Ok, laying aside all the Honda turmoil, isn't there a minimum number of cars required for a F1 grid? Would it be profitable for Bernie to buy the team and run it as a backmarker, just to insure the grid? Perhaps some of the stronger teams would be required to run 3 cars?
Yep, it's an interesting point..... I *thought* the evil pygmy "promised" a 22 car grid a few years back - He bailed out Minardi in order to do that IIRC. Then Super Aguri went AWOL, and I thought he may well bail them out, but 20 car grids became acceptable. Now, it seems, Honda is gone and I suspect Toyota may follow. 16 cars must surely put the little **** in breach of contract - *BUT*, and I'm sorry to say this, he's got Ferrari, and that is all that matters....... Anyone remember Enzo's hated "garageisti"?....... My 02c, Cheers, Ian
Indeed and it has happened before: When the Minardi team was about to fold, Bernie jumped in and financed an entire season for them (before they got sold to Toro Rosso). It was financially more attractive to him to pay for the team and not default on his contracts with the race organizers. I don't know what the minimum would be, as that's defined by Bernie and the organizers, but the number 20 has been rumored.
Max was on the BBC this morning saying that he can force teams to run 3 cars if he needs to. He didn't say what the minimum grid was.
Well, it used to be 16. The Concorde Agreement (that has since expired) stated that at less than 16 cars, manufacturers can be forced to run 3 cars until the minimum grid number is met. However, the CA only governs actions between the FIA and the teams that participate in the FIA's F1 events. Bernie's deals with the tracks, however, may be a different ball of kittens.
Yes, the Concorde (and the Russian imitation - the Concordeski) both expired right there in Paris. Can anybody give us a plain and simple explanation why 16 cars on the start would be boring while 22 cars would be exciting? We all know that only about 5 or 6 of them have a chance of coming in podium. The answer is obviously about money.
In 1969, only 6 factory teams ran, and only about 13-14 cars appeared at every round, plus assorted part-time privateers. Typically there was only 1 Ferrari and up to 3 BRMs, 2 cars from the other teams, plus the upper-class privateers Rob Walker and Frank Williams. The rest of the field was made up of privateers with lower budgets that generally only appeared at a few races each. This was before sponsorship kicked in in a big way. Lotus had Gold Leaf, Matra had Elf and McLaren had Gulf, but all the other cars were still in national colors. The appearance of additional sponsors such as Yardley and STP in 1970 resulted in a trend toward bigger fields. Ironically, one of the teams that called it quits after the 1968 season was......Honda! Who says that history doesn't repeat itself?
Found the answer: 20 http://www.blick.ch/sport/formel1/formel-1-ueberdreht-106908 Blick's Roger Benoit is a long time friend of Bernie: "Der clevere Brite wird auch diesmal einen Weg finden, um die laufenden Verträge mit den GP-Veranstaltern und TV-Sendern einzuhalten, obwohl diese Verträge mindestens 20 Boliden am Start (und nicht nur 18) garantieren." Translation: "The smart Briton will find a way to keep the contracts with the organizers and TV stations valid, despite these contracts guaranteeing at least 20 cars on the grid (and not just 18)."
