Prodrive rules out entering F1 in 2011

[John S]

Looks like the FIA burnt it's bridges with Dave Richards when they turned down his application for 2010. If one of the top motorsport teams is not interested will any other newcomer even reach the standard of this years newbies?  

Prodrive has ruled out attempting to enter Formula 1 next season, as it has decided to focus on the World Rally Championship, the company announced on Thursday.

Prodrive was one of the teams that applied to enter the sport in 2010, but it didn't get one of the three new entries, which went to Manor, Campos and US F1.

The FIA has re-opened the selection process for the 2011 season, inviting teams to submit their applications to become the 13th entry.

Prodrive boss David Richards said on Friday, however, that his company will not be looking for an entry for 2011.

He said the struggles of the new teams this year have proved how hard entering Formula 1 is, and that Prodrive would only be interested in joining F1 to be competitive.

"Our current focus is on Prodrive's return to the World Rally Championship in 2011 and that alone takes significant resource to design and develop a totally new car," said Richards.

"Taking on the challenge of starting a brand new Formula 1 team, finding the necessary funding and developing the car from scratch is a massive undertaking and not to be under estimated.

"As expected, we've witnessed the financial and technical challenges that the new teams have faced this year in just getting to the grid, let alone being competitive and whilst I have enormous admiration for their efforts I don't believe this is an appropriate strategy for Prodrive or Aston Martin to adopt."

He added: "We've enjoyed a successful involvement in F1 in the past and respect the value it can create; we will therefore keep a close eye on developments in the championship.

"However, I have always made it very clear that the timing for a Prodrive entry would be judged on two criteria: that we could be competitive and that the business case would make it a financially viable proposition. Today, if we were to adopt the strategy of starting a new team, I don't believe it is possible to meet these two conditions."

Prodrive is yet to announce its exact WRC plans, but has been strongly linked to a project to bring the Mini brand back to top level rallying.

By Pablo Elizalde Autosport.com, Today

 
 
 

[stealthhaggis]

It's a shame as I really thought Dave had some unfinished business in F1. And prodrive are a big, big name in motorsport so it was a silly mistake by the FIA as they would have brought some new ideas and respectability to the sport.

[FW14B]

I would liked to have seen Prodrive back in F1, they are professional racers and tend to do a good job in whatever they enter.  Disappointing but I guess not unexpected.

[Jericoke]

The FIA really did pull the rug out on Campos, Manor and USF1.  Indeed, none of those three teams lined up, did they?

Until the FIA can guarantee a little fairness to the new teams, nobody serious is going to apply.  I'm sure that if one of the established teams wanted to pull out, Prodrive would consider taking over.

[Scott]

The FIA really did pull the rug out on Campos, Manor and USF1.  Indeed, none of those three teams lined up, did they?

2/3 did.

USF1 shot itself in the foot.  Who knows if they could have done it with the budget cap they were promised to begin with - two bases and transatlantic transport for tons of equipment and personel.  It seemed crazy to think they could do all that under £40m after developing a car and paying drivers. 

HRT is Campos, but they too struggled to make the grid, thankfully they were bought out by one of their own shareholders, so the team that started as Campos did in fact make the grid - just some shares changed hands.

Manor is still Manor, but only re-named Virgin by it's title sponsor (Give me enough money and you can call me Bill), who is NOT a shareholder, so they made the grid on their own merit.

Until the FIA can guarantee a little fairness to the new teams, nobody serious is going to apply.  I'm sure that if one of the established teams wanted to pull out, Prodrive would consider taking over.

What kind of fairness?  I'm completely against artificial redistribution of F1 revenue.  I think it should be redistributed out of Bernie's wallet and into the teams budgets, but not more to the newcomers and less to the old boys club.

Torro Rosso has been for sale for 2 years - if ProDrive was serious, they'd have a turnkey operation.  I agree with DR - if the numbers don't work to become profitable and competitive quickly, then it's not worth it.  If he can't even see it with a team like Torro Rosso, then it certainly wouldn't be worth it to start from scratch. 

Force India made it to the grid without whining about a budget cap or some sort of extra help, and they've proven successful (which I doubted from the beginning, but happily I have been proven wrong).

[Scuderia-F1]

Too bad!
It would have been if Prodrive took Aston Martin to the grid!

[Jericoke]

The FIA really did pull the rug out on Campos, Manor and USF1.  Indeed, none of those three teams lined up, did they?

2/3 did.

USF1 shot itself in the foot.  Who knows if they could have done it with the budget cap they were promised to begin with - two bases and transatlantic transport for tons of equipment and personel.  It seemed crazy to think they could do all that under £40m after developing a car and paying drivers. 

HRT is Campos, but they too struggled to make the grid, thankfully they were bought out by one of their own shareholders, so the team that started as Campos did in fact make the grid - just some shares changed hands.

Manor is still Manor, but only re-named Virgin by it's title sponsor (Give me enough money and you can call me Bill), who is NOT a shareholder, so they made the grid on their own merit.

Until the FIA can guarantee a little fairness to the new teams, nobody serious is going to apply.  I'm sure that if one of the established teams wanted to pull out, Prodrive would consider taking over.

What kind of fairness?  I'm completely against artificial redistribution of F1 revenue.  I think it should be redistributed out of Bernie's wallet and into the teams budgets, but not more to the newcomers and less to the old boys club.

Torro Rosso has been for sale for 2 years - if ProDrive was serious, they'd have a turnkey operation.  I agree with DR - if the numbers don't work to become profitable and competitive quickly, then it's not worth it.  If he can't even see it with a team like Torro Rosso, then it certainly wouldn't be worth it to start from scratch. 

Force India made it to the grid without whining about a budget cap or some sort of extra help, and they've proven successful (which I doubted from the beginning, but happily I have been proven wrong).

I don't really disagree with what you're saying, just let me clarify:

Manor and Campos (and USF1) joined under one set of rules, which changed, which required a new way of doing business, which lead to the name changes.  If the FIA had stuck with the original budget cap deal (which I'm glad they didn't), it would still be Manor and Campos, not Virgin and HRT.  Prodrive too would have been happy to join under those rules as well. 

As for 'fairness', I just mean that the rules changed after the new teams signed on the dotted line.  Life's not always fair, but when you're trying to find investors, screwing over the new guy doesn't really make people line up at the door to get in.

I should have mentioned that Prodrive would take over a British Team.  The Minardi facilities probably don't compare to any of the British teams.  I wouldn't uproot all my employees and their families to take over a 'fixer upper' - as well as fire all the employees I just paid for.  (Although I suppose if Stefan had been a serious entry, they could have worked something out with STR).

[FW14B]

I see Lola have now also ruled themselves out of the running for 2011, which is a pity again.  From Autosport:

Lola will not apply for 2011 F1 entry   

By Pablo Elizalde   Thursday, April 15th 2010, 16:07 GMT

Racing car manufacturer Lola has announced it will not try to enter Formula 1 in the 2011 season.

The company joins Prodrive in deciding not to apply for a slot for next year, feeling there is no sufficient time to be ready for the start of the season.

Lola applied for an entry for this year, but the Huntingdon-based squad wasn't granted one.

The deadline to submit a formal expression of interest expired today.

"A 2010 entry under the cost capped and performance balanced criteria was perfect for Lola," said Lola owner Martin Birrane.

"We already have F1 standard facilities at our headquarters in Huntingdon. Sadly our well-developed 2010 F1 project, which included a significant wind tunnel programme, had to be frozen in June 2009.

"The recently announced applications for 2011 has left us with insufficient time to prepare for what would be a quite different programme."

Lola's managing director added: Robin Brundle, added: "Lola looks forward to strengthening its working partnerships with existing F1 Teams and the rich variety of customers throughout the Lola portfolio."