If this is true...it's will be amazing! A true petrolhead! Exclusive: Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll to buy Sauber | News | Motorsport.com
I would love for Stroll to buy Sauber, and invest/fund them PROPERLY so that they could get on with racing. I am baffled by the number of BS artists who claim to want to invest in an F1 team and then don't find the cash or make the promised payments. Apparently Albers quit at Caterham because the brand new Swiss/Middle East investors have failed to make the deposits they guaranteed to fund the team. Sauber had Russian "investors" who never came up with the money, "Lotus" (Genie) has middle east funding that never materialized from a BS artist... Jordan had a history of bouncing between overpromising and underfunding BS artists, beginning with Midland and the Russian/Canadian "investor". Sigh, the seedy underside of our sport.
Exactly my point......as I've said many times, not only is the calendar full to overflowing but the grid remains full too. With more awaiting an entry. Must suck to be Bernie and be in such demand! No wonder his price keeps increasing. Anyone remember 'supply & demand'?....... Cheers, Ian
Sauber, or Fauxtus. I noted a while back it seems Lopez is getting bored with it - I'd guess he could pick them up for reasonable millions. Or even the Baby Cans; Mr Mateschitz would love to offload his second team if 'reports' are to be believed. That he still reckons he can do it out of North Carolina is crazy beyond belief IMO. Cheers, Ian
Well said. Sauber is a great team, only let down by poor funding. They need proper investors, proper management, and who knows..maybe Martin Whitmarsh?
If it happens, and if Peter Sauber and Monisha Kaltenborn get to stay and be able to run their team properly, it will be a very good thing for the sport. Sauber is a great driver development team, and they deserve to keep racing. Imagine if they get back into sports cars? That would be something....
Seems obtaining a race and owning a team are very very different. Government money appears to build tracks but the private funding of teams seems rather difficult. The major teams are funded but issues with less than stellar/major teams are growing and hesitation on funding them continues. Bernie may have tracks but the crisis is not with them immediately. Its the other half of the grid behind Mercedes, Williams, Ferrari, Red Bull and Mclaren. From row 6 back the situation does not look very good.
All fair comments. But, I don't think the back of the grid is hurting too badly; They're still out there and running well within 107. They may need pay drivers and sponsors are no doubt hard to find, but it's pretty much always been that way. I don't know how far back you go, but there was some complete **** trundling round back in the day!..... I know Isobel for one well remembers Andrea Moda & Mezario, to name just two, for example! Further, we have Haas lining up and 'rumors' at least of someone wanting to buy Sauber, again. For sure, it's not all peaches & cream, but again, it's always been that way. There's always been backmarkers "making up the numbers", and today those backmarkers are as close as they've ever been IMO. F1 is hard, long may it remain so! Cheers, Ian
True about the always but now the stakes are so much higher. There are more employees with a lot farther to fall when a team packs it in.
Very true. But, the barriers to entry are also a lot higher these days too. Yet still they're lining up for entries it seems. Cheers, Ian
It's a very valuable and respected name in motor sport, and Stroll isn't exactly the kind of guy who likes his name splattered on everything he owns. He keeps a lower profile than most Billionnaires. I think the name will remain the same.
Can you see a fire in North Carolina from Europe . Imo Haas is going to be institutionalized by his family
Being in the F-1 Paddock gets you access to people and opportunities usually not accessible... so if you have some money to open the door, and get in, you could ( if you are really good ) go after partners, financing etc... its all about the contacts. that is why F-1 is in demand in 3rd world countries. All the teams want is the money and for you to stay out of their way. The Paddock is a haven for BS experts, cheats, frauds, and liars... some make it some dont. the one thing F-1 does is consume Cash at phenominal rates. When it spits you out ... you dont forget about it.... And neither does Bernie et Al.
Truer words never spoken! I wonder what percentage actually really seriously 'gain' from being there versus getting spat out with their tails between their legs? Cheers, Ian
I dont get it, why cant you run a successful F-1 team from the USA? we do make great world class airplanes - military & civilian... so the expertise is here. and Charlotte is not a bad place to live compared to Oxfordshire... has about the same density, and the winters are no where near as bad. You can be in London in 6.5 hours direct from Charlotte or anywhere else in the world... All that is lacking is $$$ if you have the cash, you can attract a quality team. He appears to have cash, so I say bully for him.... I wish him well. It would be great if he could get a classic F-1 name ... Scarab, or Eagle as in Haas Eagle, or Hass Scarab... or Chapparell...
Not sure about "stealing" Eagle or Chaparal, but I see where you're going. I too certainly wish him well, but just think he's making at the least a logistical nightmare for himself. Can it be done? Possibly, but why make it harder than it already is? Bernie provides all the flyaway transportation out of Stansted in the UK for example. Why not use it? Cheers, Ian
