Jean Todt and Bernie Ecclestone
c/o http://www.sutton-images.com
There are a lot of stories doing the rounds today about the futures of the Campos and USF1 teams, as questions continue to circulate as to whether either of them will be racing in Bahrain or, for that matter, whether we’ll see them at all in 2010. After FIA President Jean Todt admitted that the Concorde Agreement allowed for teams to miss three races before they would be kicked out of the championship, the FIA yesterday went on the offensive telling teams that there would be no excuses for missing even a single event.
Of course the sad thing in all this is that we really shouldn’t be terribly surprised to see the new teams struggle. The FIA’s failure to force through the 2010 budget cap under which it had accepted the new teams’ entries has undoubtedly shortened their prospects of not only success, but of their very survival. It seems to me to be pretty incredible for the FIA to allow no excuses for new teams to miss races in 2010, given that it was the FIA who promised a budget cap that failed to materialise. One would have thought that it would serve the FIA’s purposes to try and protect its new breed, rather than to grant them life and then leave them out in a blizzard to freeze.
One must now seriously question the due diligence process conducted on the FIA’s part of the prospective new teams, and how it was that of the numerous proposals put forwards, so many strong admissions were passed over in favour of teams which we can now quite clearly see did not have the funding in place to make a decent go of things. Because, and here’s the thing, we’re not even talking about big budgets here… we’re talking about that 40 million budget cap. As things stand, it would appear that neither USF1 nor Campos are even close to that magic number because even if the budget cap had come in, it now looks unlikely that the teams in question would have been able to make it.
That said, one must also say that these new teams have, perhaps, massively underestimated the challenge from both a sporting, technical and commercial perspective.
All of which must leave the likes of Prodrive and Lola, teams who know the challenge and could have risen to it, feeling pretty sick. Here we had two racing companies with a rich history, strong commercial and technical teams, and the funding to do things properly. Thanks to the manner in which the new teams were chosen however, both have now pulled their hats out of the ring and would likely be unable to fill the void should any new team fail to make it.
All we and the FIA are left with is StefanGP, an unknown quantity in racing and business terms, but an organisation which has filed a complaint against the FIA with the EC and employed Mike Coughlan, a man with an almighty black mark against his name in the FIA’s eyes, to work at the squad. Seems incredible the FIA would even give the team the time of day, doesn’t it? But what other option do they have?
The Lola MB01 in the windtunnel c/o Lola
Should any new team fail to make it and the FIA be able to admit another team into Formula 1, Lola would seem to be the best option. That said, I have it on pretty good authority that although the team stands by its mantra that they exist in “a state of readiness” to jump into F1 should the call arrive, it would actually take Lola the better part of six months to be fully prepared. Not only that, but without the budget cap I doubt very much that Lola would wish to become involved with F1 at all.
Having been turned down in the initial process, I understand that Lola even went as far as to contact USF1 at the tail end of last season to offer support with the design of their Type 1, given that Lola had a 2010 car fully designed and ready to rock. USF1, however, is understood to have turned down the offer. When I was over in Charlotte, NC, a few weeks ago, all that existed in the USF1 factory was a single tub. If rumours leaking out of FIA sources are correct, the team hasn’t even booked its crash tests, let alone passed them.
I believe that Lola still wants to be in Formula 1, but only if the price is right and should the timing be such that the team can join the sport without endangering its business and its reputation as it did back in 1997. For that reason, I can’t see Lola now selling the IP to its 2010 F1 car, even if USF1 did come knocking.
With the preparation the team put into its 2010 F1 programme, Lola is an even stronger business and racing team than it was 12 months ago and, ironically enough, could be in an even stronger position to make an F1 debut in 2011 should a space open up, than it would have been in 2010.
The Buxton Blog 
Will, There have been numerous rumours plastered over forums, started by a number of people who claim to be working for USF1, that have stated almost precisely what you have said. According to a few, the autoclave seen in the released photos is the only one in existence and operation at present. It has been claimed that the undertray has not yet been completed, because of a lack of tools.
Remarkably, one poster, claiming to be an employee, alleges that wages have been paid either partially, late or not at all. It is absolutely shocking that such an organisation has been allowed to herald itself as the official F1 team of the United States, and waste what many in F1 believe to be the dream sponsor in Chad Hurley.
Not only that, but Campos were granted a place, eventhough they have no facility to construct a car: Dallara are the constructors. According to one motorsport website, reporting in autumn, Virgin Racing is in existence because of some rather unsavoury involvement by an FIA employee.
The FIA’s position, or at least under Max Mosley, may be that it was securing the future of F1, but to elect such teams in place of Lola(who had spent in the region of £1million?), Prodrive(with a possible introduction of Aston Martin?), Lotus (which had a massive business plan) and Epsilon Euskada is potentially very damaging to the sport, and to the work of Bernie Ecclestone.
To a more pressing point, what effect upon aspiring teams would this whole episode have? That is the question, for we all wish to see a full grid, brimming with opportunity, sponsorship, nationality and competition, representative of a world championship.
For me, the saddest part is the potential negative publicity this may generate in the US. This could have been a new beginning for F1, in terms of investment and involvement with new companies, people. The most terrifying aspect of this is the ECC’s investigation. Is it still ongoing?
If I may ask another question, Will, does this put Williams in trouble, because surely if Cosworth find themselves with an unviable venture, can they provide the necessary number of engines to the participating teams? Thanks, and sorry the long message.
Hi Seb.
Some good questions, which I’ll try and answer.
While USF1 may be behind schedule, I don’t think it is the end of the world nor that they will fail to make it. the good news is that the US race industry will, I believe, do all it can to help the team in its hour of need. The team has got a very interesting design for its “Type 1” featuring a unique front wing concept and a very interesting gearbox. It could be genius, or it could be rubbish. Either way, it is certainly different.
I think everyone wants to USF1 to succeed, both from the national perspective of what it’d do for the sport in the States, and for the fact that a lots of people, me included, have a great deal of respect for Peter Windsor and don’t want to see him fail.
I don’t think Campos not building their own car is a problem. The deal with Dallara was actually bloody smart, if only the payments had been made.
And as for Cossie, no I don’t see it being a huge problem. I honestly hold out hope that both Campos and USF1 will make it, but even if they don’t I think Cossie will be just fine.
great article, summarises the state of play nicely. the current situation is really ridiculous and completely down to incompetance on the part of the FIA. with a budget cap in place there may have been some equality acros the 2010 grid but instead we are left with Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes. all of the other teams seem to be in trouble one way or another, Williams and Force India seem to be the next best, who knows about Renault. i hope that some of the other teams can pull some suprises but i’m not holding out hope.
Thats one heck of a good looking chassis that should have been in the grid this season. Even without the full aero development, you can see that Lola seem to have gone with the high nose solution like the current F1 teams. Their experience in building race cars shows! We will never know how good this project could have been. Screw Mad Max!! :X
I recall around the time of 2010 teams being selected, Silverstone jumps to mind, the whole FOTA battle was at it’s peak and ‘the spilt’ looked like happening. Where there not whispers Lola/Prodrive/Epsilon backed the wrong horse (ie FOTA), which essentially buggered them with the FIA?
I can’t recall them officially putting their weight behind the breakaway, but I do remember musing at the time that perhaps Lola had pulled out of the running for the new team spaces in order to align with a breakaway championship in place of either Williams or Force India who had split with FOTA and signed up to F1 2010.
Lola was going to use the Cossie so should have been in a strong position for FIA acceptance. Prodrive however was due to use the Merc and, from what I understand of the situation, were told to change to Cossie or lose their shot at an entry.
[…] facts along at the blog. The new teams are never far from the news and this post by F1 journalist Will Buxton emphasises why it’s no surprise to see them struggle. This is quite a political story that […]
Will, I have to say I disagree with the notion that the diligence process should be reviewed with the futures of Campos and USF1 on the line. I think Campos was actually one of the strongest contenders – on paper – back in May: Adrian Campos was a former driver, managed a successful GP2 team and was in the unique position to capitalise on the burgeoning popularity for Formula 1 in Spain. However, like Alain Prost before him, I think he has fundamently over-estimated the public and commercial support for a Spanish team. He signed Bruno Senna for free in the belief that Senna’s name could attract sponsors both in Spain and in his native Brazil, and yet it has not happened.
These are not problems that could have been anticipated during the selection process, and if they were detected, teams like Campos would never have made it to the shortlist, much less been selected. There has been the suggestion that Max Mosley chose the new teams for political reasons, however because Mosley no doubt beleived he would remain as President of the FIA for some time to come, it’s unlikely he would have selected teams that would have folded in the space of a year. He’d want three teams that would have been as loyal to him as possible and stayed in the sport or as long as possible becaus he would have been able to use them for much longer.