So a slow Subway billboard going around the track? Who would have thought.
He's got a real company making real products with sales of around a billion or more per year. This gives his main company more wrld wide exposure and thus sales that can easily fund the team.
Realistically hard to belive they will be competitive any time soon. so the question is will they have the financial chops to stick it out to be competitive? I like that there is one guy ultimately in charge - that actually bodes well for success in F-1. technical partners aside- once you show up and show people you have funds - you will be innundated with technical guys wanting a job. hard part is getting a team that works .... as for location - fly away makes it more expensive - most likely they will need a center in the UK ... so will be interesting.
Peter Windsor? Richard Branson? This is another case of not only counting your chickens before they hatch, but counting your chickens before you get a damn farm. I hope there are more competitive teams on the grid in the future like everyone else, but to tout your winnings before your 'team' is even a team is ridiculous.
+1. When Penske took the plunge 40 years ago he had the good sense to base the team in England. Given the incredible cost of F1 these days and technical resources required it would be better to buy an existing team in England. Starting a team from scratch based in the USA? Absolutely no chance.
great points. one main guy is a key...the buck stops here...Enzo, Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, et al. I don't think being based in the US is a good idea, any more than a NASCAR team being based at Silverstone would be a good idea. the logistics alone makes it silly.
It should have been "Branson RAN his F1 team", not RUNS. But in any case, Branson didn't run anything; he just lent the name Virgin to the Manor team. The previous year, he was sponsoring the Brawn F1 team, but only for a small amount. Branson said in an interview that investment in F1 isn't cost effective, from a commercial point of view, and he is not fan of motor racing.
I think depending on its marketing structure it can work. if they got Sergio Perez and Maldonado they can capitolize on the south / central American fan base and build crediblity and sponsors from there. as for getting a US driver - Rossi is the only viable person at the moment and i think he is tied in to other teams long range plan... all it would take is to get a partnership with UPS or FedEX or DHL for shipping to be taken care of....that is where I think the NASCAR tie in helps ... they have access to a ready number of brands with paretn companies that are global - to me ideally the main sponsor of the team should be NASCAR - promote it via TV around the world. like it or not it has a following in europe, and Autosport and Motorsport cover it on a regular basis - so someone outside the USA likes it... now if you can promote it in China, India, and the Middle east and get regional series started - that has bigtime $$$ potential!
I recoil in horror at that idea! I hope it never happens to be honest; NASCAR invading our European screens. What a calamity that would be; no proper racing but a commercial circus. We may as well dispense with the billboards track action and start focussing on the adverts on TV; that would save a lot of money.
If you don't mind, let's try to rephrase your last sentence. There are more teams that don't win races in F1 that do win races, but I'd hardly call them losers. The skill, know-how, expertise, technical ability and teamwork it takes just to be on the grid in F-1 is amazing. Don't forget the 107% rule. The difference between winning and losing is so slight. Understand that on most tracks if you are 99% as fast as the pole car, then you will get lapped. So, there are many teams that don't win, but I would not call them "losers."
I must say that I had never heard of it, although "stock car" has been tried several times before in Europe or England. Each time ending up in failure. Apparently one race took place at Brands Hatch last year, only 6 miles from where I live, and I didn't know about it! I noticed, only 6 venues in Europe and only one oval. This NASCAR Whelen series seems to miss several oval tracks in Europe. Why, I don't know.
Also, anyone who follows F1 closely can see that all the teams don't benefit from the same budget, resources, experience, etc... and their effort can be appreciated accordingly. There are in fact several races going on in a GP. It's always nice to see an underdog disturbing the established order and sometimes to see one of the top team struggling. For years I was following Minardi before it became Toro Rosso, and it provided a few surprises, like a pole position once, plus some good drives from Webber and Alonso it both discovered. Now, I follow Marussia, a tiny outfit at the bottom of the grid.
Nor do I. I dont feel any team is a loser. I find it amazing smart people here dont recognize RED BULL as a winner --- Just a 'drinks' maker....sad.
They are winners and just soda can manufacturers. Therein lies the problem. Irony is that they actually designed and built a super car. Sadly and strangely they didn't decide to also sell it.
Can't you understand that Red Bull is just the temporary owner of a team that was Jaguar before, and then Stewart before? There is a whole team of technicians, engineers, fabricators and large facilities that existed before RB and hopefully will survive its departure if it decides to sell. Adopting the owner/sponsor's name is just an advertising ploy. If tomorrow Cola Cola was to buy an existing team and start winning, would you despise it too?
Not sure why that's a problem? Heinz only makes ketchup, but when you make billions of dollars, does it really matter how you do it? If Bill Gates started an F1 team, would we say he is ONLY an apps maker? Red Bull is involved in just about every type of motor-sport that I can think of. Way more than every other team on the F1 grid.
Sometimes it's fun to go for the low hanging fruit making fun of people, or teams. Don't take our joy. RB does certainly promote all the sports I care about.
