European Super League Controversy:: With the buzz around European Super League getting canceled goes on, know about when Formula 1 was on the verge of having its own European League
The buzz around European Super League had taken over all the headlines as the sport of football tries to redeem its pride against all odds. Made up of 12 participating clubs, the European Super League’s plan has caused distress to fans to pundits all around the globe who are concerned about the ethnicity of the sport of football.
But how many of you are aware about the European League Formula? This might sound familiar to the F1 fans. From 2008 to 2011, a single seater series known as the European League Formula featured cars running liveries of football clubs. This concept was originated by Robin Webb, who had previously been involved with Premier1 that failed to get off ground.
European Super League Controversy: F1 Super League Formula
This series used a fleet of identical Menard v12-powered chassis that produced 750bhp and were build to fulfil 2008 Formula 1 safety standards. With push to pass to aid overtaking and no help from driver’s aid, they were enormously big, drastically heavy and increasingly loud.
The first round at Donington Park in 2008 featured a grid of 16 cars. The grid remained stable over the following seasons, reaching a high of 19 before reaching a lowest 14 for its final season in 2011. Which was curtailed after two rounds with nations joining football clubs on the grid.
How did the European League Formula work?
Super League Formula functioned on a tentative weekend format with members progressing through one-on-one qualifying battles to decide the grid for first race. The finishing order of the initial race was completely altered for second race.
The highest scoring teams across the 2 races would enter into a 5-lap ‘dash for the cash’ Super Final, where €100,000 was up for grabs. The same points totals were awarded for races 1 and 2 with a maximum 50 points on offer to the winner. That being the case. 2nd place picked up 45, 3rd 40, 4th 36 and 5th 32. To sum up, all finishers scored points. However, from 2010, points were added for Super Final as well.
Who was European League Formula run by?
Super League Formula was organized by a mostly Spanish group headed by championship president Alex Andreu, until his departure in 2010 and Robin Webb. The championship’s technical director, ex-BAR F1 chief engineer Steve Farrell was in-charge for car legality.
Why did the F1 Super League not work?
Apart from how complex it already sounds, the series had to be stopped after 2011’s season when event after event, races got canceled as replacement races in China and South Korea fell wayside. The major reason being the plan to extend the races in New Zealand, Russia, Brazil and Middle East never came about. The cars were finally sold to a private buyer to signify the silent death of the popular championship.