ASTON MARTIN To Enter F1?

Those 2 billionaires must have A LOT of $$ if they want to take AM to F1

They better be careful or they could become Millionaires

 

Yes! Green cars. F1 paint schemes need more color.

 

The more the prestigious the brands the better. This is what F1 is all about. On the other hand, I'll believe it when I see it.

 

Exactly.

 

Do you think maybe Dave Richards (Prodrive) will use his connections/working relationship to have AM power for his F1 team in the future??

 

Well, at least now Cosworth knows what badges to slap on their V10

 

I'd like to see some new AM prototypes at LeMans & in ALMS, That would rule

 

I agree. This is where they belong.

 

Aston Martin actually raced in F-1 back in the late 50's and early 60's with none other than Jim Clark... they did not do well, and it was a front engined machine... but there is history for them to be in F-1.....

 

Yes, but they have far more history, and success in Sports Cars.

Clark was signed to drive F-1 for Aston Martin, but only tested. He never drove an A-M in an actual race.

From Jim Clark Remembered, by Graham Gauld:

"Unfortunately, he (Jim Clark) never drove an Aston Martin in a race, for the company appeared to have burned their fingers on the Formula 1 effort and, though a new independent rear suspension model was produces in time for the British Grand Prix, the whole effort was running at half- strength...At this stage Clark's future in Grand Prix racing was secure, for he had been offered a full contract with Lotus should anything happen to Aston Martin, and from that Zandvoort race onwards Clark was to drive almost exclusively for Lotus."

 

My sentiments EXACTLY.

 

I love it when you get technical.... Yes you are correct... I think he tested and was going to be partnered with Maston Gregory... but the whole thing really never got off the ground... testing/ racing ... in those days they were both dangerous activities...

 

Aston Martin, like Jaguar I should say, doesn't really belong to F1. This is not where the AM followers expect them to be, and what is more, the return for their effort would have minimal impact on their sales.

Traditionally AM rightly has its place in GT (and sportscars maybe), where they already race with some degree of success.

As for the historical AM F1, in 59, wasn't it driven in a few GPs by a man call Caroll Shelby, before the whole deal faltered?

In its memoirs "A Certain Sound", John Wyer, managing director of AM at the time, mentions that they soon realised that F1 had been attempted too late, with a front engine car when slowly the trend was going rear-engine (Cooper, Lotus). BRM, even Vanwall were designing rear-engine cars, only Ferrari (Enzo) wanted to persevere with a fron engine.

 

Please do, so that we dont have to suffer watching Super Aguri.

 

It's already been rumored that Prodrive was planning to enter F1 in 2008. Maybe partnered with AM, I hope.

 

I thought Prodrive was definetely coming in to F1? Also Prodrive was trying to persuade the FIA to allow customer cars, where a successful company would sell complete cars to less fortunate teams hoping to make F1 equal.

 

Prodrive was awarded the 12th and final spot in the FIA F1 World Championship. Dave Richards beat a bunch of other people to get there. I think he's got a lot to prove...

 

For 2007 or 2008 season? I am presuming 2008 because there doesnt seem to be any hype now about the drivers or the development of this new team.

 

That would be awesome! Ford owns Jag and Aston, and Jag was very unsuccessful, so hopefully they wouldn't have the same luck. If Ford wants to do great in a racing effort, they have the financial might and resources to do just that...remember Le Mans '66...of course you do. I think seeing an Americanish team, you know, with maybe the blue oval somewhere on the car, would be cool and generate more interest in the sport in America. Aston Martin would look great in F1, they have great road cars. I think they should go for it, but I don't think they will. I thought only one new entry was entering in 08, and I know its Prodrive. The Dubai track should be interesting that year as well...

 

Ford is trying to sell AM. Where would they get the $ for F1?
AM is still for sale, so they could sell their name to Cosworth/Prodrive, but money will be tight without Ford and new cars require huge investments, would the LVMH people be up for the investment in new vehicles AND F1?
Supposedly Jaguar is going back into sportscar racing, though not in the same class as the DBR9. (Class in both senses of the word) I doubt that AM would attempt F1 as they have not won at LeMans yet. Remember that they've been living off the '59 victory and need to repeat before doing anything else. LeMans is a big deal for them and their reputation as far as racing goes.

Also Ford makes the AM engines in Germany, so would they supply a competitor to Jaguar?
Some feel that Ford owning AM keeps Jaguar from being more of a competitor to AM. That's what happened when the Nimrods lost out to the XJR in prototypes when Ford bought AM.
FWIW I think that Jacques Nasser will buy control, keep Dr. Bez and be partly owned by Ford for access to their labs/parts/engineers.

 

Aston Martin tried F1 many, many years ago and failed miserably ... nothing will have changed, other than Aston Martin designers would no longer be involved.

Ford has lost the plot when it comes to F1, their efforts with Jaguar were abismal and they look like repeating the failure, also selling Cosworth was just crazy IMO.

Pete

 

Ford hasn't lost the plot, they just disengaged from F1, that's different. They analyse F1 and decided that it was not part of their strategy anymore.
The F1 Jaguar team was a failure, but I blame Jackie Stewart for that; he managed to convince Ford to finance his team, then sold it to them: they paid TWICE for it!!

Ford pulling out of F1 was on the horizon for a long time: they have achieved everything they wanted, and dominated F1 for almost 2 decades. People tend to forget that Lotus, Tyrrell, Williams, McLaren etc... won championships with Ford badged engines.

Ford is like any other major manufacturer that enter F1; they are in it for commercial reasons, not for sporting reasons. Manufacturers come and go. They are not F1 fans, they are in the business of selling cars. F1 is just a marketing exercise providing exposure - at a price. Read a bit of motorsport history! Honda, BMW, Mercedes or Renault have been in F1 before, left after a time, and came back for another spell.

F1 is often the first casualty on their budget if the business is not too good at a certain time.

Cosworth was Ford F1 sub-contractor for many years before acquisition. Without Ford in F1, there is no need to keep Cosworth.

 

Please don't patronise me ... I'm sure we have read equal!

I firmly believe that Ford selling Cosworth was a major mistake. They could have kept a quite and relatively cheap 'in' with F1, allowing them to make a bigger come back cheaper when and if ever required. Now it is going to cost them heaps. Plus Cosworth was a good performance brand.

The reason Jaguar failed is because Ford put all their effort into parties, and not racing ... that is the main reason it failed, not Stewart. I am well aware that companies get involved in F1 for marketing reasons, but you still have to take it seriously. No point investing more in the parties than the racing ... it was never going to work, even started with the wrong name on the car.

Pete

 

Why yes, I'd say a Billion $'s is quite a bit of money





I'd love to see Aston Martin enter F1.