3 teams pull out - is it really just the money?

[rmassart]

I sometimes wonder whether the current financial conditions and costs of F1 are really the main reason we've seen three teams pull out in the last year.

With Honda it probably was.

With BMW I feel it was more the constantly changing regulations. They were really strong last year, then Max forces through rules which complete change the playing field and invalidates 5 years of hard work and expenses and all of a sudden BMW are trundling around in 15th place. It's hard enough to justify spending 100s of millions to compete in F1. But it's impossible if one man can change the rules overnight and all your hard work and investment is worthless.

With Toyota I am not sure as they were pretty useless anyway given the amount of money they spent.

I think what the sport needs is clear fixed rules for the next decade. Then the manufacturers can go to their board and say: "look these are the rules, this is a 10 year project and this is where we will be in 5 years" without having to worry about changes all the time.

On the other hand the return to more Private teams is surely a good thing - if they are competitive and not just there to fill out the starting grid. I would certainly welcome seeing Williams return to being competitive.

[FW14B]

I think the financial downturn is part of the problem, but I am sure it is a handy excuse anyway for manufacturers who have underperformed within F1 to pull out. 

Honda pulled out at the height of the financial crisis, but were seriously underachieving in F1 and I think to save face pulled the plug bases on the economic crisis, despite the guys probably pleading that they had a great car for 2009 (Despite what they say, Honda must be kicking themselves).  Honda are a team whose sales I really cannot see being affected by F1 or not, as it is not like they make sports cars who people might judge compared to the performance of their F1 team.

BMW probably did not realise the problems involved in running your own F1 team.  Yes, they invested heavily into Hinwil and really modernised the Sauber team, but again, relatively, they underachieved and I think most would say it was criminal how they just stopped developing a car midway through the 2008 season when they really had a strong chance to win the title.  Yet despite that, their 2009 car was horrible (but it still came 6th overall as a team).  I think the bosses in Munich just thought F1 was not showing them in a good light.  But I think they probably would be in a position to use more F1 related technology in their cars than the two Japanese manufacturers.

So, Toyota...  They blamed it on their first financial loss in 7 decades of operating.  Never mind no win in 8 years!  I think their claim for leaving due to the downturn is possibly the most spurious given they are one of (Not sure if still) the biggest selling car company worldwide.  Furthermore, Japan I think I read is out of recession now, so surely their finances would go back into the black for the next financial year?  This was purely a face saving action, it must be humiliating having spent what, close to $2b and not having won a race?