Just read this in The Times.
~Click Here~ for more details.
Honda has been so involved in motorsports for so long.......I'm really surprised. I guess they couldn't afford the $300 million / year.
Wonder if this will affect the Toyota team?
I remember seeing John Surtees finish third at the US Grand Prix in '68. The Fords sounded like pigs compared to that Honda.
I hate to see them go, but let's be real: if you can't score points with Ruebens and Jensen, you just don't have the car for it. I have no idea what sort of budget they were working on, but you'd think that sort of factory support would have had much better results at the "grown-ups" table.
OTOH, Toyota has been spending a huge pile of money on their team for several seasons, and now they seem to be getting a foothold on the formula for success; Jarno has always been one of my faves.
The average cost is about $260 million per car, per year.
Think they are focusing their efforts in ALMS now? Sucks to see them go, but F1 is just as boring as NASCAR.
They've been saying all year long they'd stopped work and development on the chassis and were concentrating on the next year's chassis. I was actually excited when the season ended as I wanted to see this new car they'd been working on all year.
As far as not being able to score points with Ruebens and Jensen, well that had more to do with not working on the chassis than the drivers. They were consistently the slowest car on the grid on the straights and they didn't apologize for it or work on it, they kept promising the new chassis.
carguy123 wrote:As far as not being able to score points with Ruebens and Jensen, well that had more to do with not working on the chassis than the drivers.
Exactly my point. Fine drivers, bad car. Diffled.
NYG95GA wrote:OTOH, Toyota has been spending a huge pile of money on their team for several seasons, and now they seem to be getting a foothold on the formula for success; Jarno has always been one of my faves.
I just want them to do well because I like the way David Hobbes says his name.
I like how Steve Matchett refers to Jarno - Truli Scrumptious
Another car company leaving a racing series:
Audi will not race ALMS next year.
Link:
Audi won't race ALMS?! Are they still doing the regular LeMans? That's like their race for chrissake.
Honda leaving F1 is a shame though. But I guess they're feeling the economy too, and motorsports is essentially half really expensive R&D and half luxury item...
There was discussion this last year that it could be the last year for Audi in the series so it shouldn't come as a huge surprise.
The article said they were looking for a buyer. There seems to be the makings of a privateer resurgence in F1. For example, Toro Rosso did pretty well this year. I doubt Ferrari or McLaren will bail any time soon, but it could at least be interesting just off the podium.
The same may be true of ALMS. My guess is that Acura will win P1 in a walk, but there are a couple of decent privateer teams with a shot that would never be able to beat Audi.
billy3esq wrote:I doubt Ferrari or McLaren will bail any time soon, but it could at least be interesting just off the podium.
Ferrari has already said they will leave if Bernie goes with a standard engine package.
Yeah, but I don't think Bernie is stupid enough to do something that would cause Ferrari to bail, which would be the death of F1. Ever notice how many red shirts there are in the stands at any F1 race? That's not cause they like Bernie.
even if the standard engine is sourced from Ferrari?
thanks folks, i'll be here all week.
The last article on F1 I saw said Bernie was proceeding with the Cosworth standard engine package idea.
Aren't they suppost to introduce next year some sort of electric hybrid technology so energy gets recaptured under braking and then can be used like the OverBoost button back in the turbo days?
As far as costs getting out of control I only have two things to say:
1) read the point above about introducing some completely new and radical technology.
2) it costs so much to compete because the top teams have that much money to spend. Period. Do whatever you want to "reduce costs" and the top teams will still find a way to spend the money they have to spend in order to find some sort of technical advantage.
Remember when they started to limit the amount of track testing teams could run in a season? If memory serves Minardi still didn't test their full quota while I'm sure McLaren and Ferrari spent a hundred times the money a day at the track would have cost on simulation technologies so they could maximize every second available of a test.
IMHO the only way it is going to cost less to compete in F-1 is if the top teams have less money to compete with. Until that day the rich are going to get richer and the poor are going to get poorer.
Either that or a claimer rule, but that is never going to happen for a number of technical, safety and legal reasons let alone the practical aspects of getting the top teams to agree to such a thing. Can you imagine if Minardi or Jordan had been allowed to purchase at the end of the season a Ferrari or McLaren? "Oh by the way, can you also provide us with some technical information, like a user's manual and operating instructions?"
The next couple of years are going to be very interesting as all of these things get sorted out ...
Thomas
carguy123 wrote:The last article on F1 I saw said Bernie was proceeding with the Cosworth standard engine package idea.
Another high-profile spec-race series.
Gad, I hate spec racing. 
DirtyBird222 wrote:Think they are focusing their efforts in ALMS now? Sucks to see them go, but F1 is just as boring as NASCAR.
are you crazy?? do you actually watch f1?
Obviously he hasn't watched F1 in years. At least not for the last 2 years for sure!
geomiata wrote:DirtyBird222 wrote:Think they are focusing their efforts in ALMS now? Sucks to see them go, but F1 is just as boring as NASCAR.
are you crazy?? do you actually watch f1?
Some say I am, but no I don't watch it for the sheer fact that it is boring as E36 M3. It's like watching softcore porn on HBO or Showtime in the after hours, you get a couple of side boob shots, a nipple here, nipple there, and maybe a bush, just enough to keep you somewhat interested but not enough to spill your milk. I can watch old F1 races and still be excited even though I know who is going to win, these new ones are pretty useful in putting me to sleep. It flows pretty well in SpeedTV's lineup of programming. 
Formula One is not for everyone.
That's one of the most attractive things about it. 
just like playing a sport
Ferrari is F1-period. Ferrari has always been about the engines. If they are forced to go spec, that will be the death of F1 and I will never watch another race.
"Aerodynamics are for companies that can't build good engines" Enzo Ferrari
