Comments on: The worst–case scenario

By: snooker articles

snooker articles — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:29:01 +0000

I found your site while browsing on google for snooker and saw a few of your other pieces too. I’ve just added you to my yahoo rss Reader. Just wanted to say” keep up the good work” and congrats on a job well done! thumbsup from me

By: DG

DG — Tue, 20 May 2008 07:24:07 +0000

I couldn’t remember myself when I wrote it – it was one of the American series in the 60s – I will try and find my reference again

By: MarathonMan801

MarathonMan801 — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:17:43 +0000

McLaren used to do something very similar in the past, but not in F1, with the majority of the cars on the grid being McLarens, but not ‘Works’ McLarens.

When was that? And what was the formula?

By: DG

DG — Mon, 19 May 2008 09:09:12 +0000

What if a company such as Dallara or Lola offered full F1 Spec cars to anybody at a decent price, and maybe with a choice of engines?
They could not be called ‘Customer Cars’ since Dallara would not be fielding a ‘Works Team’, but they would not be ‘Works Teams’ themselves since they wouldn’t have developed the cars themselves. And if there is an engine choice too, it would still keep in the rules as they are now, with no new engine development being made.
I think that would safely allow smaller teams to compete and be able to spend their budgets on Bernies fees and not too much on the cars themselves – Dallara or whoever can keep development costs down since it doesn’t need to support a ‘Works Team’ as well, though it would be interesting to see how the testing would be done!
McLaren used to do something very similar in the past, but not in F1, with the majority of the cars on the grid being McLarens, but not ‘Works’ McLarens.

By: Nik

Nik — Sat, 17 May 2008 16:02:26 +0000

If it was up to only the FIA to fill up the grid, im sure you will just see 8 Ferrari’s running

By: Sav722

Sav722 — Sat, 17 May 2008 15:33:30 +0000

Good point, I don’t think it would be very team surly?

But then, if the FIA were to only offer some teams to run third cars, the organisation will once again be accused of favouritism.

I know some don’t like customer cars, but maybe F1 needs to allow them. It’s the only realistic way grid numbers will be boosted in the near future, Prodrive are a well funded and well-structured company – so they would be able to stay in F1 for some years.

It’s either that, or F1 needs more Vijay Mallya’s…

By: MarathonMan801

MarathonMan801 — Sat, 17 May 2008 10:29:00 +0000

The loss of Super Aguri has left F1 with just 10 teams and 20 cars. This is believed to be the minimum number of entrants Ecclestone is required to bring to Grands Prix. If it fell below that, he may require two teams to each bring a third car.

Would that be *every* team? If the number of teams drops to 9 (18 cars) would they all be required to field 3 cars, making a field of 27 cars?
How would that sit with the team expenditure cap?

By: DG

DG — Fri, 16 May 2008 08:07:13 +0000

I think the escalating costs will make the Manufacturers think again about staying in F1, and the Teams too, especially when you have a better chance of actually winning a race on the same circuit in a GP2 car or a Touring Car!
Bernie and his accountants have made the wrong choices recently – instead of allowing SuperAguri to stay in the Championship and maybe gain more backing, he physically shut the door on them. I think he will do exactly the same thing to any other team in financial trouble, big or small, and that is why the Teams will be leaving!
I also think that it won’t be too long before Red Bull and Williams are both classed as ‘Customers’ for not designing their own engines – bye bye Frank (and surely his KERS engine is based on Toyota too?)
Bernie does appear to want only Manufacturers in F1, but with all the recent debacles and the various freezes in development, do any of the following seem interested – Ford, Volkswagen, GM and Peugeot? TATA bringing Jaguar back would be nice, but I think they will be heading for GT Racing and ALMS.

By: milos

milos — Fri, 16 May 2008 04:09:38 +0000

there were exactly the same fears at the end of 2004 season when Ford pulled plug on F1. Jaguar for sale, Minardi Jordan without engines. The talk of some teams having to field 3 cars was very ripe. And what happened ? The season 2006 stared with 11 teams and 22 cars … Few months later there were 11 new subjects applying for the final entry …

The promised changes did not materialize, Prodrive did not enter, Super Aguri is out, Toro Rosso is up for sale. Not rosy picture. But things can change quickly.

Right now it is worth for team like Honda to spend hour of wind tunnel time and millions of dollars to come up with two ugly endplates for already ugly dumbo ears. That is simply ridiculous … If for example this sort of wasteful spending can be eliminated by new rules, it may make the F1 feasible again for privateer teams … Not a miracle medicine, but one of the steps … Budget caps similar to the farce that was made public yesterday will lead nowehere …

By: the limit

the limit — Fri, 16 May 2008 02:08:39 +0000

With the loss of Super Aguri, it is natural for people to show concern, and your article highlights those concerns to a T.
Concerning the major manufacturers, such as Honda or Toyota, I don’t see them leaving F1 and for a number of reasons.
F1 is a constantly evolving sport, always developing and changing, and its is almost always in a crisis in one way or another.
The future, it would seem, is in South East Asia, if Bernie is to be believed, and that affects the manufacturers also.
India and China, for example, are two huge, relatively untouched markets for some of these companies. In India especially, F1 will be the biggest motorsport event of the year, and what better arena to sell your products?
In America, there is too much competition, too many people chasing the same dollar, it is a more diluted market.
This is why Bernie wants more Asian races, and why the major companies will stay in F1, if not as teams, then as engine suppliers.
My fear, as you pointed out, is the death of the independant team, like Williams for example. It is not too far flung an idea to imagine, in five years say, a Toyota Williams Team knocking around, with all the decisions being made by Toyota and not Frank Williams.
You only have to look at Peter Sauber’s old team to see that it can be done, and with the right people, successfully.
This for me, as a fan, is distastefull. I like teams like Williams, McLaren, and when there were around, Jordan. It adds to the character of the sport, its soul.
However, so far as cutting costs so the ‘little fish’ can swim, don’t bank on it!
Also, don’t forget that in a few weeks we may have a new FIA President, and that is important. If it is Jean Todt, then I’ll have to watch snooker on a Sunday instead of Grands Prix.
The thought has made me puke all over the keyboard.