After Renault, McLaren and Aston Martin are now on the verge of collapse...
After Renault, McLaren and Aston Martin are now on the verge of collapse http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/719065/After_Renault_McLaren_and_Aston_Martin_are_now_on_the_verge_of_collapse/ After major financial worries at Renault, there are now also noises from McLaren and Aston Martin that don't sound too positive. The British brands lack government support and are now in dire straits. McLaren in trouble The AD wrote Saturday morning that McLaren announced that it needs no less than 280 million euros to get out of the corona crisis. The umbrella brand of the Formula 1 team not only misses out on F1 revenues, but sales of the sports cars have also dropped a lot since the corona virus. McLaren's plan was to borrow the historic Formula 1 cars and its own head office, but the make has now returned from that. The bondholders announced that this had already been done in 2017, when they had to buy out the contract of then team boss and shareholder Ron Dennis. Aston Martin also hit Data from the Financial Times would also show that the production of McLaren's sports cars has been at a standstill since March and that they wanted to start again in April. Whether that has already happened is still unclear. Earlier, McLaren had already lost government support and shareholders had already put £300 million into the company out of their own pockets. Yet that is not enough and McLaren needs more. McLaren is not the only British motorsport brand that suffers from the crisis, because Aston Martin is also in dire straits due to the corona crisis. The brand didn't have an easy time of it already and had a lot of hope for the first SUV, to help it get back on its feet with Lawrence Stroll's investment. Whether that will succeed, is still very much to be seen.
I sincerely hope that both of these storied brands/teams can find a way to survive. I would miss them.
Let us see:: Renault in Trouble McLaren in Trouble Aston Martin in Trouble Williams in Trouble Looks like all but 2 teams will be in the points next year.
To that list, you can add; Mercedes about to pull works team and become engine supplier, redbull threatening to leave (which would take down Toro Rosso or what ever they are called today), Force Stroll who will be toast as soon as papa stroll tires of trying to turn his hopeless son into a faux WDC, Haas who are clearly on the way out having failed comprehensively as Ferrari clones.... So who’s left? Ah yes, ferrari. The only team who are actually paid to turn up...
Liberty needs to find some support for this set of teams lol. They can plan all they want for this year. Like much of business, the financial reality might not allow a season at all. The inherent value of F1 is not anything without functioning, 'viable' teams. When gone with the current financial situation, they will not come back. Ferrari would be smart to look for other opportunities to be safe if worse situations arise.
I bet all future contracts in F1 ill pay drivers for races actually run and not for races that were not run for whatever reason.
Mclaren and Williams both also receive a yearly bonus simply for turning up. Red Bull won't leave...Papa stroll can afford a while longer yet. Bad news for Ferrari, with Red Bull staying is tehy still won't win titles.
https://www.planetf1.com/news/ross-brawn-f1-technical-director/ F1 managing director Ross Brawn says Formula 1 will be in a “great place in six months” and urged fans to keep remembering the good times. The series has agreed new cost-cutting measures as teams look to cope with the loss of revenue caused by the delay to the 2020 season.
With a 5% stake in Aston, makes one wonder if Mercedes is looking to ultimately buy the company? https://europe.autonews.com/move/aston-martin-said-tap-mercedes-amg-head-replace-palmer-ceo?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200525&utm_content=article2-readmore
In his specific case, the famous phrase should be: "How an arrogant billionaire can become a millionaire".
The financial status of McLaren is giving me pause about the 765LT. Any one else feeling apprehensive.
I will say 'maybe' or 'possible' Steiner is correct ---------------- https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/149632/f1-involvement-now-clear-cut-for-manufacturers Haas team principal Gunther Steiner believes the reduced Formula 1 budget cap from 2021 will make involvement in the series a "clear cut" decision for interested manufacturers. The World Motor Sport Council is set to ratify a radical set of rule changes for F1 this week after teams agreed to new measures to help safeguard the future of the category following the COVID-19 pandemic. The budget cap for 2021 has been reduced from $175 million to $145m, while new rules on aerodynamic development handicaps and usage of open-source parts are also set to come into force. These changes are aimed at keeping all 10 teams on the grid for 2021 and beyond, with FIA president Jean Todt pushing to try and secure a "new deal" that will help make F1 more sustainable in the future. Haas was the last new team to join the F1 grid in 2016, while the grid has featured the same four manufacturers - Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Honda - for the last five years, with little sign of fresh interest. But Steiner believes the potential for F1 teams to offer break-even business models in the future could help stimulate more interest from manufacturers to join the grid. "It's a lot more interesting now. We need to push more that we can make this a break-even business at least going forward," Steiner said on Sky Sports F1. "That's one of my jobs to do for Mr. Haas, trying to get this to a point where his investments are smaller. "For teams coming in, when a budget cap is discussed, there are always some people out there which think they can make money with it. It's still a very expensive sport. "You still need to invest a lot of money to get somewhere. "I think what the good thing is for the manufacturers, if a board of directors see there is a cap, they know how much they're going to spend as a maximum.
Perhaps it’s time F1 to return to racing... instead of a showcase/platform for manufacturers to tout their green power units. Maybe it’s time to return to a simpler formula and make F1 understandable and competitive as a racing endeavor again. Maybe stop trying to cater to the politicians and politics of the environmentalists and just race.