Otmar Szafnauer claims Manufacturer backing for 12th F1 team - but Who?

[John S]

Former FIF1 & Alpine boss Szafnauer is making big claim about huge funding & motor industry backing for another team on F1 grid.

Now unless he's hitching his wagon to one of the many emerging Chinese car manufacturing giants the only name I can come up with is Hyundai. Anyone else got any ideas?


https://f1i.com/news/539140-szafnauer-finances-in-place-manufacturer-is-ready-for-12th-f1-team.html

[Dare]

Kia, Volkswagen, or maybe BMW is making a comeback. I  think we
can count out Yugo

[John S]

Kia, Volkswagen, or maybe BMW is making a comeback. I  think we
can count out Yugo

Kia is a subsidiary of Hyundai & hasn't been included in any motorsport activity by the Korean group up to now, think Genesis might rank higher in the family for Hyundai to badge an effort.

VW seem to be in all sorts of financial troubles at present, plant closures and falling sales, plus they already have Audi in play & their other brand Porsche pulled back from offering really big bucks to snatch a team like Audi did.

Also think BMW like Toyota were so bruised by their past F1 tenures they don't want fingers, or reputations burnt again.

I can agree though a Yugo entry will certainly not pass Liberty's must add value test.   

 

[Jericoke]

If we're guessing major car companies, I don't think Stellantis is involved in F1.  They own Alfa Romeo, but Alfa's own involvement was superficial.  They also own Maserati which is a historic F1 name. 

The Fiat arm of Stellantis used to own Ferrari, so maybe they want back into F1.  Even though Racing Bulls is moving operations to England, Cadillac, Haas and, of course, Ferrari, mean that there's plenty of F1 talent in Italy.

With Renault pulling back, Stellantis might want to get Peugeot or Citroen in to bolster their French market.

And of course they also own the American Dodge and Chrysler brands (also Jeep and Ram... can't imagine a Jeep F1 car, but who knows?)

Beyond Stellantis, there are Indian and Chinese brands.  I'm not familiar with them, but that might be all the more reason to invest in an F1 team so that they can build their brands internationally.

Not all 'car companies' make cars.  Haas sells tooling to car companies, but isn't a 'car company'.  Magna in Canada is a massive parts supplier, I assume there are similar parts suppliers in other countries with auto industries.

[cosworth151]

It's hard to think of a major manufacturer who would be interested in the huge investment needed to launch an F1 team in the current economic chaos. just look at the way VW is backing away from it's Audi effort.

MG has been Chinese for some time now and they are returning to sports car production with the Cyberster. Maybe? Probably not.

How about the famous British manufacturer with a long an distinguished history of fine race cars - Scalextric!

[Jericoke]

How about the famous British manufacturer with a long an distinguished history of fine race cars - Scalextric!

I appreciate the joke but with Disney becoming involved in F1, maybe Hot Wheels (Mattel) or Lego would be interested in ponying up for an F1 team.  They certainly manufacture a lot more 'cars' than even Toyota!  They do have engineering, design and marketing teams.  Having an opportunity to move into F1 in house might be a way to retain talent.

The fact that Red Bull, a drinks company, has one of the most successful F1 operations of all time really shows that you don't have to be a 'car' company to have success in F1.  (Ditto Benetton)

[cosworth151]

Hot Wheels might not be a bad idea. Al Unser Sr. did pretty well in an Indy Lola sponsored by Hot Wheel's rival brand Johnny Lightning. 

[Andy B]

If you are going Chinese then maybe Great Wall? https://www.gwm-global.com
Plenty of names to choose from and the money will be there.