RE: Prodrive Submit Entry For 2010 F1 Season
Friday 29th May 2009
With the deadline for entries into the 2010 Formula One season closing today, and the future involvement of Ferrari and others in doubt, Prodrive chairman David Richards has announced that the company has submitted an entry to compete in next year’s championship.
Prodrive Submit Entry For 2010 F1 Season
Long-awaited entry to Formula One possible for Banbury-based race experts
One slot is currently up for grabs on the 2010 grid, and Richards hopes to secure the spot for the Prodrive team after a previous attempt to enter the sport was unsuccessful 18 months ago after a row over customer cars.
It is thought that if Prodrive were to make the grid ahead of the two other teams, Campos Meta 1 and Team US F1, who have currently submitted their application for next season Richards' outfit would eventually get rebranded as Aston Martin.
Prodrive’s entry into the F1 arena will be backed by Dar International, the investment company that co-owns Aston Martin with David Richards, while McLaren is thought to be in-line to provide technical assistance in a diminished form compared with the terms negotiated last year. No choice of engine partnership has been announced.
Discussion
I think this story although obviously true is somewhat over hyped. Upon entering the paperwork teams can back out and only lose a smallish sum should they change their mind!
Anybody thought about running costs, logistics, staffing etc. Prodrive are a great engineering firm but epic under achievers regarding business. Aston Martin is a 'cool' brand but a weak financial performer. They are currently unable to sell cars across the world in some major markets...USA, UK, Switzerland, Middle East and Russia.
Their WRC cars ran without sponsorship, BAR was a disaster with DR running it. Their Le Mans campaign is not wholly funded and I am sure DAR is in 2010 going to find the going tough...just look at the financial positions of property / logistic / financial companies in Bahrain, Dubai, UAE etc....their crunch will be worse than ours because they manufacture less and do not have a service industry.
Good luck Prodrive but don't hold your breath.
Anybody thought about running costs, logistics, staffing etc. Prodrive are a great engineering firm but epic under achievers regarding business. Aston Martin is a 'cool' brand but a weak financial performer. They are currently unable to sell cars across the world in some major markets...USA, UK, Switzerland, Middle East and Russia.
Their WRC cars ran without sponsorship, BAR was a disaster with DR running it. Their Le Mans campaign is not wholly funded and I am sure DAR is in 2010 going to find the going tough...just look at the financial positions of property / logistic / financial companies in Bahrain, Dubai, UAE etc....their crunch will be worse than ours because they manufacture less and do not have a service industry.
Good luck Prodrive but don't hold your breath.
belleair302 said:
I think this story although obviously true is somewhat over hyped. Upon entering the paperwork teams can back out and only lose a smallish sum should they change their mind!
Anybody thought about running costs, logistics, staffing etc. Prodrive are a great engineering firm but epic under achievers regarding business. Aston Martin is a 'cool' brand but a weak financial performer. They are currently unable to sell cars across the world in some major markets...USA, UK, Switzerland, Middle East and Russia.
Their WRC cars ran without sponsorship, BAR was a disaster with DR running it. Their Le Mans campaign is not wholly funded and I am sure DAR is in 2010 going to find the going tough...just look at the financial positions of property / logistic / financial companies in Bahrain, Dubai, UAE etc....their crunch will be worse than ours because they manufacture less and do not have a service industry.
Good luck Prodrive but don't hold your breath.
I suspect a lot of thought has gone in to the question of logistics etc. Having run a WRC team for a few years I guess they have a little knowledge of international championship requirements.Anybody thought about running costs, logistics, staffing etc. Prodrive are a great engineering firm but epic under achievers regarding business. Aston Martin is a 'cool' brand but a weak financial performer. They are currently unable to sell cars across the world in some major markets...USA, UK, Switzerland, Middle East and Russia.
Their WRC cars ran without sponsorship, BAR was a disaster with DR running it. Their Le Mans campaign is not wholly funded and I am sure DAR is in 2010 going to find the going tough...just look at the financial positions of property / logistic / financial companies in Bahrain, Dubai, UAE etc....their crunch will be worse than ours because they manufacture less and do not have a service industry.
Good luck Prodrive but don't hold your breath.
I am intrigued by the comment that Prodrive are epic underachievers in business. I find it hard to consider that they could grow to the size of engineering organisation that they are without being pretty good on the business side too.
Were Prodrive responsible for generating sponsorship for WRC or was that down to Subaru? I genuinely don't know the arrangement. As for BAR, under DR's stewardship they became a race winning team, and went backwards after the contract with Prodrive ended.
charlescrawley said:
Frimley111R said:
How do the FIA choose who gets the place?
By working out which team will make Bernie more cash, of course...So it'll be US F1 who'll get the place then...
Prodrive still have to build a factory, hire the required staff, design a car, build a car etc etc.
Or, as they hope to do. Buy a car from McLaren, paint it Green, and call it an Aston Martin.
Hi, I'm a newbie (though I've been a regular visitor to Pistonheads and 'eavesdropped' on the fora for 5 or so years).
The article implies that there is only space for one new team to join the grid and if Prodrive were to be accepted neither of the other two applicants could take part ("One slot is currently up for grabs on the 2010 grid” and “if Prodrive were to make the grid ahead of the two other teams, Campos Meta 1 and Team US F1”).
In fact, the FIA wants to run a field of 13 teams next season (http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/wmsc/2009/Pages/wmsc_290409a.aspx) so, assuming that the 10 current teams all apply, there would still be 3 further slots available for 2010. In principle this leaves space for the 10 current teams and all of Prodrive, Campos and USF1. However, the article omits to mention that Litespeed have also submitted an application for next season (according to the BBC). Plus Lola have confirmed that they have submitted an application. Assuming all the current teams are present next year, one of the new entrants won't make it.
As another poster has observed, even if the new entrants are accepted, it’s still a long way till the opening 2010 race and whether they will all make it all the way to it remains to be seen. Prodrive were accepted for 2008 and pulled out before the season started….
I don’t wish to join and instantly become known as a pedant or harsh critic of the journalism as I enjoy Pistonheads (though there ARE loads of typos!
); this is intended to be a constructive contribution. The F1 world is full of detail that the press often don’t pick up (or are not informed of) so that inaccurate facts, or only one side’s story, come across.
The article implies that there is only space for one new team to join the grid and if Prodrive were to be accepted neither of the other two applicants could take part ("One slot is currently up for grabs on the 2010 grid” and “if Prodrive were to make the grid ahead of the two other teams, Campos Meta 1 and Team US F1”).
In fact, the FIA wants to run a field of 13 teams next season (http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/wmsc/2009/Pages/wmsc_290409a.aspx) so, assuming that the 10 current teams all apply, there would still be 3 further slots available for 2010. In principle this leaves space for the 10 current teams and all of Prodrive, Campos and USF1. However, the article omits to mention that Litespeed have also submitted an application for next season (according to the BBC). Plus Lola have confirmed that they have submitted an application. Assuming all the current teams are present next year, one of the new entrants won't make it.
As another poster has observed, even if the new entrants are accepted, it’s still a long way till the opening 2010 race and whether they will all make it all the way to it remains to be seen. Prodrive were accepted for 2008 and pulled out before the season started….
I don’t wish to join and instantly become known as a pedant or harsh critic of the journalism as I enjoy Pistonheads (though there ARE loads of typos!
); this is intended to be a constructive contribution. The F1 world is full of detail that the press often don’t pick up (or are not informed of) so that inaccurate facts, or only one side’s story, come across.Edited by ocdgeek on Friday 29th May 15:15
wab172uk said:
charlescrawley said:
Frimley111R said:
How do the FIA choose who gets the place?
By working out which team will make Bernie more cash, of course...So it'll be US F1 who'll get the place then...
Prodrive still have to build a factory, hire the required staff, design a car, build a car etc etc.
Or, as they hope to do. Buy a car from McLaren, paint it Green, and call it an Aston Martin.
If they are as well prepared as you say they are, all the best of luck to them!
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