Comments on: Prodrive miss another chance to enter F1

By: GeorgeK

GeorgeK — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 14:54:58 +0000

Good point Red Andy, I had forgotten that hook. But would it necessarily carry over to the next purchaser? Every contract clause has a good lawyer waiting to find a way around it. But I also suspect DR is more interested in a clean access to the grid as opposed to spending his resources in court battles.

By: K

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 14:11:07 +0000

“without consent of the FIA”

That basically means the FIA can say “OK” and they can do it. They’ve provided consent several times in the past, Brawn is not one off.

Anyway that’s beside the point, the new teams were required to use Cosworth power despite how many teams other engine manufacturers was supplying.

By: Jim N

Jim N — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:19:20 +0000

F1 Sporting Regulations clause 13.3 “A major car manufacturer may not directly or indirectly supply engines for more than two teams of two cars each”. Cosworth is not a major car manufacturer. This was not a new regulation, it’s been there for years. Brawn had to get special permission to use Merceedes engines. Pushing to 3 teams may be a one off exception, but 4 or 5 ??

By: Red Andy

Red Andy — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:23:10 +0000

I would be very surprised. One of the conditions of sale when Paul Stoddart sold Minardi to Red Bull was that the team’s factory remained at Faenza and the old Minardi workers kept their jobs. I can’t see DR wanting to move Prodrive to Italy just for the sake of an F1 berth.

By: GeorgeK

GeorgeK — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 11:51:27 +0000

So what is Prodrive’s next F1 opportunity, if any? I had hoped he would pick up the pieces of the BMW bale out, but Sauber picked that up. Seems to me that the next move might be taking Toro Rosso over. We forget that Herr Matschitz has been trying to off the team (at least publicly) for at least a year.

Would anyone be surprised if that happened?

By: PJA

PJA — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 11:04:52 +0000

I am not sure I understand what point you are trying to make. Yes Cosworth engines have been successful in F1 in the past but that doesn’t guarantee that they will be in the future. Williams used to be the best team in F1 winning multiple Championships but they didn’t even manage a podium last year.

Also the last time Cosworth were in F1 in 2006 they didn’t have the best engine, although I remember reading that at the start of the 2006 when V8s were new to all the teams it was rated quite highly but lack of funds meant they lost out in the development race over the course of the season.

With the current engine freeze and the fact the FIA will probably allow Cosworth to upgrade their engine until it is on a parr with the others, they should eventually be competitive, but I would have thought if a new team wanted the best engine, solely based on performance for 2010 not cost or for any political reasons, Cosworth wouldn’t have been their first choice when they were applying back in the summer.

By: PJA

PJA — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:55:51 +0000

Please correct me if I am wrong but didn’t some McLaren staff also go and work with Force India in 2009 as part of the deal?

By: Zeke

Zeke — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:56:10 +0000

Could be just me but somewhere in the above link it mentions Cosworth as “The Most Sucessful Engine in F1 History”.

By: CLK GTR

CLK GTR — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:13:17 +0000

Who cares if a sports car series blows F1, F1 is open wheel racing, that is completely different, never can be compared. I also dont see any series that will make it mandatory for teams to buy their own car.

I wonder when this fictional fued between FIA and prodrive happened? was it before 2008 or after?

By: Prisoner Monkeys

Prisoner Monkeys — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:55:47 +0000

That doesn’t make sense. It’s disproved by Brawn and Force India last season (Mercedes engines), Red Bull (Renault) and by Toro Rosso even (Ferrari). These teams weren’t driver “hot houses” for their engine suppliers. Do you think McLaren will become a driver nusury for Mercedes next season? No. No they won’t.

But Brawn was simply an incarnation of an old team, and Ross Brawn is far too savvy to let that sort of thing happen. As for Force India, they’ve been racing for three years now. They have that established sense. And Toro Rosso wasn’t Ferrari’s nursury, as you put it, because they’re already in Red Bull’s thrall.