BrianCunningham

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20091215/F1/912159996

SIK02SS

he's building a team around Timo Glock? Me thinks, di Grassi will show better; but if I had the money I wouldn't have chosen either drivers :o

gkmccready

Don't forget that he was disappointed with how well he did last season... he *wanted* to be a backmarker team and work his way forward over time... said it a few times in early season interviews...

grantar2

The logic is there, Branson gets to win on his own terms, and he will win. He will employ the right talent well controlling costs and it will be all about his brand. He is very good at entering a well defined game and then winning, wether it be music, airlines, rail, he almost got into banking, but didn't like the terms in the end. My company (the company I work for) is working with him to develop his Virgin Galatic brand of space travel. I think he is likely to have a very good start up next season followed by success in years after. He is a very neat person. If you have the chance buy his audio book Business Laid Bare. You can buy it as a regular book, but he reads the audio book himself and you get the full feel for the message he is conveying almost like being in his living room listening to him talk to you. After watching his success, his mod of operation, you would believe this is the logical path with the right people at the right level.
Looking forward to rooting for them.

Zoxxo

Re: Branson/Virgin

http://en.espnf1.com/virgin/motorsport/story/5405.html



Z//

grantar2

He knows how to build a brand, and be successful. Depending on how Danaca does in Stock Cars you may still see her in F-1. Of course her IRL team owner, didn't do that well in F-1.

Zoxxo

Virgin already is a brand.

Being successful at some things does not mean you will be successful at all things. Toyota spent more $$$ in F1 over the past few years than Branson can/will dream of using. Zero wins to show for it.

Never. Danika doesn't WANT to do F1. And why should she? She's making a fairly decent living doing it the way she's doing it.

How is this relevant?

Z//

BrianCunningham

grantar2

Zox how is Michale's experience relevant. Let's just say he might have discussed what went wrong, the politics and impacts. Yeah that was 1993 but there is something to be learned. As for Danica not wanting to run F-1, that is inconsistent with statements she made back when Bernie made his famous refrigerator comments. Not to mention she had a test date scheduled with Honda in Nov 2008 until the manufacturer decided to pull out of F-1.
If Danica were to get with a quality F-1 team her worth would far exceed what she could earn in either IRL or NASCAR. She wouldn't be the first woman to race F-1, but she would be the first with a full season ride.
As for Virgin being a brand, suggest you spend some time with Richard or perhaps read his books. Virgin is a brand, however he treats each of his entities as individual brands. Thus Virgin Atlantic, is different from Virgin America, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Rail, Virgin Records (what started it all). etc. Virgin is a brand, like General Motors is a brand, but within he sub brands. He will build a successful F-1 team. More over he will do it cost effectively.

Branson doesn't go into any business he hasn't researched and understands. He is willing to take risk, but he surrounds himself with type A overachievers and then learns everything he can about it. He wouldn't be starting an F-1 team if he didn't already have significant intellectual capital invested. I suggest his book Business Stripped Bare.

I am not looking for immediate wins from them, but they won't be a joke either.

I suspect if Danica does well, especially if she can move into the top 3 in IRL, and is maybe a little successful in NASCAR we will see her in F-1 by 2012 if the right sponsor comes along. To her this is sport but also business. Teaming up with Dale Jr. is brilliant, they are very much alike success wise. Not a lot of wins, fan favorites, making really good money, solid sponsors.

The only difference is Dale Jr. is easier to be around, and less cutting. As a motorsports photographer (a regular at Fontana) and Staff for the Long Beach Grand Prix, I have had extensive access to both.

Zoxxo

Let's say? I'm guessing that if MA had anything to say to Danica on the subject it would be along the lines of what ***holes the F1 crowd can be (they give the term ***hole a bad name,) how they seriously do not want Americans in the game (despite what they say in their press releases,) and how the game is political beyond the wildest imaginings of the American drivers.

She is 27 years old. She just signed a 3 year deal with Andretti and has shown that she intends to aim at NASCAR. Just when do you think she's going to fit a full time F1 excursion into all that and why would you (or she) think for a minute that she would be competitive even *if* she landed in a competitive car/team. Ms. Patrick is fully aware of her limitations and the realities of an F1 shot. Ain't gonna happen. Ever.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing...ry?id=3921946&

If you truly understand F1 then you know that manufacturers often give "courtesy" or "reward" drives in their F1 cars to lots of drivers from all sorts of series around the world. It means *nothing* in terms of who they intend to put in their cars for real. And that's all this was. Jarno Trulli just had a NASCAR "test" in a *TOYOTA* (hmmm) Nationwide car . Does that mean he's coming to the nationwide series? I think not.

Two things wrong with this. First is the premise that everyone will do anything in order to make ever more money. There are actually people in the world for whom a bank account of multiple millions, along with an annual income of a few million more, is enough to make them happy. Second, her worth would be increased *only if she succeeded.* Unlike NASCAR where you can suck in millions just by being there and repeating your sponsors' names into the camera 300 times an hour, in F1 you have to actually do it well for it to count.

If Danica went to F1 (at 30 years of age) and "failed" (as defined by the anti-American European fans and the cynical, hostile European F1 press,) her worth would go down across the board. She would be the female version of "Michael Andretti in Formula One" for the rest of her carrer (just like MA.) The odds of that happening are *high* and she knows it. She's been pretty smart about managing her career up to now and I doubt she's going to have some sort of brain failure about this all of a sudden.

Nope. Better a medium-sized fish in a medium-sized pond than a small fish in a pond full of Barracudas. And she knows it.

Z//

rws.1

With Virgin, Lotus, Campos and Michael's return it should be an interesting season

BrianCunningham

out on the track

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100204/F1/100209955


more photos

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100203/F1/100209967

Sidney004

Virgin Online launch:

http://www.crash.net/tailenders/vide...ent_wrong.html