F1 Fanatic

Hyundai F1 was being talked about for a 2008 F1 entry and it did not even came close to materialise, so this time around it won’t be different.

2008 was around the time the recession started to rear its ugly little head, and the motoring industry was one of the hardest hit by it. Almost ever major manufacturer (and at the time, Hyundi was comfortably inside the top ten in the world) suffered massive losses. In the face of such a crippling economic disaster, any plans for a Formula 1 team would be the first thing Hyundai’s directors would have scrapped.

And I don’t recall there being anything about Hyundai entering in 2008. The FIA reportedly received twenty (or more) applications for the vacant grid space, but that ultimately went to Prodrive. If Hyundai had submitted an application of their own, then as a manufacturer, they almost certainly would have been selected, unless the bid was completely incompetent. The only way I can see that being a conceivable situation would be if Hyundai was a naming-rights sponsor for the team, so it would have been like Manor competing as Virgin. I remember Dave Richards talking about having secured a major sponsor for the Prodrive team, and he was going to announce it at the British Grand Prix (I remember it because I was actually quite looking forward to it), but then the customer chassis deal fell apart and the sponsor was never named.

I do know that Hyundai was looking at an entry in 2010. The few articles I can find on the subject (such as the one I linked to in the opening post) clearly name 2010 as the start date for the team, and there is actually Hyundai F1 website (though I can’t tell if it has any connection to the actual company). So it looks like they clearly had some kind of plan for 2010, but the recession kicked in beforehand.

Interestingly, I’ve aslo found this story from YallaF1 dated 18 October last year (you can tell from the URL), which contains the following direct quote from a Korean Grand Prix spokesman:

“Hyundai has been enthusiastic about the idea around the middle management levels, but the CEO has yet to be convinced.”

I don’t know how well-placed this guy is, but everything I have posted to date has operated on outdated information. Until now.

I think TATAs should bring back Jaguar to F1. That would be better. Also Hyundai should google “Toyota in F1″ and “Honda in F1″ before joining. Its a risky decision.

But they are building another racetrack closer to Seoul (Le Mans series? I can’t find the article), so I don’t foresee any further involvement at this track-the other track is so much closer to Seoul.

It’s called Autopia, and it’s 130km from Seoul. I don’t know much more about it, other than that the reborn Asian Le Mans Series will be racing there at some point next year.

If KIC keeps struggling, and if Autopia is a success, then I could see Bernie Ecclestone moving the race there. He’s never done that before, but then, as I outlinesd in the opening post, he’s done a whole lot of stuff with Korea that he has never done before.

I do hope we see some more engine manufacturers in the future, though, so maybe Hyundai could be an attractive buyer for Cosworth and an attractive supplier for teams with Asian sponsors.

I don’t think Cosworth could afford to buy Hyundai!