RUMOR: Michael Schumacher And Ross Brawn To Buy Out Renault?

What the hell 3 threads? I will believe it when I see it.

 

NEVER happen. Renault will always remain FRENCH (as in owned by the government)

 

Well I think it did... Renault is not govt owned any more... has not been for some time, but does get govt subsidies... like all the other Frog car companies.

Carlos Ghosen ( CEO ) is most definately not a govt guy, cause he is cranking up the work force and unions... no more 12 hour work week and Foie Gras and Champagne for lunch Non non mon dieu! C'est pas possible!!! zis eez no possibley vee work for zee living! catastrophe!!!

 

What a riot !! Planet-F1 has MS talking to VW at the same time.

http://www.planet-f1.com/drivers/driver_news/michael_schumacher/story_22126.shtml

 

and from Ross Brawn:
"I cannot comment on Michael's plans for the future because I don't know them! But as far as I know, there's no truth in the rumour, especially the bit concerning me," .

 

Funny one but I think they're both smarter than to burn their hard earned money in a F1 team. Alain Prost should serve as a warning to everybody.

 

While many of you think that if there are multiple stories of them talking to different companies that makes the story less likely, I think it makes it more likely that they're looking at starting their own team.

It seems to me they're shopping around. Now, when I shop around I do as much window shopping as possible. Go home, think about what I'd seen and the prices. Then I mull it over some more and make a decision if I want to buy and what to buy. Then I just go in and do it.

The new rules come out in 2008. Bernie and Max are loading them for independent teams to compete. MS and Ross don't need to make a decision for a while. They can shop and go home and mull it over. They've already re-made the name of Ferrari, why not make a name for themselves?

 

well, if i were one of them, and i had extra money to use, i'll rather buy up a football team. it's really tough to take over an f1 team, especially if ur not a manufacturer...plus, with the future of f1 hanging there, i don;t think it's a wise decision. buying a football team is more likely, plus, i think it's less politics..

 

Didn't MS once say once he retired from F1 he doubted he wanted anything to do with it afterwards?

 

Probably the strongest reason not to do it. I just don't this happening, but you never know.

 

Like many other ex-F1 racers, he could always race in the DTM

 

Again the fact that two of the intellectually strongest F1 pilots ever (Lauda and Prost) weren't able to run F1 teams shows me, that team manager requires different skills. I don't see MS in that role at all. As an ambassador for Ferrari yes, but not as a team manager. Brawn of course has the skills and tools for that job.

 

Why on earth an individual would spend money on an F1 team is beyond me.

As a car manufacturer, F1 racing makes sense. Your building and developing cars and investing in R&D. As a driver, or an individual, no matter how wealthy you are, its just a bad investment.

Micheal may have been happy getting 5 million dollar paycheks from ferrari each time he raced, but paying them out to a team etc is completely different story.

 

I think some of the F1 teams posted profit this year. May be others gained some but just used creative accounting to hide it. With Bernie promising increase in TV revenues going to teams- looks like F1 can be a good business. And it's much easier to ask for sponsorship money if your are the MS himself. I think he isn't looking to spend money - he is looking to make money and have a nice retirement hobby.

 

Here's an idea. You (me too) loved Ferraris at one point. You saved your money (I'm in the process!) and you bought what you wanted (Not even close, unfortunately). Maybe he wants an F1 team of his own? Surely, he afford it. He'll start out with a damn lot of respect, and a lot of back. I don't know if Ferrari'd help it at all, considering it'd be a competitor, but surely MS has a great deal of connections in the F1 industry, as well as other helpful industries.

He's a very well-known and accomplished man with the means to get what he wants (if this is true).

I mean, at his level of wealth, you have to think "Well, what the hell else am I going to do with all this friggin' money?"

I'd do it!

 

All true but it still didnt help him guide the 2005 Ferrari package out of the doldrums.

F1 is so complicated that one man no longer makes that much of a difference. There are so many players who all need to work together coupled with lots of luck to get a good season.

Michael is the most talented driver and is able to motivate the team to work around himself. Team management involves less self-centeredness for sure.

I personally doubt that Michael will be a great team manager.

 

IF Schumacher wants to do this, what makes you think that he would have to use his own money?

 

Ditto.

It is one thing to be known as the best driver and hence motivate the team and a very different one to be the manager of things. Prost and Lauda were the best drivers at their respective times but failed miserably at running a team. And Lauda was even able to start two airline companies, but F1 manager is a different beast altogether.

Why are there such huge differences in F1 teams? Why is Jordan an also-run and McLaren almost always a contender for the top? Management

 

Incorrect, Lauda did this too when he won his 2 WC's with Ferrari (and helped them win the '79 one also really, ie. the incredients were in place.). He was the key incredient to get them to focus on the ball, instead of the pasta

One of the reasons why I respect Lauda. Also Lauda (out of most F1 drivers) is a business man.

Pete
ps: I was surprised that he did not succeed with Jaguar ... but to be honest Jaguar was not going to succeed anyway.

 

Schumacher has certainly done very well for himself, but the truth is, (for him and every other super-earning athlete like Michael Jordan and Alex Rodriguez), that real wealth is required to be a principal in a competitive F1 team.
Bill Gates has real wealth - the kind where his net worth fluctuates on any given day by more than Schumacher's total net worth!

Owning F1 teams and being competitive requires corporate money - the kind that car companies have. I'm looking for VW/Audi/Porsche to throw their hat in the ring anytime soon. If GM got involved in a real way, (not like Ford's pathetic Jaguar effort), they would bring American fans back to the sport. Imagine a Chevy team running hard and winning around the world....Nah, they're too NASCAR to even consider the world-wide benefits of being winners on a world stage.