F-1 manufacturers will starting to thin fast!
07-29-2009, 07:35 PM
#1
Team Owner
Thread Starter
F-1 manufacturers will starting to thin fast!
July 29, 2009
Formula One facing a fight for its future after BMW pull the plug
(Roland Weihrauch/EPA)
Ecclestone may have some fire-fighting to carry out if he is to douse the flames licking around Formula One's entire structure
Kevin Eason, Sports News Correspondent
5 Comments
Recommend? (2)
And another one bites the dust. The crucial question now for Formula One is how many more manufacturers will follow BMW and quit the sport.
There are huge doubts that Toyota and Renault will carry on for much longer, which will leave Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley with some substantial fire-fighting to carry out if they are to douse the flames licking around Formula One‘s entire structure.
You can bet the phone lines are hot even now with calls from Mosley, the president of the FIA, the governing body, trying to revive some interest among independent teams who did not pass muster to get onto the grid for next year. That could be fruitless as all the unsuccessful candidates - such as David Richards' Prodrive organisation, and Lola - pretty much pulled the plug on their plans once they knew they had been rejected.
Yes, in come Manor Grand Prix, USF1 and Campos Racing in 2010 - but out goes yet another big name with major marketing clout that has been a substantial draw for sponsors wanting global exposure.
Related Links
BMW to pull out of Formula One
Ecclestone adamant that his job is safe
Pressure builds on Ecclestone to go
Multimedia
Was Mosley right about the budget cap after all?
BMW executives - in the usual daft jargon of business - have been waffling about “strategic realignment” being the reason for leaving. In plain English: they spent a shed load of cash and still couldn’t win.
Of all the manufacturers, BMW seemed robust enough to withstand the economic buffeting of recent times. But the board was growing increasingly restive, not just about the high costs of competing - BMW spent an average £300 million-a-year on F1 - but the interminable political wrangling that had led to fears of a breakaway series starting up in opposition to Ecclestone's F1. Apart from the cash, it just was not worth the trouble any longer.
Ecclestone’s theory that BMW left because they weren’t winning also rings true: would they have walked out had Robert Kubica been leading the world championship instead of the team notching up a hopeless eight points all season? Perhaps not. But, like Honda, it is easier to pull the plug when you are looking up from the back of the grid.
In all of this lies a certain delicious irony, though. Mosley was vilified, hunted down and eventually hounded from office because he was determined to impose a £40 million-a-year budget cap on the teams. The Formula One Teams Association (Fota), representing eight teams on the grid, fought him every inch of the way until he decided to give up his presidency, still insisting that it was lunacy to run a sport on such enormous spending.
One of the most vociferous drivers behind Fota’s opposition was …. BMW. Now they have decided they can’t afford Formula One after all.
Seems like if you can't win quit for some of them.
Formula One facing a fight for its future after BMW pull the plug
(Roland Weihrauch/EPA)
Ecclestone may have some fire-fighting to carry out if he is to douse the flames licking around Formula One's entire structure
Kevin Eason, Sports News Correspondent
5 Comments
Recommend? (2)
And another one bites the dust. The crucial question now for Formula One is how many more manufacturers will follow BMW and quit the sport.
There are huge doubts that Toyota and Renault will carry on for much longer, which will leave Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley with some substantial fire-fighting to carry out if they are to douse the flames licking around Formula One‘s entire structure.
You can bet the phone lines are hot even now with calls from Mosley, the president of the FIA, the governing body, trying to revive some interest among independent teams who did not pass muster to get onto the grid for next year. That could be fruitless as all the unsuccessful candidates - such as David Richards' Prodrive organisation, and Lola - pretty much pulled the plug on their plans once they knew they had been rejected.
Yes, in come Manor Grand Prix, USF1 and Campos Racing in 2010 - but out goes yet another big name with major marketing clout that has been a substantial draw for sponsors wanting global exposure.
Related Links
BMW to pull out of Formula One
Ecclestone adamant that his job is safe
Pressure builds on Ecclestone to go
Multimedia
Was Mosley right about the budget cap after all?
BMW executives - in the usual daft jargon of business - have been waffling about “strategic realignment” being the reason for leaving. In plain English: they spent a shed load of cash and still couldn’t win.
Of all the manufacturers, BMW seemed robust enough to withstand the economic buffeting of recent times. But the board was growing increasingly restive, not just about the high costs of competing - BMW spent an average £300 million-a-year on F1 - but the interminable political wrangling that had led to fears of a breakaway series starting up in opposition to Ecclestone's F1. Apart from the cash, it just was not worth the trouble any longer.
Ecclestone’s theory that BMW left because they weren’t winning also rings true: would they have walked out had Robert Kubica been leading the world championship instead of the team notching up a hopeless eight points all season? Perhaps not. But, like Honda, it is easier to pull the plug when you are looking up from the back of the grid.
In all of this lies a certain delicious irony, though. Mosley was vilified, hunted down and eventually hounded from office because he was determined to impose a £40 million-a-year budget cap on the teams. The Formula One Teams Association (Fota), representing eight teams on the grid, fought him every inch of the way until he decided to give up his presidency, still insisting that it was lunacy to run a sport on such enormous spending.
One of the most vociferous drivers behind Fota’s opposition was …. BMW. Now they have decided they can’t afford Formula One after all.
Seems like if you can't win quit for some of them.
07-29-2009, 09:38 PM
#2
Melting Slicks
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Talk has been going around since the beginning of the year that Toyota and Renault might pull out.
07-29-2009, 10:18 PM
#3
Racer
There will be some up and coming Chinese teams/manu's to fill up the spaces. Lots of wheel bearing and rotor failures and they'll run really heavy knock off OZ Racing wheels. 
07-30-2009, 12:04 AM
#4
Le Mans Master
There's some talk about 3 car teams...might come to that if this keeps up.
Sauber-Cosworth doesn't sound like a bad name for a team after BMW leaves...anyone have a few hundred million dollars to spare?
Sauber-Cosworth doesn't sound like a bad name for a team after BMW leaves...anyone have a few hundred million dollars to spare?
07-30-2009, 12:33 AM
#5
Safety Car
07-30-2009, 11:30 AM
#8
Le Mans Master
http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/6/9488.html
Cosworth delighted with Formula One return
The Cosworth name is to return to Formula One racing next year, after the company revealed it has agreed relationships with the three new teams accepted by the FIA for 2010. An identical package, including a Cosworth engine and technical support, will be provided to Campos Grand Prix, Manor Grand Prix and Team US F1.
"I am pleased that Cosworth's exceptional mix of capabilities has enabled us to provide a solution for Formula One that sits so neatly with our existing operations in the aerospace and defence sectors,” said Tim Routsis, Cosworth CEO.
“Cosworth is proud not only to be able to provide a solution that will deliver the performance needed by these teams to compete in this most technologically challenging sport, but also to extend its long association with Formula One as a truly independent provider of competitive motive power."
Cosworth was set up by British engineers Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth in 1958 and quickly rose to prominence after Jim Clark drove to victory in a Cosworth-powered Lotus 18 in a Formula Junior race in 1960. The company's tradition of Formula One success began in 1967 when its DFV engine, the first F1 unit designed to function as a fully stressed element of the chassis, won its debut race. The DFV would win 155 Grands Prix over the next 15 years.
By 2006 Cosworth was supplying engines to both Toro Rosso and Williams, whose FW28's CA2006 achieved a Formula One landmark of 20,000RPM during qualifying for its race debut at the 2006 Bahrain race. The following season, however, the British team signed a supply deal with Toyota, while Toro Rosso swapped to Ferrari power, and Cosworth left F1 racing.
"The engineering expertise we have accumulated over four decades in the sport has enabled us to broaden our reach into many different high-technology sectors,” added Routsis. “Today our engineering capabilities extend beyond racing, encompassing high-technology applications in the aerospace, defence, energy, marine and automotive industries. Cosworth has the necessary infrastructure to fulfil the supply of Formula One engines without affecting our other activities."
Cosworth will supply Campos, Manor and Team US F1 for the next three years.
The Cosworth name is to return to Formula One racing next year, after the company revealed it has agreed relationships with the three new teams accepted by the FIA for 2010. An identical package, including a Cosworth engine and technical support, will be provided to Campos Grand Prix, Manor Grand Prix and Team US F1.
"I am pleased that Cosworth's exceptional mix of capabilities has enabled us to provide a solution for Formula One that sits so neatly with our existing operations in the aerospace and defence sectors,” said Tim Routsis, Cosworth CEO.
“Cosworth is proud not only to be able to provide a solution that will deliver the performance needed by these teams to compete in this most technologically challenging sport, but also to extend its long association with Formula One as a truly independent provider of competitive motive power."
Cosworth was set up by British engineers Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth in 1958 and quickly rose to prominence after Jim Clark drove to victory in a Cosworth-powered Lotus 18 in a Formula Junior race in 1960. The company's tradition of Formula One success began in 1967 when its DFV engine, the first F1 unit designed to function as a fully stressed element of the chassis, won its debut race. The DFV would win 155 Grands Prix over the next 15 years.
By 2006 Cosworth was supplying engines to both Toro Rosso and Williams, whose FW28's CA2006 achieved a Formula One landmark of 20,000RPM during qualifying for its race debut at the 2006 Bahrain race. The following season, however, the British team signed a supply deal with Toyota, while Toro Rosso swapped to Ferrari power, and Cosworth left F1 racing.
"The engineering expertise we have accumulated over four decades in the sport has enabled us to broaden our reach into many different high-technology sectors,” added Routsis. “Today our engineering capabilities extend beyond racing, encompassing high-technology applications in the aerospace, defence, energy, marine and automotive industries. Cosworth has the necessary infrastructure to fulfil the supply of Formula One engines without affecting our other activities."
Cosworth will supply Campos, Manor and Team US F1 for the next three years.
Last edited by Lancer033; 07-30-2009 at 11:40 AM.