My money is on .... Dave Richards
Discussion
Reading between the lines I think Dave Richards has been waiting in the wings to take the ex Honda reins.
The team have paid for the Merc engine - deposit paid and duly fitted to the chassis. Nice tie in with the Mclaren B Team that DR was going to be involved with.
Nick Fry is out and that I'm sure that signals the return of Richards.
Personally I think Brawn and Richards will make a hell of a team
well i really hope that this works out
Branson is a total joke - PR stunt as per usual (though i totally respect the guy - and a very nice chaps as well)
Bernie part owning the team was bad news for everyone
Dave Richards - proven credentials - time and money on his hands and with the best F1 tactician with Ross Brawn.
btw - the deal is done with Merc - well at least for the first race and the deposit - so fingers crossed
Dave Richards does not have enough cash to keep Aston martin going, his Prodrive operation is not exactly a cash cow and he will not be buying any more motorsport packages with borrowed cash.
My prediction is Honda will close the whole operation down. A shame but they have mis managed that team from start to finish.
Until F1 costs become reasonable....and teams stop taking 120 people to each GP and spending millions on hotels etc the whole circus is unattractive to investors.
The money being spent on CFD simulation, wind tunnels and trackside engineers being paid £300K is outrageous when the cars cannot overtake and offer very little to those interested in racing craft.
As a technology showcase the Honda team was a joke, as an engineering facility their HQ does have value....but to whom??
My prediction is Honda will close the whole operation down. A shame but they have mis managed that team from start to finish.
Until F1 costs become reasonable....and teams stop taking 120 people to each GP and spending millions on hotels etc the whole circus is unattractive to investors.
The money being spent on CFD simulation, wind tunnels and trackside engineers being paid £300K is outrageous when the cars cannot overtake and offer very little to those interested in racing craft.
As a technology showcase the Honda team was a joke, as an engineering facility their HQ does have value....but to whom??
woof said:
Branson is a total joke - PR stunt as per usual (though i totally respect the guy - and a very nice chaps as well)
He is/was never going to buy in, Virgin still own all the leases on the Zavvi stores so no more Zavvi and they get lumbered with all the rents if they aren't occupied. No airline business is flush at the moment and Necker Island always needs some cash reserves each year for the upcoming Hurricane season, just in case. Plus there's Virgin Galactic as well. I think he only did it for the publicity too.castrolcraig said:
rumour from bracknell today that the HRF1 trucks seen heading towards dover last week were in fact the teams trucks heading testing, with merc engined cars aboard!!!
same source says DR has done the deal.
I doubt they were off testing, unless it was a very secret test...same source says DR has done the deal.
Trucks will be leaving in the next day or so for testing next week, so unless they've been parked up in a european lay-by for a few days I doubt they were heading down to Spain!
castrolcraig said:
rumour from bracknell today that the HRF1 trucks seen heading towards dover last week were in fact the teams trucks heading testing, with merc engined cars aboard!!!
same source says DR has done the deal.
I'm a glass half-full kinda guy so I'm with Castrolcraig. If this was going headlong into the buffers then a bunch of very smart people would have been outa there some time ago (what's the point in staying?). It's been too quiet, no real media action, so folks are convinced they've got a future and realize that they've got to get a really good car together. So I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Richards has been co-opted onto the management team as a requirement of someone who's putting in a lot of money - I still reckon Ecclestone's going to end up with at least a part of the equity and I suspect the real bank-roller will be a close friend of his. Under that scenario there's no room for Fry and as previously stated Richards Brawn must be close to a dream ticket for a new F1 team.same source says DR has done the deal.
Hut49 said:
castrolcraig said:
rumour from bracknell today that the HRF1 trucks seen heading towards dover last week were in fact the teams trucks heading testing, with merc engined cars aboard!!!
same source says DR has done the deal.
I'm a glass half-full kinda guy so I'm with Castrolcraig. If this was going headlong into the buffers then a bunch of very smart people would have been outa there some time ago (what's the point in staying?). It's been too quiet, no real media action, so folks are convinced they've got a future and realize that they've got to get a really good car together. So I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Richards has been co-opted onto the management team as a requirement of someone who's putting in a lot of money - I still reckon Ecclestone's going to end up with at least a part of the equity and I suspect the real bank-roller will be a close friend of his. Under that scenario there's no room for Fry and as previously stated Richards Brawn must be close to a dream ticket for a new F1 team.same source says DR has done the deal.
I do think that a deal has been done and we will be seeing a car shortly, probably not next test but the following one at Barcelona. I'm sure whatever has happened it will have been facilitated by Bernie!
woof said:
Bernie part owning the team was bad news for everyone
Bernie has given money to many teams over the years, he even owned [MW on] McLaren [MW off] Brabham for a good few years.Not sure about he Honda thing, I've read/heard nothing solid about them being on the grid in Aus but apparently they are all geared up to go testing.
I really hope they don't close, F1 needs more teams not less.
egomeister said:
castrolcraig said:
rumour from bracknell today that the HRF1 trucks seen heading towards dover last week were in fact the teams trucks heading testing, with merc engined cars aboard!!!
same source says DR has done the deal.
I doubt they were off testing, unless it was a very secret test...same source says DR has done the deal.
Trucks will be leaving in the next day or so for testing next week, so unless they've been parked up in a european lay-by for a few days I doubt they were heading down to Spain!
belleair302 said:
Until F1 costs become reasonable....and teams stop taking 120 people to each GP and spending millions on hotels etc the whole circus is unattractive to investors.
Nobody gave a crap about how much F1 teams spent before the credit crunch. In fact that was all part of the spectacle. Now suddenly it's all panic stations and some rather badly thought out cost cutting measures. How much would you like F1 dumbed down before it turns into something like A1GP? egomeister said:
castrolcraig said:
rumour from bracknell today that the HRF1 trucks seen heading towards dover last week were in fact the teams trucks heading testing, with merc engined cars aboard!!!
same source says DR has done the deal.
I doubt they were off testing, unless it was a very secret test...same source says DR has done the deal.
Trucks will be leaving in the next day or so for testing next week, so unless they've been parked up in a european lay-by for a few days I doubt they were heading down to Spain!
phumy said:
egomeister said:
castrolcraig said:
rumour from bracknell today that the HRF1 trucks seen heading towards dover last week were in fact the teams trucks heading testing, with merc engined cars aboard!!!
same source says DR has done the deal.
I doubt they were off testing, unless it was a very secret test...same source says DR has done the deal.
Trucks will be leaving in the next day or so for testing next week, so unless they've been parked up in a european lay-by for a few days I doubt they were heading down to Spain!
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff