Was thinking about the Spyker-logo'd hat I have, and got to thinking about that team Jordan Grand Prix 05 Midland F1 Racing 06 Spyker F1 07 Force India F1 08 And rumors elsewhere indicate that it may not be Force India that much longer. I cannot think of anything else like this anytime recently. I know back in the day way back when privateers were always in and out. Was there anything similar to this back in the 70s or 80s? That was before my time.
Never as bad as this, usually if a team was sold it folded by the new owner, examples 1) Brahbam 2) Ligier 3) Arrows
The thread header made me think of one thing; Van Rossem, my nominee for the title. Amazingly, the Onyx had tons of potential, was quick and the team actually had decent results right out of the box. The year following was the predictable implosion with Pete Monteverdi holding the bag. I don't believe they made it through the entire season...
How about Leyton House, where they had Ivan Capelli driving an Adrian Newey designed car with a Ford Cosworth that gave great results before Newey was recruited to Williams and the whole Japanese House of Leyton House came crashing down. At least it lead to Capelli getting a Ferrari Drive at the worst time possible, 1992.
Unstable? Williams. They will be *lucky* to see 2010. Force India? Who cares. No one considered them as being a viable team. F1 will should count their stars as lucky if 14 cars line up in 2010.
Good question. I lost count, but how about the story of Honda? something Stewart Racing team BAR Honda Actually I do care. I want them to survive and help spark interest in India because I really want to see a Grand Prix in New Delhi, currently scheduled for 2011. I don't think so. If it comes to that, they will allow 3 cars per team and the big boys will eagerly jump on that. However the current costs savings already reduce the budgets by a third, so I'm quite optimistic we won't see more bleeding.
I am still so miffed at the SPA outcome, I don't know if I'll follow F1 this season and I'm not even an LH fan. Back to the question at hand; something = Tyrrell - BAR - Honda Stewart - Jaguar - Red Bull Toleman - Benetton - Renault The ones I tend to get lost on are; Lola - Beatrice/FORCE - Larrousse - Venturi - Larrousse --then Scuderia Italia switching from Dallara to Lola and March - Ram March - Ram - March - Leyton House - March Can't complain, at least there was diversity back then.
Yes that was a travesty, but then again the just outcome happened eventually. The cream rises to the top, even if Ferrari International Assistance wants to filter it out. Keep watching because we need your insights and perspective on here.
Korr, you think it will be that bad, I think by 2010 with the savings and the new regulations they should be ok.
Not to derail the thread too much, but I don't think it's going to be a case of whether the teams save X amount of dollars. F1 is always going to be hugely expensive. There is probably a litmus test for the big manufacturers, which is "are we making or losing money. If we are losing money, how do we justify being in F1". If they are losing money, I can see a lot of the big teams bailing out, even with the cost reductions. It won't kill F1, because teams that exist to race in F1 (McLaren, Williams, etc) will stick around. Some new blood would come in after MaxBern lowered the entry reqs and Ferrari would stay... but if the economy gets worse from here, I absolutely think Force India, Renault and one of the Red Bull teams will be gone for good.
As usual you hit it on the head. Regarding Red Bull however: Just yesterday I read an interview with Mateschitz, whose Red Bull empire continues to grow and expand its profits! Despite the global recession. So he is quite happy where he is at now. He does want to sell Toro Rosso particularly once he can no longer use the same chassis anymore, but he seems to be in no hurry. So yes, Toro Rosso will be sold eventually, but not as a fire sale. With Farce India the numbers aren't that rosy: The entire King Fisher empire is solely sustained and fueled by the beer revenue. Everything else, F1, airlines and what have is making losses. So it remains to be seen how long the owner's patience/passion lasts. Renault, well, what can we say? Their current car is a flop and Alonso probably at Ferrari next year. So I can see them stick it out for a while, but I'm not even sure they'll last the entire season. 2010 I expect them to be gone.
