Any major change in Formula 1 can be viewed in two different ways. There will be stories that BMW’s decision to exit the sport is the end of civilization as we know it, but there are others who will say that this presents an opportunity for another smaller team to grow from the ashes, which will help F1 to cut back on its spending. The removal of manufacturers will, however, lower the attractiveness of F1 to sponsors and fans. The glitz of big money is much more attractive than small garagiste teams. The fact that Brawn GP has won so much this year and yet has been unable to find any serious sponsorship beyond the Virgin deal is something that the sport should be worrying about.
FOTA’s response has been as one would expect. The association remains committed to revamping F1 as it would like it to be. They are ready to “assure all the necessary support to the Swiss-based team, whose membership in the association is confirmed, to continue its involvement in F1.”
FOTA has suggested that we might see teams running third cars in the future if more entries disappear. That is not likely. If the budgets are coming down and entries are available, then some of the rejected new teams might reappear. It is also possible that other teams which did not want to be involved in the bidding process may now make a move.
FOTA have to offer the third car solution because when the Renault board also refuse to commit to the new Concorde Agreement we’ll have another announcement….
Prodrive, finally?
You seem to forget that the CEO of Brawn is Nick Fry. Wasn’t he leading the same Honda outfit that was woefully short on sponsor support? Who was running the team during the silly “My Earth Dream” campaign? I would rather bet Nick Fry and Brawn leadership have something to do with the team’s lack of sponsorship or Virgin’s lack of committment.
…and you thought that you were going to have a quiet break…
Why do I get the feeling that BMW will not be the only one leaving by the end of this year?
[...] Glass half full, glass half empty – Joe Saward’s Grand Prix Blog "The removal of manufacturers will lower the attractiveness of F1 to sponsors and fans. The glitz of big money is much more attractive than small garagiste teams. The fact that Brawn GP has won so much this year and yet has been unable to find any serious sponsorship beyond the Virgin deal is something that the sport should be worrying about." (tags: BMW business manufacturers privateers Brawn sponsorship Virgin) [...]
It proves that the FIA should not let the manufacturers run the sport , manufacturers will come and go. BMW will soon be followed by Renault , …and maybe even Toyota next year if their financial results (and racing results) do not improve.
I am no F1 industry expert, merely an observer for 30 years but I don’t understand why mass production car companies like BMW, Toyota, Honda and Renault tried to make the whole package (car, engine, team, etc……) all themselves in the last few years. It rarely works in modern formula one. They seem to have a much better chance of success and at a lower price/risk if they work with an established F1 team like the successful McLaren/merc, McLaren/Honda, Williams/BMW, partnerships …..the list goes on and on of success in this structure. It probably works because the F1 teams are full of staff with a culture and love of the sport as well as 100s of years of combined experience among the staff/team owners racing at the elite level. It takes a very long time to buy and build up this DNA. Toyota have spent close to the most money but with limited success so far. If they had of spent all the money/effort / technology etc on concentrating on making super engines/ faster development etc for Frank Williams and Patrick Head I suspect Toyota would have won a lot of races by now.