[Team] The new teams development for 2010 so far, discuss here.

[Born Racer]

Good points frostie.

And welcome to the forum.

[frostie]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

Good points frostie.

And welcome to the forum.

Cheers, been a long time lurker so thought it was about time to jump in and post!

[Sodemo]

I can agree to a certain extent with Ferrari on the new teams, but would they have said the the same thing if Lola, Dallara (as a works effort), Prodrive and NTech had been given the gig instead of the current "new blood"?

Incidentally, I would love it if the Campos squad did just become "Dallara", though that would obviously involve Dallara pumping money into the team itself.

[old man]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

I can agree to a certain extent with Ferrari on the new teams, but would they have said the the same thing if Lola, Dallara (as a works effort), Prodrive and NTech had been given the gig instead of the current "new blood"?

Incidentally, I would love it if the Campos squad did just become "Dallara", though that would obviously involve Dallara pumping money into the team itself.

Yes, it would have been logical to offer the available slots to those teams as their experience would have allowed them to put in a realistic bid. As we never saw the propositions however and have no knowledge of the real process we don't know why the choices were made.

Lotus is OK, and I suppose one could say that Campos got in because it was perceived to be Dallara, USF1 I suspected was because the FIA and FOM wanted an American involvement but I never did understand why Manor got the place, Virgin came on board with them later. It was not exactly a transparent process though and we now await CW's findings with interest.

[Joe Taylor]

Originally Posted by old man

Yes, it would have been logical to offer the available slots to those teams as their experience would have allowed them to put in a realistic bid. As we never saw the propositions however and have no knowledge of the real process we don't know why the choices were made.

Lotus is OK, and I suppose one could say that Campos got in because it was perceived to be Dallara, USF1 I suspected was because the FIA and FOM wanted an American involvement but I never did understand why Manor got the place, Virgin came on board with them later. It was not exactly a transparent process though and we now await CW's findings with interest.

I think Manor and Campos both got in for the same reason and were both logical choices at the time. Both are teams with a history of success in junior formulae with a major design firm behind them (Wirth Research, Dallara). Since the entry was announced, the only difference between the 2 teams is that Manor got sponsorship, Campos didn't.

[Sodemo]

Stefan moaning about F1 rules...
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81751

Interesting quote here in this rant from Branson;

Originally Posted by Richard Branson

"I think it was a pity that they were resistant and I think it is foolish actually," he said. "I think the one thing the Virgin team will prove is that you can have a really good racing team, running very fast, within a very tight budget. There is no need to do massively expensive windtunnel testing, or all the other things that they do to get the extra second or two."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81748

So it seems to me that Branson is quite happy to be merely present on the grid (for PR) and has no ambitions for success? Surely clawing back those "seconds or two" is what the sport is all about?

[frostie]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Interesting quote here in this rant from Branson;

So it seems to me that Branson is quite happy to be merely present on the grid (for PR) and has no ambitions for success? Surely clawing back those "seconds or two" is what the sport is all about?

It's comments like this that could lead to Branson alienating some potential fans, as you say gaining time is what the sport is all about. It's one thing to ultilise your budget more effectively but quite another to just accept where you are on the grid.

[blaffer]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Stefan moaning about F1 rules...
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81751
...

StefanGP would like to inform the public that the containers we sent on the beginning of February arrived in Bahrain. In the corner of the page you will see official check from DHL and the confirmation that freight arrived. During next week we will show our Stefan Formula 1 car to the press as the final evidence that should put us on the grid in Bahrain.

If case we don’t receive the chance to compete in Bahrain, and also when some of the teams fail to show up, somebody should be in a trouble explaining what is happen to all of us.

And dreamers from USA will have to explain their actions, because they are deliberately weakening F1 with dreaming of perfect world and fairytales about success. And success doesn’t come by talking but with hard work and lot of guts.

This is the kind of "English" that could only have been written by Mr Stefanovic himself. Says a lot about his organisation.

[Down F0rce]

Scans of their DHL papers are on their website if anyone is interested:

http://www.stefangp.com/news008.html

I wish the FIA would just boot USF1 out already. Stefan are ready to go, US F1 are clearly not...

[ensign14]

There's only one way to find out who should enter...

[Sodemo]

Yep, there is something I don't quite like about the whole Stefan team/idea, can't quite put my finger on what it is, but it leaves a but of a sour taste in my mouth.

He really hasn't done himself any favours either with the things he has done and said. First issuing legal action against the FIA, then shipping the containers to Bahrain in some kind of act of defiance or "to prove something", then coming out and saying effectively "if they don't give us a place on the grid then it will be their fault that I will have to close the team and sack everyone". However it was only a few weeks ago he was saying he was happy to spend 2010 testing with an entry for the 2011 season in prospect.

Something doesn't quite add up, and I think the whole thing is a bit shifty.

[Fox89]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81748

So it seems to me that Branson is quite happy to be merely present on the grid (for PR) and has no ambitions for success? Surely clawing back those "seconds or two" is what the sport is all about?

I think his point is that there is no need for the sport as a whole to do all the expensive stuff for that extra second or two. He wants to prove that you can still have a premier racing series on a realistic budget without making the cars much slower overall.

Personally I think he was right to attack Ferrari for what they said. Especially his point in regards to "Well the new teams are only struggling because of the rule changes you blocked." That seems like a pretty reasonable comment.

[blaffer]

According to Adam Cooper, Stefan GP might shakedown at the Ford test track in Lommel in Belgium.

[Last2LiftOff]

I thought they couldn't find tires.

[el_cat]

Originally Posted by Last2LiftOff

I thought they couldn't find tires.

Autosport reporting they have decided on using a stash of Avons just to get some running done

[Bononi]

It all sounds like a bad joke, and we still have people reasoning on this.

[strider]

Whether you think the Stefan people are misguided or a bit too pushy, at least they are showing willing and getting on with it, certainly compared with US F1

[Jimmy Magnusson]

Originally Posted by strider

Whether you think the Stefan people are misguided or a bit too pushy, at least they are showing willing and getting on with it, certainly compared with US F1

Certainly. But anyone who even thought about buying the MasterCard Lola's is not just a little odd.

[Senninha24]

I do agree there is something fishy about that guy and his organization.

They've giving JV his seat-fitting, so I guess he's sold on it, but I don't know...Stefano Modena anyone? (not the performance, at least I hope, but the behind closed doors :P)

[ensign14]

Originally Posted by strider

Whether you think the Stefan people are misguided or a bit too pushy, at least they are showing willing and getting on with it, certainly compared with US F1

I dunno, this smacks of opportunism, to some extent. StefanGP's contribution to F1 is to buy old Toyotas. Is there anything more there? What happens come 2011? Or is Stefanovic just going to palm his team off on someone or wind it up? Are there facilities to develop further?

Because the one place where there ARE facilities is USF1. OK, maybe only embryonic, but USF1 are at least capable of designing their own car and having a stab at building it.

Stefan might just have in mind to get into F1 on the cheap. No need for due diligence and whatnot, just present yourself with a couple of second-hand Corollas, steal someone's entry, and then get their otherwise useless assets for a knockdown price.

[Skam85]

Didn't Brawn do similar though?
Obviously, there was the difference where RB worked for Honda beforehand.. but it's not too dissimilar. Stefan have a car... from there they can hire staff, evolve, develop...

USF1 have an empty factory.

I know who I'd choose

[ensign14]

Brawn essentially took over the Honda factory though. Have StefanGP done the same with Toyota?

[gregc]

Not quite, but as I understand it there are Toyota staff and facilities included in the deal. I'd provide a link but I don't remember where I read it.

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by ensign14

I dunno, this smacks of opportunism, to some extent. StefanGP's contribution to F1 is to buy old Toyotas. Is there anything more there? What happens come 2011? Or is Stefanovic just going to palm his team off on someone or wind it up? Are there facilities to develop further?

Because the one place where there ARE facilities is USF1. OK, maybe only embryonic, but USF1 are at least capable of designing their own car and having a stab at building it.

Stefan might just have in mind to get into F1 on the cheap. No need for due diligence and whatnot, just present yourself with a couple of second-hand Corollas, steal someone's entry, and then get their otherwise useless assets for a knockdown price.

Well, if the car doesn't turn out, Coughlan can just nick the designs off Ferrari again.

[jab]

Given that we've not heard anything on US F1 of late, I still stand by my tinfoil hat theory of the FIA letting US F1 keep their entry even though they won't make it to prevent them from selling their entry to Stefan - given that it's thought to be Anderson and Windsor that blocked the deal (as Stefanovic said they'd been talking but it wasn't Hurley that stopped it going ahead), that may be what has happened. They're too deluded to sell up if there is the tiniest of chinks of light, it seems