This week's Grapevine brings you information fresh from the paddock on: Ecclestone's CART Vision BMW & Williams

Ecclestone's CART Vision

There has been plenty of speculation concerning Bernie Ecclestone's recent visit to America, where he met with CART's leading lights, Gerry Forsythe and Chris Pook: mostly about whether or not he's going to buy the series. Some say, if the price is right, others that he'd never do it, for fear he faced the same damaging division that IRL and CART have already been through.

There's certainly something going on, though, and mostly, it is to do with Bernie covering his options, and CART getting dug out of a hole.

CART has a problem. The series is being slowly abandoned, with teams leaving for IRL in droves: the competition there is perceived to be less challenging, and more importantly their sponsors want to race at Indianapolis, which is closed to CART. Engine manufacturers are also looking to IRL, as it appears to offer better marketing value for their development money. This leaves the CART series struggling to get enough cars on the grid, and fighting to ensure they have the means to fulfil the technical requirements besides. If it goes too far, the remaining sponsors will depart too, and that would finish them.

CART has always attempted to position itself as a 'world series' - a leading light in its own right. The defections to IRL have eroded that image considerably, and running in Canada has illustrated that on similar tracks, the cars are slower. Furthermore, with drivers who are successful in CART often failing to make the transition to Formula One, whilst movement the other way has put life into many a stuttering open seater career, the impression is confounded that the series is a excellent proving ground for driver talent, but it is no longer the leading series.

So they need a strategy, and a serious cash injection to implement it, in order to change the direction things are going, before it is too late. This strategy is to improve the viewing spectacle, whilst reducing costs, and repositioning CART as a feeding series for Formula One.

Dealing with CART's insufficient entries means that new teams must be brought in to replace those that left. More than that, experience is a vital component for being competitive, which in turn is required to maintain the spectacle. The meeting with Ecclestone included discussions on the concept of inviting select F3000 teams to move to the States, and join CART. They would receive limited assistance in getting off the ground, including extra testing and a cash assist as an incentive to make the break: this would relieve the problem of F3000 being oversubscribed, confirm CART as an upward step for F3000 drivers who are not ready for Formula One (or don't make the grade). This would also, inevitably, see CART become the de facto Formula One feeder series.

Attacking costs is important: the anticipated move to normally aspirated V10 engines in 2005 is key, as it would permit the engine manufacturers in Formula One to supply CART too. This would massively improve their exposure in the America's, without the need for more Formula One races there, and at almost no development costs. The manufacturers would get Indy exposure from Formula One, and season long exposure from CART, persuading them to sign up is not going to be a problem.

Finally, there's the cash injection. One of the options discussed was for Ecclestone to supply the cash, in return for shares - and further options - in the series. How much of the series he ultimately ended up owning would depend on whether he exercised the options. Clearly, if the series failed despite all efforts, he would not want to spend the capital on acquiring the majority of holding!

What's in it for Ecclestone? Control of a second open seater series, if all goes to plan. A lot of support from the engine manufacturers, who are suddenly being offered the marketing equivalent of a free ride. And an escape route, in case the Formula One series, as it exists now, fails to put its house in order, or fragments at the conclusion of the Concorde agreement; and if it all works out, an unbelievable financial return on his investment.

BMW & Williams

BMW's voluble rejection of the idea of buying into Williams is failing to pull the wool over the eyes of most of their observers.

When Frank Williams made a public announcement that Williams would welcome investment from the German manufacturer, the gloves were coming off. As commented in Williams Raises the Stakes, there are a lot of very good reasons for such a move. It ensures rivals can't rock the boat with rumours, offers security (and equity) to key personnel, and most importantly, it opens all the doors for BMW and Williams engineers to work alongside one another in all areas. The downside, which cannot entirely be dismissed, is that it ties BMW to Williams, so leaving the sport would require a decision between moving Williams into another, non-Formula One arena, or divesting themselves of the company - probably at a loss.

Clearly, the deal would be particularly good news for the Williams team. Competing at the front requires serious involvement from an engine manufacturer, in order to maximise the integration potential. Short term, there are no downsides; long term, company strategy being decided in Germany could be a problem, as would the potential for relocation: Toyota have justified a German base very nicely.

On that subject, Toyota's first year of relative success has the Formula One crystal ball gazers looking at Germany as the centre of excellence of the future. New teams coming into the sport are expected to seriously consider following suit. Teams with German ownership can see relocation as a definite option if this future comes to pass.

Returning to the subject, Williams is a man who thinks ahead - the buy-in invitation was intended as a hurry up to BMW, whose engine contract expires at the end of 2004. Two years may seem like a long time, but Williams is in the middle of arranging his engine supply for 2005. BMW have shown good commitment to date, and demonstrably put together some excellent engines, so they are right at the top of his list. However, he requires a commitment from them in the short term, or the opening contact he has had with Porsche and Volkswagen will become very serious discussions in short order.

BMW are interested. They do not have Williams' urgency to look at 2005: if they are continuing in the sport, they will want to buy into Williams, probably taking on the company outright. Starting their own team would cost about as much, by the time they have hired people to fill the numerous experience gaps, and spent a couple of years running off the pace as they learned the game. Gaining experience directly from Williams through sharing engineers is just not going to happen without some form of ongoing commitment to the team.

Williams and Patrick Head, meanwhile, are not getting any younger. They know they are sitting on a very valuable asset - and whilst they are currently enjoying running the company, their involvement is inevitably going to be reduced, eventually. So, there is a deal waiting to be done. Whether or not it happens, is just down to whether Williams and BMW can agree the price.