to the newspaper Blick, the Austrian driving ace had stated:
"The one in St. Gallen is certainly not the last operation I will have to undergo. More facial surgery awaits me".
Lauda adds that in the coming weeks he will allow himself a period of absolute rest.
"If new tests with the Ferrari racing cars become necessary, I will leave it to Reutemann".
A widespread Zurich newspaper reveals, in a report published on Thursday 11 November 1976 on its front page, that the difficult operation is scheduled for the morning, and it is also learned that the Ferrari racer will have to stay at least ten days in the Opos clinic in St. Gallen. Numerous reporters, therefore, flocked to St. Gallen to obtain information on Lauda's condition, but the clinic management limited itself to issuing rather evasive information, in order to respect Niki's right to privacy. Thursday 11 November 1976 some of Niki Lauda's friends declare that the Austrian racer's conditions, subjected in the morning to a delicate surgical intervention on the right eye, are good, and the postoperative period is taking place regularly. A local anesthesia was necessary for the intervention, and the actual operation lasted almost three hours. Lauda will probably be able to leave the Opos Clinic in St. Gallen towards the end of the following week. Basically, the professor in charge of the operation had to tighten the opening of Lauda's right eye as a result of the burns the racer suffered in the serious accident at the Nurburgring on August 1, 1976. The operation was perfectly successful, and so the slight infirmity in the right eye will be nothing more than a bad memory of the past. On the other hand, Lauda will have to undergo, in the near future, other plastic surgery operations, but for now their date has not been fixed. The nurses of Professor Bangerter's clinic declare that Lauda is a very kind patient, but even though the doctors in charge imposed him an absolute rest, Lauda has a long telephone conversation with his wife Marlene who is in Salzburg, Austria. In the next few days Niki will get in touch by phone with the Ferrari managers. In the meantime Carlos Reutemann, under the admiring eyes of the American actor Paul Newman, on Wednesday November 10, 1976 beats the track record on the Imola circuit. On the dirty asphalt due to works in progress and on a track slowed down by two variations compared to the past, the Argentinean marks the time of 1'37"2, that is about three seconds less than the previous record obtained by the Matra of Larrousse in 1974. Reutemann runs continuously from the morning until the first shadows of the evening, while technicians and mechanics work hard, experimenting with different tires, rear suspensions and ailerons. At the end Carlos, tired but smiling, declares himself very satisfied with the work done.
If it is true that at Ferrari you win the number one position with the commitment in testing, which of course must be followed by the results in the race, it must be said that Reutemann seems to be on the right track. There are only doubts about which Grand Prix will open the 1977 season, if the one to be run on January 9 in Argentina, or the Brazilian one on January 23, 1977. The Argentinean race had already been cancelled last year for political reasons: riots were feared. This time, the problem is economic. The three companies that had assumed the burden of expenses have announced that they will not be able to meet the commitment. The Argentine Automobile Club will try to resolve the issue but it is difficult to find the necessary funds in time. The postponement of the debut of the Formula 1 races to January 23, 1977 for the Brazilian Grand Prix could therefore become advantageous for Lauda, who will have two more weeks to prepare. A week later, in Paris, on November 18, 1976 a war breaks out between the Formula 1 car teams and the organizers of the major international circuits, after the manufacturers threaten through a spokesman to organize their own world championship ignoring the organizers and the international car authorities. The constructors, after a meeting in Modena with Enzo Ferrari, confirm that they will not take part in the Argentine Grand Prix scheduled for January 9, 1977, but according to reliable rumors the constructors have declared war specifically on the Monza and Monte Carlo circuits. The following day, in London, on November 19, 1976, between the International Sports Commission and the Formula 1 constructors, the tug-of-war is reached again. Recently, the ISC, which is traditionally on the side of the Grand Prix organizers, endorsed the formation of a commercial company, based in the Principality of Monaco, called World Championship Racing, with the intention of reducing the power of the so-called circus of Formula 1 manufacturers. Head of the new body is Dufleler, who for a long time directed the promotional activities of Philip Morris, and consequently the sponsor contracts of Marlboro.
Among the executives of World Championship Racing there are also Baron Huske Von Hanstein, vice-president of the ISC, and the delegate of the Automobile Club of Monaco, Michael Boeri. The World Championship Racing should, therefore, negotiate the financial arrangements between the organizers of world races and the various Formula 1 teams, for which service are required from the organizers, for each race, $14.000. The institution of the World Championship Racing was announced for the first time on the occasion of the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, under the name of the Hundred Thousand Dollar Club, that is, the penalty that each organizer would have to pay in the event that, having broken the united front, had entered into separate negotiations with the association of Formula 1 manufacturers. World Championship Racing announces that ten of the sixteen Grand Prix organizers have already joined the new organization. Among them, however, is not the Automobile Club of Argentina, whose permission to organize the World Championship race has been revoked by the ISC in derogation of the agreements already made directly between the Argentinean organizers and the manufacturers' association. According to others, the members of World Championship Racing have so far only been seven, namely Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Spain, Austria and Monaco. Manufacturers are outraged by the withdrawal of permission from the organizers of the Argentine Grand Prix, the first race of the new season, and are threatening to hold a world championship on their own; they have already established some contacts with other circuits, such as Imola. Some representatives of the Manufacturers' Association visited Enzo Ferrari, to agree on a possible counterattack to the World Championship Racing. In Modena, on November 20, 1976, the meetings continue: the appointment is for noon, in a famous restaurant in Old Modena, at the edge of the pedestrian area. Enzo Ferrari shows up on time: he likes these meetings at the table, even if he is on a diet, and he especially likes the one today. The Maranello manufacturer invites a group of journalists and writers, but not to talk about what happened recently with the Grand Prix organizers:
"It had been fifty-seven years since I read what you wrote about me, and I thought it was appropriate to respond to your not always affectionate remarks".
The answer is on the tables, between a bottle of a wine called, of course, Ferrari, and a plate of Emilian style appetizers. It is a brown book, with a cork cover on which appear a target and a quilt. The Flobert. A limited edition of one thousand copies not for sale, edited by the Arbe graphic workshops. In one hundred and fifteen pages, Ferrari traces the portrait of fifty-two friends of the press on the wave of impressions received and episodes experienced. Good-natured portraits, sometimes affectionate, but not without corrosive jokes. Simple notes, they are defined by the Modenese builder: but sheet after sheet, he explains in the introduction, they resemble those little letters that children usually put under their parents' plates on Christmas Eve, although there is a difference, because children abound in intentions, but they always conceal what they think of their parents. Ferrari has written them during the long waits on Friday and Saturday, the days of rehearsals that precede the dispute of a car Grand Prix, and on Sunday, waiting, restless, for the outcome of the race. Handwritten pages, with round calligraphy and a fountain pen with purple ink. A way, also, to feel like a journalist, that journalism was one of his youthful passions. Envied colleagues: this is how Ferrari defines the journalists present at the lunch, while each of them flicks through his portrait completed by a photograph with apparent imperturbability. But he immediately remembers that he had nicknamed them Monday engineers, or rather critics of the day after, implacable judges of his and his collaborators' work.
"I envy you, because every day you can make a masterpiece, while I take a year, get angry, argue with those around me and then maybe read that it would be better if I retired".
Why that title, the Flobert?
"When I was a boy, I had a flobert that I used to have fun shooting with. I've used it now against you, but the scratch of a quilt leaves no mark. Of course, sometimes, I had to erase what I had written, because reason is not Ferrari's monopoly".
A few shots hit the target, but around the table, which Ferrari dominates, no one complains. The portraits are true, precise, documented, drawn in fine style. There are no inaccuracies, because Ferrari knows his job and knows what's behind the facade. Certainly, he is better able to keep the secrets of the Maranello factory and the red racing cars than we are to keep ours. The flobert reads quickly. There are those who belong to the caste of engineers, to the sect of electronic computer worshippers, those who are casual, uncertain about confusing names and figures, dates and events, and those who love the subtle charm of catchphrases. There are special correspondents, reporters, directors, commentators, writers, and only two women mentioned. All of them are Italians: for foreigners, Ferrari reserves a second edition of the Flobert. They too are friends and colleagues, but perhaps more difficult to deal with than those from home, who, for better or worse, are now an almost daily habit. The book closes with an interview with Ferrari by an unknown journalist. It is a dialogue between Ferrari the manufacturer and the Ferrari of dreams, the Ferrari of what could have been. And the first question is about Italian journalists. What are they like?
"Today's sports journalists, although capable, sow a band of resentment that is sometimes unthinkable. They are merciless in order to be informed, they are tormented by uterine jealousies for the obsession of the hole, they are generous in order to be superior, they sometimes skim over arguments in order not to be made responsible. They abuse of hyperbolic adjectives: who scores a winning goal is the hero of the Sunday".
Leaving aside the hilarity over the flobert, the war between the Formula 1 Manufacturers' Association and the organizers' club, supported by the International Automobile Federation, is the main topic of Enzo Ferrari's conversation with the journalists gathered in Modena for the presentation of his book. Between one joke and another, Ferrari takes stock of the affair, which threatens the existence of the next world championship and could lead to the disputing of a tournament outside the international sporting regulations. The terms of the dispute can be summarized as follows: the Formula 1 Association, which also absorbs the drivers, until 1976 negotiated the agreement for the hiring of men and machines with the single organizers of the Grand Prix; for 1977, instead, the contracts should be discussed with a company called World Championship Racing, to which some organizers have adhered. The fact is considered by the manufacturers as an illegal intrusion in their business and World Championship Racing as an inappropriate additional structure created to participate in the World Championship cake, which distributes a few million dollars every year. The casus belli broke out with the Argentine Grand Prix, scheduled for January 9 in Buenos Aires as the first round of the 1977 World Championship. The affair is explained in a communiqué that Ferrari, on behalf of the manufacturers, distributes on Saturday, November 20, 1976 in Modena. The document states that the Automobile Club of Argentina had granted the right to organize the race to three companies, with which the Formula 1 Association had reached an agreement on October 10. But, later on, the Argentine Autoclub invited this group not to honor the agreement and to turn to World Championship Racing. The group itself then preferred to withdraw. At this point, the manufacturers decided not to participate in the Argentine Grand Prix. No problem, however, for the next round in Brazil, since the organizers have decided to respect the commitments with the Formula 1 Association and to ignore the World Championship Racing, and the same orientation have those responsible for the U.S. Grand Prix West. This is the statement issued:
"The Formula 1 Association regrets the new Argentine position and reserves the right to demand an explanation from the A. C. of Argentina and all those who have contributed to the unjustified breaking of a freely signed agreement. The news that the Association intends to boycott certain Grand Prix, such as Monza and Monte Carlo, does not correspond to the truth. On the contrary, the Association seeks only the maintenance of the agreements in place, and will resist any attempt to interfere in its relations with the organizers of the World Grand Prix, defined with the help of the president of the ISC, Ugeaux, on November 15, 1975 in Brussels".
In Modena, during lunch with journalists, Ferrari goes on to say:
"What is happening, is the result of the deficiencies and lack of authority of the ISC. We are faced with corporate conflicts, with contrasts that, however, do not alter the image of Formula 1, of racing. I hope that the situation will settle down, but if we go to the fracture, let's not forget that it is possible to do without Fia and ISC. In the United States, isn't there a race like Indianapolis?"
It is possible, therefore, that the Association will end up creating its own championship, in agreement with a number of organizers. What could the Fia do? Remove the world label? But how could it arrange Grand Prix without cars and drivers? While the discussions continue, in Bologna, on November 24, 1976, the Motorshow presentation began. These events were born in England, with fifty percent exhibition, fifty percent show. They were successful and now here they are exported to Italy, first the one of Regazzoni on Friday in Milan, then this one in Bologna, born under the sign of the four World Champions in the different motorsport specialties, Lauda for Formula 1, Munari for rallies, Agostini for motorcycles, Molinari for motorboating. From intentions to practical implementation, some time has passed, and so a couple of the protagonists have become former champions. Perhaps it is better this way for publicity, because with their popularity intact, Lauda and Agostini end up talking about themselves even more as losers. Niki himself was the focus of interest at the press conference held to present the Motorshow. Niki came back to Italy, after his brief appearance for the official interview with Ferrari, for the first time in contact with the public, and fresh from the latest surgery to restore full functionality to the right side of his face. Sure, quick as ever in his replies, with an improved appearance, Niki intervenes to say that he knows nothing about the functionality of the new Goodyear tires on the Ferrari but he will know after Tuesday, when the tests will be completed on the circuit of Le Castellet, that he is not interested in the quarrels between organizers and constructors, that if there were two world championships he would run for the one that interests Ferrari. For the first time Niki will come into contact with the Italian public and, what's more, in a city like Bologna, where a scandalistic periodical that has always conducted a smear campaign against the Austrian has a greater hold. What reactions do you foresee? To this question, Lauda follows his interlocutor carefully, then he puts his cap on his head and starts to attack.
"Point one, I only race for myself. Point two, I only race and win for Ferrari. Point three and the most difficult to explain: I'm only interested in the good part of the public, the real fans, those who love and understand car racing. The others, maybe the greater number, are available to every conditioning, they exalt you when you are first, they say good if you arrive second, but at every place you lose you become less and less interesting for them. These people don't interest me, and neither do the people who push these people down the wrong path. If Hunt stays ten seconds longer in the pits, he loses the title and I win it, and for this audience I become the smart one and he the stupid one. I feel good, let's start the programs. With Ferrari, let's get the car ready. There's nothing else to think about".
Then, from an intelligent question from journalist Bartoletti to Molinari, Niki gets a nice and frank support: Molinari, you who have experience on wet tracks, what do you think about Lauda's retirement?
"A similar episode happened to me. Two years ago we were racing on the Seine with about a hundred boats all together. After half an hour I retired thinking it was a suicide and soon after a driver lost his life. At least my example combined with the accident managed to make people change their ways. The trouble with Formula 1 is that there is a debate about whether Lauda did the right thing".
At the end of the two days of tests, which begin on November 30, 1976, on the French circuit of Paul Ricard, intended for the testing of the new Goodyear, then open to all teams (Ligier is missing, which will present the new car in mid-December) Carlos Pace marks the best time with the Brabham-Alfa Romeo.
"Next season we will have a competitive car".
Carlos Pace exclaims, and Carlo Chiti, who remained in Settimo Milanese, is equally satisfied. The engineer, having learned that Reutemann's Ferrari ran one second slower, but above all knowing that the next day he would have mounted an engine with twenty more horsepower, takes the car and leaves Milan at 4:00 a.m. to reach the circuit. An hour after his arrival in France, Pace breaks the new engine, but Chiti is still confident.
"These things happen, all it takes is for a small corpuscle to get inside the mechanical complex to blow everything up".
He then goes on to say:
"We've been working diligently to improve for a year now. By dint of gathering experience, we have succeeded in creating an optimal camshaft, a satisfactory conformation of the heads and a whole series of precious expedients. This engine brings together all the studies carried out with the engines that have been used so far".
After the tests, Carlos Pace says goodbye to everyone and flies to Brazil, leaving the place to John Watson. Between Friday 3 and Sunday 5 December 1976 Ferrari gives the Wolf permission to test on the Fiorano circuit. In this circumstance it is Jody Scheckter to drive the car, despite the rain falling on the Modenese ground. Lauda himself should have attended the tests, but then he decides not to come to Maranello. On this occasion, and exactly on Sunday 5 December, Enzo Ferrari, who has been a strong admirer of Jody Scheckter for years, proposes to Walter Wolf, who is visiting Maranello, to exchange drivers during a confrontation on the Fiorano track: the Canadian manager would have Niki Lauda in exchange for the South African driver. But Wolf replies with a momentary denial. It's an extremely negative moment for Niki Lauda: the Austrian driver is still affected by what happened in Japan, worried about the outcome of his eye surgery, and learns from Luca Montezemolo that Enzo Ferrari wants to make him the sporting director. Niki Lauda says to Luca Montezemolo:
"If you don't want me to race for you, let's cancel the contract immediately and I'll leave without wasting time. Sporting director? Not a chance".
After saying this, the young Italian manager returns to being favorable towards Niki Lauda, after doubting for a brief period. And he reports the response to Enzo Ferrari. Having successfully undergone the operation, Niki Lauda had returned to Maranello, asking about the work plans. The Austrian driver was told that Carlos Reutemann would be testing at the Paul Ricard circuit.
"Very well, then I will go there too".
Lauda replies. But the team tries to procrastinate, embarrassed, finally responding that only one car would be available, thus denying Niki Lauda the possibility of being present at the tests.
"Fine, we'll manage; Carlos will run on the first and second days, and I will run on the third day".
The Austrian driver replies. The Ferrari team raises no objections, and the discussion seemed to end positively.
However, when Lauda returned to Salzburg after holding a press conference, in which he announced his return to racing, he found a telex from Ferrari in his office, which roughly said this:
"We have learned from the newspapers that you intend to test at Paul Ricard. This does not agree with our program. Therefore, please find yourself at Fiorano on that certain day".
The document did not bear any kind of signature, but only the words Sporting Direction. This situation leaves Niki Lauda in a state of extreme frustration, as he feels sidelined by the team, despite feeling in perfect physical shape. The Austrian driver then decided to call Enzo Ferrari, initiating the most decisive phone call he had ever had until then. Lauda asks Ferrari the meaning of his message. The constructor responds that when Lauda made that wrong decision, all orders came directly from him, and from then on, he would personally take care of everything. Lauda asks Ferrari what he meant by the statement "wrong decision": Ferrari responds that Lauda should never have raced in Monza. If he hadn't participated, Ferrari and Lauda would have lost the World Championship in a different way. Perhaps more understandable. Upon receiving this response, the Austrian driver became angry and shouted into the receiver that maybe it was okay for an Italian to go to bed and lose in bed, optically excellent, indeed, but since he could fight, he wanted to do so and not stay in bed. And he added that he was even okay with losing the World Championship on the way to the airport, rather than on the track.
"Thank you and goodbye".
Shortly after, Sante Ghedini called Niki Lauda and informed the Austrian driver:
"The old man is out of his mind, it's all over, he's throwing you out. Call him immediately and apologize".
But Lauda replied:
"Not a chance, I won't apologize".
The Austrian driver felt destroyed, depressed, but above all terribly angry. He wondered why he had endured all this? Why had he fought to leave the hospital as soon as possible? Why had he worked so hard to fully recover and had consumed the last reserves of energy? Perhaps, to be dismissed in this way? Lauda thinks that when Ferrari mentioned Monza, he actually meant Fuji. If he had performed the miracle at Fuji, everything would be fine now. Then he tried to put himself in Ferrari's shoes. Okay, he pays for Ferrari to run and win. He pays for a World Championship and there's an idiot who doesn't want to race because it seems too risky to him. The more he thinks about it, the more he necessarily has to get to the human aspect of the matter because after all, Ferrari has a contract with a man, not with a monkey. He can kick a monkey and order it to run. But from a human being, he expects thinking. If Ferrari doesn't consider him an idiot, he must accept the result of his thoughts. And if he adds to all this also the incident at the Nürburgring, and considers Niki Lauda's particular situation in the autumn, there is no reason in the world that could justify Ferrari wanting to condemn Lauda for what happened at Fuji. Or at least, that's what the Austrian driver thinks. In those days, the anger against Ferrari was so intense that from then on, Lauda would never feel comfortable in that team again. Too much had been destroyed in those days. He thought he had done more than necessary for Ferrari. He had given his all, had offered his total cooperation. He had always tried to stay out of the intrigues and politics of Ferrari. He had been careful, with absolute consistency, never to say a negative word about Ferrari in public and had maintained this attitude unlike all the other drivers and this even though there were many reasons to criticize.
What happened in November was therefore an abuse of his trust. The fact that a telegram arrived afterward with the message that the program had been changed and the team was waiting for him at Paul Ricard was not enough to settle things. Naturally, Lauda showed up for the tests. However, it was raining heavily, and he couldn't even try, but it didn't matter, the important thing was only that he had asserted his will: he hadn't allowed the team to classify him as a finished driver and put him into oblivion. But even on secondary fronts, problems arose. For example, Lauda met with the head of the Roemerquelle mineral water company to sign the sponsorship contract and for the related advertising. The Austrian driver had always been a trusted contractual partner: in Monaco, for example, at the award ceremony, he had drunk Roemerquelle water in front of the cameras instead of champagne, and had always tried to offer good value for the money. Now this gentleman said:
"For 1977, I'll pay you less because this year you'll probably be among the last".
After reflecting for a moment and concluding that it was already too late to find another main sponsor for 1977, Lauda accepted the worse conditions. He also agreed to be obliged to pay a fine if he wore another cap besides the Roemerquelle one, except on the winners' podium because in that case, the drivers had to wear Goodyear caps, as long as Goodyear supplied its tires to the Ferrari team. So, Lauda witnesses another spectacle, where everyone tries to cheat him as soon as his position becomes a little weaker. For Roemerquelle, the cap issue was a golden deal: Lauda's forehead, the skin on his head, and his ears were in pitiful condition; so they could be sure that the Austrian driver would never be seen without a cap, thus making excellent publicity. A year later, back among the top, Lauda would no longer sign for Roemerquelle. A few days later, since awarded by the newspaper Autosprint, on Saturday 11 December 1976 James Hunt also arrives in Italy, in Bologna. The British driver is given the golden helmet on the occasion of the Motorshow, a statuette depicting a driver with a helmet on his head. Afterwards, the McLaren driver moves to the Marlboro stand, where he is warmly welcomed, to the point that those present almost manage to jump over the barriers separating him from the public. In order to avoid any drama, the local police forces order James to leave. A few years later, the British driver will say:
"I have a lot of sympathy for the Italians, for them motor racing is a kind of religion, they are very passionate and believe all the nonsense that is written in the newspapers".
During the evening, after a short stop in the hotel, Hunt goes at 10:00 p.m. in the beautiful residence of S. Martino in Casola to attend a party in his honor organized by Lorenzo Sassoli de Bianchi, in the company of a young girl named Sonia introduced to him by Giacomo Agostini. The following day, however, a less sympathetic incident occurred in Milan. While John Hogan, senior executive of Marlboro, and James Hunt attend an official lunch organized by Philip Morris, their car is stolen and the Briton loses some of his trophies, his passport, his checkbook, his credit cards, his traveler's checks, his agenda and address book, as well as his visas for Poland, where both should have gone after the conference. Italian law enforcement and the British embassy could not do much to help James, so he decided to leave Italy illegally, only to obtain new documents once he arrived in Geneva. After the meeting in Paris on December 3, 1976, ISC sends a telex to FOCA in which it is said that, as it is clear that WCR would have been included in the Formula 1 working group starting from December 16, it is appropriate that the declarations of good will should be followed by an effective demonstration, i.e. that FOCA should not wait until December 16 to start direct relations with WCR, in order to shorten the time and to reach effective agreements, which would allow to announce - on December 16 - that everything was settled. The response to Ugeux's exhortation by FOCA is curious, to say the least.
In fact, a telex sent by Ecclestone to Ugeux, sent to Paris and from there bounced to Brussels where Ugeux is present, instead of responding affirmatively to the invitation to start direct negotiations immediately, contains strange counterproposals: the Formula 1 working group is too full of organizers, since if there would have been a WCR there would also have been Mr. Boeri and Mr. Corsmit, who are part of the ISC but personally organizers. Therefore FOCA proposes the modification of the Formula 1 working group by replacing Boeri with the Englishman Delamont (RAC, Great Britain) and Corsmit with the Englishman Webb (Brands Hatch). That is to say, it proposes to lighten the presence of the organizers by eliminating those of Monaco and Holland, putting British organizers in their place. In the meantime, nothing is being done to resolve the problem in Argentina, which remains pending even though it was urgent. This problem seemed insoluble, since FOCA pretended not to know that it existed, taking it for granted that it would go to Argentina since it had a signed contract (from the famous private company Mexxa that had been entrusted by the ACA to provide for the material organization of the Grand Prix, but which had subsequently been deprived of its authority). Fangio and Bordeu, who had come to Europe on purpose to make it clear that Mexxa no longer existed and that now the ACA was the direct organizer, could not make themselves heard, because FOCA responded to their statements as if they had not heard, always saying that there were no problems because she had a contract in her hand. A curious dialogue like this:
"Look that Mexxa doesn't exist anymore, that now we from the Automobile Club Argentina organize directly without any more intermediaries. I, Juan Manuel Bordeu, am the head of sport in Argentina, so you have to listen to me".
With answers of this tone:
"We go to Argentina according to the contract we have in hand, signed by Mexxa; everything is fine, we don't see what problems there are".
The attempted meeting in London, which Hodges reported to you about the previous week, was equally enlightening about FOCA's demonstration of good will and common sense. Increasingly ruffled papers and lots of long-distance talk, all on lines far removed from the understanding of ordinary people. FOCA's evident aim, the unspoken but clear one of wanting to impose itself more and more as the only body in Formula 1, was equally evident in the following maneuvers. On Sunday, December 12, 1976, Max Mosley made repeated phone calls to Argentina, both directly with Mr. Carman, president of the ACA, and through Ector Staffa, who is quite close to Ecclestone, having been linked to Brabham. In these phone calls he even proposed to the Argentinians a significant discount on the global cost agreed upon at the time through Mexxa, on the condition that the Argentinians would immediately sign a separate contract, without going through WCR. Therefore, it is not a question of the actual need to have more money, but only of not wanting to recognize the WCR as an interlocutor. The power struggle is therefore, with all evidence, the real goal, to achieve which FOCA is even willing to lose money immediately, to be recovered in the future when the takeover of Formula 1 would have been effective. On Monday, December 13, 1976, there was even a phone call to Fangio from the Argentine Ministry of Sport, to urge that agreements be made so that the Grand Prix could actually take place. The Argentine government, of course, knows nothing about the internal problems of international sport, and what it wants is for Argentina to have its own world race. Fangio, however, responded consistently and firmly: he had made a firm commitment to the other organizers of the WCR, and could not sign a separate agreement. If the government wanted the race at all costs, they could order it to take place, but it would not be him, Fangio or even Bordeu, who would break the Monaco agreements. On December 15, 1976, a meeting was held at the Argentine embassy in Paris, where Mr. Ugeux also took part, in order to clarify the situation. But after this meeting nothing changed. On December 15, however, a few hours before, all Formula 1 teams received a telex from Ecclestone, confirming that the Argentinean Grand Prix would be held on January 9 and telling them to be ready for the departure of men and materials according to the plans already established, since the agreement had been reached and only written confirmation was missing.
How Ecclestone could send this telex remains a mystery, since in the meantime, on December 15, 1976 Watson, after having tested the Alfa Romeo engine for the first time in Balocco, does a test on the Paul Ricard circuit.
"Brabham and Alfa Romeo worked well. The problems related to team experience have been solved. Last season's cars had a new engine mounted on a new car, modified after ten years of Ford propulsion. And then there were tuning problems".
On December 16, 1976 finally the preliminary meeting, which should have clarified everything, takes place in Paris, in a room of the Hotel Intercontinental. The meeting is ordered by Ugeux, who clearly says that the parties have to agree within December 16, to give way to officially announce that everything is back to normal. Ugeux and Boeri from ISC; Duffeler (WCR) and Curry from Watkins Glen for the organizers; Guiter from ELF and a representative from Marlboro for the sponsors; Ecclestone and Mosley for the manufacturers. As observers are also present Delamont and Blossom (RAC), Von Hanstein (ISC), Maffezzoli (Monza), Meyer (Germany), Bordeu (Argentina). A meeting does not give that an effective and important result, the confirmation that, in any case, there would be only the FIA championship, therefore that the dreams of tournaments independent from the official sporting authority have returned. For this reason, it is clear that the declarations of the sponsors were decisive, as they clearly stated that they were only interested in official races. Therefore FOCA must back off in what were at least threats, if not precise programs, and no longer speak of an alternative to the FIA World Championship. At this point it becomes evident that the problem, given that the declarations of the parties were:
- Agree, that on principle everything;
- It was unanimous, became a simple matter of pride on the part of FOCA, which realized that it wanted to preserve credibility, save face, by obtaining something in exchange for the forced submission to which it had been forced.
It is certainly for this reason that upon leaving the December 16 meeting, President Ugeux's statement was clear:
- All the Grand Prix scheduled for 1977 will take place;
- Financial arrangements have not yet been finalized;
- The WCR will meet the following morning;
- The ISC bureau will meet to define a firm and decisive political line.
Ugeux also added that everyone had to agree by the next morning, otherwise the ISC would bring the situation to an end on its own authority. A few minutes later, surrounded by a small group of journalists, Ecclestone affirms that things are going well, that it remains to discuss the financial details with the organizers who have not yet signed with FOCA (those of the WCR, n.d.r.) and that we will go to Argentina on January 9, 1977 because everything is clear. However, next to him Juan Manuel Bordeu squints his eyes and interrupts Ecclestone stating that nothing is true. Someone is telling the truth, there is no doubt. And since Bordeu is the head of motorsport in Argentina, and therefore obviously must know at least the things that concern him personally, it is easy to say that Ecclestone's statements are at least curious. It seems that in the drafting of the new TOGA statute, certain binding articles have been included, one of which (it should be art. 2) says that the constructors are committed to racing only on permanent racetracks. If this is the wording, it means that, from now on, FOCA will refuse to race at Monte-Carlo and Long Beach, which are non-permanent circuits. Bernie Ecclestone, asked if this article of the FOCA statute is correct, categorically denies it. It is therefore clear that someone, also in this case, is telling lies. Ferrari affirms that it is true, and that if FOCA decides to go to Monte Carlo and Long Beach he will react. A little further away, in the lobby of the Intercontinental, Pat Duffeler of WCR is also surrounded by journalists, who have to commute to hear him.
And Duffeler says the opposite of what Ecclestone says. In addition, FOCA says it had reached separate agreements with eleven organizers; WCR says eight organizers are sympathetic and united in wanting their contracts signed collectively through WCR. Eleven and eight make nineteen, while there are seventeen world races. Clearly, even here, someone is lying. The real reasons for the disagreement are always the same: FOCA absolutely does not want to give the impression that it recognizes the WCR. He knows that sooner or later he would have to do it, but he is looking for a way to save face, and for this reason Ecclestone invites journalists to follow him to show him all the documents in his possession. The exposure of the documents by Ecclestone does not change things. The British manager shows a huge mass of telexes and letters, back and forth, questions and answers, but no convincing documents. Just something clarifying, enlightening. And it is a letter from the organizers of the Japanese Grand Prix stating that Pat Duffeler is only a consultant for them, not a delegate to decide. If it is true that Duffeler believed he could sign documents on behalf of Japan, this shows that he is at least misguided, but it does not change the substance of things. The basic problem remains, now, ever clear: if Duffeler is the WCR delegate, as is claimed by the WCR members themselves, there is no reason for FOCA not to reach the agreements - which it claims to want to reach - through Duffeler. And here comes the bombshell: no one in the WCR has an official, legally registered proxy that can give them the power to negotiate and decide and form on behalf of everyone. This seems astounding, especially since there are lawyers in the WCR who should know these things well. No one, apparently according to Ecclestone, showed up at FOCA in possession of a legal document, a real and precise power of attorney indicating him as authorized by the others to negotiate and make precise commitments.
That's why, Ecclestone says, FOCA could never sign contracts with the eight WCR organizers. Thus implying that FOCA was willing to do so. This is, evidently, another way of trying to save face, passing off the prior outright refusal to recognize WCR as a procedural impossibility. For their part, however, the organizers deny it. They say that at the time the WCR was formed, they appointed a board of management, consisting of Mr. Maffezzoli (Italy), Mr. Verrier (France) and Mr. Meyer (Germany), and that they in turn delegated Mr. Pat Duffeler to represent the WCR. By issuing him a written proxy, not equivocal. FOCA, for its part, replied that it was a simple letter, not a registered legal document, and that it did not want to run the risk of signing contracts that were not legally recognizable, that could be challenged due to the lack of a real incontrovertible legal basis. The accusations that were addressed to Ecclestone through the letter sent by Duffeler on behalf of WCR to Ecclestone, and copied to all teams, however, were not answered. And no documents are shown to refute them. At this point things become urgent and require a solution. Except for the fact that the 1977 championship is now really under discussion. This is what the ISC does. On Friday, December 17, 1976, in the halls of the FIA in Place de la Concorde, there is the usual ISC press conference, before the distribution of the annual awards for the official championships. The central bureau of the ISC meets shortly before, discussing the situation at such length that the press conference scheduled for 5:00 p.m. actually begins at 5:25 p.m. Ugeux says the usual things, the final balance of the 1976 season and the technical-sporting decisions for the future, and then passes on to talk about Formula 1. His words are precise:
"The problem is difficult. Every year we have to reach a financial agreement between competitors and organizers. In November 1975 we helped to reach an agreement, in Brussels, with a discussion in which Boeri was present for the organizers, Balestre vice-president of ISC, Duffeler for the sponsors, Ecclestone and Mosley for the constructors. The agreement had been found on the basis of 285.000 dollars per race - European - for 1976, with the understanding that for the following years something would have to be added, on the basis of the cost of living indices and of eventual increases in profits deriving from greater attendance of spectators and therefore of receipts. There were meetings on November 21, 1975 and April 20, 1976 that were supposed to establish precise parameters, but they did not produce results. On December 16, 1976 there was a meeting to have an agreement on the financial basis for 1977 but this agreement was not reached. There was only an agreement that the 1977 championship will be held, and it was learned that a number of organizers have already signed contracts".
It should not be forgotten that the sum of $285.000 for 1976 already represented a thirty percent increase over 1975. On the eve of the 1977 championship start deadline, it's time to decide.
"The ISC cannot ignore all this, and neither can it be put off, out of respect for the organizers, for the sponsors. So the ISC must ensure that the program is respected. The solution must be found in compliance with the Brussels agreements, and the ISC has now taken a clear position: taking into account certain agreements already established, the ISC has decided that the 1977 races should be held on a basis of $250.000 plus ten percent as an index of the increase in the cost of living, plus fifty percent of the increase in receipts in relation to 1976 receipts. Of course this fifty percent increase will give quite a bit, given inflation and thus the increase in figures. In any case a minimum of $300.000 must be guaranteed. At this time one cannot freeze prices but try to stimulate an increase in receipts. The ISC cannot accept that these be postponed to the Greek calends, something that can be accepted in commercial negotiations, not for the World Championship. If the ISC proposal is not accepted, there will be no world championship as it is now".
The subsequent questions that are asked find clarifying answers: if there is no agreement, the ISC will have the championship disputed by applying the existing regulations, i.e. admitting the Formula 2 cars, the F5000, and obviously the Formula 1 cars that show up. And in any case the decision by the interested parties must be made very soon, within two weeks. The decision is not late. Just after, when the ISC begins the 1976 awards ceremony, Ecclestone goes up to the podium and hands over to Chris Pook of Long Beach the prize that the manufacturers give annually to the best Grand Prix organization, but before giving it, Ecclestone whispers in Ugeux's ear:
"FOCA accepts the conditions imposed by ISC".
This meant that a way to save face had been found, thanks to the ISC, and that there would no longer be any obstacles on FOCA's part. In the meantime, although late, World Champion Hunt finally reached Paris to receive his award. Hunt had been in Paris the day before for a series of live Q&As with readers of the daily newspaper l'Equipe, but had returned to London to attend the ball of the English sports press association. And on Friday morning, when he returned to the airport to go to Paris, he was faced with the spectacle of fog and snow that blocked the traffic. So he arrived in Paris three hours later than planned, and then made a frantic run that brought him to the Place de la Concorde when everyone had left the prize-giving room to enter the hall where pastries and champagne were waiting for them. Hunt still had his World Champion cup, and therefore everything was regular, while for Ferrari we see for the first time Roberto Nosetto in an official capacity. However, the question of how to provide for the form of the contracts between WCR and FOCA organizers remains unresolved, given the prejudices that were known, namely the alleged lack of an effective legal representative of WCR, of a legal delegate. To this the WCR responds that there is a simple solution. The ISC also establishes a standard contract for Formula 1 races, so the WCR would have submitted a collective agreement, signed by each of its members, to FOCA for signature, so that there would be all the conditions of caution that FOCA requires. So now there are really no more obstacles. The first to sign the contract, having to return to Argentina, is Juan Manuel Bordeu for AC Argentina.
The material signature of the others should be done in the time needed to reach personally the people who have to sign. Now, really, there should be nothing more to hinder the total and general agreement, also because Ugeux, taking advantage of his presence in Italy to attend the inauguration of the Alfa Romeo historical museum, on Saturday December 18, 1976 meets Enzo Ferrari. And Ferrari issued a communiqué in which he stated that he was happy that the ISC had accepted the line he had always maintained, i.e. compliance with the clauses of the Brussels agreement. It is certain that Ferrari, however, is in a favorable position, compared to the other brands that race now, given the system of distribution of the sums paid by the organizers; it was in 1976 and will be again in 1977, given its position and that of its drivers in the 1976 World Championship, which brings many points in the bonus scale provided by FOCA. Finally, an official request is made by A.C. Argentina to postpone the Argentine Grand Prix to February 6, 1977, since the material time for the organization of the race, even if everything went on the same in Buenos Aires, became very little. However, the long war that has kept the fate of the 1977 Formula One World Championship in suspense seems to be happily over. On Tuesday 21 December 1976 Yvon Leon, deputy secretary of the International Sports Commission, announced in Paris that the organisers and constructors had reached an agreement on the basis of the indications practically imposed by the commission. Each Grand Prix organiser will therefore have to pay a total of 300.000 dollars to the constructors' association in order to get the best drivers and cars to participate. Additionally, it is announced that the Argentine Grand Prix would be regularly held on January 9, 1977. The challenge between Lauda, who is recovering from surgery, and Hunt, who spends the month of December between one advertising engagement and another, exhausting himself, can therefore continue.