F1 links: Toyota threatens to quit

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Toyota warns it may not lodge entry

John Howett: "Under the rules as they are published, we cannot submit an entry. There are concerns about the governance process within the sport, that there are clearly prescribed areas of discussion within the sporting and technical rules and we don't feel they are being complied with."

Q & A with Adrian Newey

Adrian Newey: "Previous to this year the biggest change we had of any significance was 2005 when the front wing was raised and the diffusers were restricted more, which was a sort of medium size change. Before that, you really have to go back to 1998 before we had the last largest change. I think when you have a period of high regulatory stability then it becomes more of an evolutionary numbers game – it is how many iterations you can do. They are not necessarily clever iterations, they are just lots of iterations, whereas I prefer the solutions that are think about it and not have to do so many iterative steps." An interesting remark when you consider how competitive McLaren were in 1998 and 2005.

Alonso furious with Spanish media

"Fernando Alonso is not enjoying his home Grand Prix and yesterday evening he had a major blow up with some of the Spanish journalists."

These are links I’ve bookmarked using Delicious. You can see my Delicious profile here.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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12 comments on “F1 links: Toyota threatens to quit”

  1. Excellent. So if Ferrari and Toyota both leave, there be room for 5 new teams who want to be there to join in the fun.

  2. The FIA never talks about how its frequent rule changes increases costs for the teams.

  3. There are many single marque racing series to watch and very competitive and exciting they can be.. the point of F1 is that it has always been the pinnacle of motorsport with the best cars and the best drivers.. If the economics mean that F1 can’t exist in more or less its current format, then better to stop it completely than dilute it into some meaningless version of GP2/CART.. Toyota want to be part of F1 because of its status, if the status is degraded then they are quite right to pull out and are capable of entering in the WRC, WTCC etc etc.. I believe Max Mosley’s legacy, apart from the S&M thing, could be the man who reduced F1 to a single make racing series. There aren’t many years left before motor racing is viewed as an anacronism of the pre-gasoline crime era, like smoking and drinking and most other fun things.. So we can go out with a whimper apologising for our passion and constantly dilute the principle.. OR we can go out heads held high, cigarette holder gripped between Castrol R stained teeth with the right foot buried and cylinders screaming..

  4. HounslowBusGarage
    10th May 2009, 22:12

    @ footfarmer. Lol.

  5. Yet again I think Toyota are missing the point. If they want to continue in F1 they can still provide engines and technical assistance to Williams and maybe other teams that want to enter.
    This will allow the costs to be spread between different teams, and Toyota the Manufacturer is still getting the PR etc from being in F1.
    The budget is cutting the costs of running a Team, but doesn’t say that a Manufacturer has to own the Team!

  6. Now Red Bull have said they won’t enter F1 in 2010 with the rules as they currently are

    http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/75248

    so that’s possibly four established teams who may quit.

    1. FOTA flexing its muscle?

  7. I think all this talk of quiting by the teams is just posturing. At the last minute there will be a change of heart5 by the teams as they never seem to go through on these threats. Or… the FIA will back down at the last minute.

    Let’s just get it sorted one way or another and get things stabilised with n o rule changes for a few years and let’s go racing.

  8. HounslowBusGarage
    12th May 2009, 17:19

    I’ve posted this link on the other ‘leaving threat’ thread too.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8044860.stm
    Ferrari issue F1 quit ultimatum

  9. The news that Toyota, and now Ferrari, are talking about quitting will turn many heads. Ferrari especially are a major, worldwide mark. The ramifications for F1 if they lost the Scuderia would be gigantic and possibly fatal for the series.
    In many ways, I believe this is another push at trying to force Max Mosley into taking an early bath, rather than risking the horrible thought that he may win another term in office.
    Formula One’s popularity has always been the difference between the teams. The different designs in cars, with different engines and componants, with the best drivers on earth driving them.
    For F1 to go down the road of a single spec series would destroy its sixty year old image. It would, in many respects, become a European IRL series.
    When Red Bull were allowed to provide a near identical chassis to its sister team, Toro Rosso, we were offered a glimpse into that future. Its a future that may cost F1 everything, and send it over the edge in the manner of Champcar racing.

  10. “But we are becoming increasingly concerned about whether common sense does exist.” -John Hewett, Toyota

    Hear, hear!!

  11. To Hell with Toyota…# 1 LOSERS F1, Now can we get them OUT of NASCAR too…that would make my day all around.

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