Expression of Interest for New Teams

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dr-baker
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Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by dr-baker »

Earlier this week/month/year (all the same thing at this point in the year), the FIA President Ben Sulayem began talking of opening up an expression of interest for new teams to join the leading European single seater motor racing series.

Today, Andretti talked further of trying to enter the sport, as he has done for a while, but with the added news of bringing Cadillac into the series with him, maybe initially by badging another manufacturer's entry. I am not aware of General Motors having been in F1 before, although if I'm wrong, I would love to know more! Would be even better if they were rebranded as Vauxhall engines for the British Grand Prix!

On a less serious note...
Wonder what chassis they would try entering with? The Toyota T110, the Arrows A23/SuperAguri SA05/Minardi PS04, or even the Lola T97/30?
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by dinizintheoven »

dr-baker wrote: 05 Jan 2023, 18:25 Today, Andretti talked further of trying to enter the sport, as he has done for a while, but with the added news of bringing Cadillac into the series with him, maybe initially by badging another manufacturer's entry.
Andretti in F1: it's the dream that we all share, it's the hope for tomorrow. I should not have to mention this link is not for the easily offended (which is just about everyone these days). Play that, very loudly, on repeat, or be insufficiently 'MURICAN. I'll actually be annoyed if Team Andretti-Cadillac doesn't have huge fins on the rear of the car and sponsorship from Bed Bath & Beyond.
I am not aware of General Motors having been in F1 before, although if I'm wrong, I would love to know more! Would be even better if they were rebranded as Vauxhall engines for the British Grand Prix!
...except that GM sold Vauxhall and Opel to PSA a few years ago, and a Vauxhall Corsa is nothing more than a rebadged Peugeot 208. Still, it's a slightly less awful fate than Holden.

Although, PSA don't have the best reputation when it comes to taking over the operations of American forays into Europe... so it may just be a stay of execution.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by dr-baker »

dinizintheoven wrote: 05 Jan 2023, 18:55
I am not aware of General Motors having been in F1 before, although if I'm wrong, I would love to know more! Would be even better if they were rebranded as Vauxhall engines for the British Grand Prix!
...except that GM sold Vauxhall and Opel to PSA a few years ago, and a Vauxhall Corsa is nothing more than a rebadged Peugeot 208. Still, it's a slightly less awful fate than Holden.

Although, PSA don't have the best reputation when it comes to taking over the operations of American forays into Europe... so it may just be a stay of execution.
Gosh darnnit, sacre bleu, how did I forget that? It would have been an even bigger epic fail, worthy of an ROTR, if that were to ever happen. On a related note, does GM still have the Daewoo brand? Because that'll be the day who decides if that brand should ever reappear at a non-existent Korean Grand Prix.
dinizintheoven wrote: 05 Jan 2023, 18:55
Andretti in F1: it's the dream that we all share, it's the hope for tomorrow. I should not have to mention this link is not for the easily offended (which is just about everyone these days).
I am most definitely deeply offended by that. In fact, I will have to watch it many more times so I can increase my powers of offendedness until it goes off the scales and my head exploded, leaving me with no remaining brain cells with which to express my disgust and dismay at what this world is coming to.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by mario »

dr-baker wrote: 05 Jan 2023, 19:56On a related note, does GM still have the Daewoo brand? Because that'll be the day who decides if that brand should ever reappear at a non-existent Korean Grand Prix.
Daewoo officially ceased to exist back in 2011, with the company renamed to GM Korea Company and all future models becoming Chevrolet's.
dr-baker wrote: 05 Jan 2023, 18:25 Today, Andretti talked further of trying to enter the sport, as he has done for a while, but with the added news of bringing Cadillac into the series with him, maybe initially by badging another manufacturer's entry. I am not aware of General Motors having been in F1 before, although if I'm wrong, I would love to know more! Would be even better if they were rebranded as Vauxhall engines for the British Grand Prix!
No, there does not seem to have been any connection between General Motors and F1 before.

At best, there are only a few tangential interactions between the two - StatsF1 lists a few privateers seem to have tried using Cadillac and Chevrolet engines to attempt to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 back in the early 1950s, when the Indy 500 was part of the World Drivers Championship, but none of them managed to qualify for the race.

It does strike me as a bit of an odd choice to use the Cadillac marque though - out of the various marques under the wider General Motors umbrella, I would have thought that Chevrolet might have made more sense. Although Cadillac does have some involvement in motorsport through their LMDh programme, Chevrolet is active in NASCAR, IndyCar and GT racing - and, given that Chevrolet is an engine supplier in IndyCar, I would have thought that, from a publicity point of view, it would have made more sense to create an association with Chevrolet than with Cadillac.

As for the suggestion of using a rebranded engine, Mark Reuss, the President of General Motors, is now reported to have confirmed that Cadillac's current plans would be to rebadge another manufacturer's engine, although they may subsequently look at moving some of the development work in house after that. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/honda ... /10417563/
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by dr-baker »

Thanks for that research mario. Curious how GM did not even feature at the Indy 500 from 1950 to 1960.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by mario »

dr-baker wrote: 06 Jan 2023, 07:36 Thanks for that research mario. Curious how GM did not even feature at the Indy 500 from 1950 to 1960.
Maybe, but on the other hand Offenhauser's engine was to the Indianapolis 500 what the Cosworth DFV was to Formula 1 in later years - widely available, making it relatively easy to run and maintain at a reasonable price, whilst offering very competitive performance. The Offenhauser, like the Cosworth DFV, crowded rivals out of the sport and effectively became the sole engine that teams wanted to use in that era because it offered a blend of just the right attributes that entrants wanted.

It wasn't just GM that didn't feature - the demand for Offenhauser engines meant that they had near exclusive control over the field during that period. In total, I think that only three entrants managed to qualify for the Indy 500 using an engine from another manufacturer - ten entrants appeared using Novi engines, Ferrari's sole success in qualifying in 1952 and the Cummins Diesel Specials that appeared in 1950 and 1952.

On a broader note, it is interesting to see that, whilst Mohammed Ben Sulayem gave a rather warm reception to the Andretti-GM announcement and rather unsubtly used it to grandstand about the FIA's performance (and thus, indirectly, his own importance), the reception from Liberty Media seems to have been distinctly cooler and more restrained.

I could understand why other teams might not be hugely enthusiastic if they felt that the reduction in their cut of the revenues would outweigh potential sponsor interest coming from Andretti's entry, but it seems a bit more surprising that Liberty Media have been a bit cooler towards Andretti's bid so far.

Part of it does perhaps seem to be that Liberty Media are not entirely happy that Andretti's been using the press - Domenicali did make a somewhat pointed comment earlier this year about Andretti being "quite vocal about his request" and how other bidders were "respecting the silence and being more productive on proving who they are and respecting the protocols we have put in place". In that respect, Liberty Media perhaps did not like the fact that Andretti seemed to be trying to control the application process on his terms and wanting to take away control from them over the negotiation process.

I guess that maybe the other reason for being a bit cold towards the Andretti-GM bid is that GM's commitment is probably falling short of what they might have wanted. As it's currently effectively only an engine badging exercise, GM could cut their ties and back out of the sport quite easily - particularly as it seems that the target would be to enter in 2026 when the new engine regulations are due to come into effect.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by Wallio »

Yeah, old Mikey's bid seems to be DOA before even being officially lodged! Nine out of ten teams saying no, FOM being lukewarm at best (and holding a veto on any 11th team), and now rumored demands of the "anti-dilution fee" being raised to $600 million. Mohammed Ben Sulayem had to tweet his "surprise" at the opposition this bid has raised. And it's still technically not even an official bid yet!
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by dr-baker »

Although Toto Wolff is now admitting that Andretti teaming up with GM and Cadillac "makes a statement" and seems to be impressed by that. Whether his stance on this team entry will soften though is anyone's guess.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by mario »

Wallio wrote: 13 Jan 2023, 17:10 Yeah, old Mikey's bid seems to be DOA before even being officially lodged! Nine out of ten teams saying no, FOM being lukewarm at best (and holding a veto on any 11th team), and now rumored demands of the "anti-dilution fee" being raised to $600 million. Mohammed Ben Sulayem had to tweet his "surprise" at the opposition this bid has raised. And it's still technically not even an official bid yet!
There seems to have been some slightly contradicting statements about how many teams support Andretti's bid - some have suggested that it's just one team, whilst others have suggested it is two.

The latter does seem plausible, because there have been a number of rumours about Andretti signing a deal with Renault to use their engines - if so, then you would have thought that it would be in their interests for Andretti to be given a contract.

The other outfit that is suggested to be in favour is McLaren, mainly due to Zak Brown's commercial links to Andretti - he is on the board of directors for the SPAC that Andretti set up last year, and Zak also has a financial interest in Andretti's business via Walkinshaw Andretti United, where Zak has a minority stake via his United Autosport team.

As noted by dr-baker, Wolff has also made some more conciliatory statements in the press after the announcement of the deal with General Motors - it's not the most enthusiastic reception, but he does seem to be moving towards a bit more of a neutral position right now.

The comments about Mohammed Ben Sulayem being "surprised" in the press do perhaps indicate one reason for the somewhat cool reception from the other teams towards Andretti, and that seems to be linked to wider political arguments in the sport.

There has been some talk in the past about relations between the FIA and FOM becoming strained, with FOM feeling that Sulayem has been seeking conflict to assert the authority of the FIA - with some ill feeling from FOM that Sulayem has started interfering in areas where the FIA is technically not supposed to be involved (particularly with commercial matters).

Andrew Benson has suggested that part of the reason for the rather different responses from FOM and from the FIA over Andretti's bid is because Andretti's bid has become part of that wider conflict between FOM and the FIA over Sulayem's handling of the sport. In other words, his suggestion was that the relatively lukewarm response from FOM is in part because of Sulayem's own response being so favourable - particularly given that Sulayem went out of his way to use his own personal social media accounts, rather than going through the FIA's own communications team.

I can see some reasons why that might be the case - with Sulayem providing his personal support, Andretti in turn might be more closely aligned with the FIA when it comes to political matters in the sport if he felt indebted to Sulayem for his entry, potentially helping to dilute some of the power of the teams and FOM.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

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Craig Pollock is going to be heading up a team with the aim of entering in 2026. With backing from an unspecified country in the Gulf region, the team will be called Formula Equal, with the intention that the team's workforce will be 50% male, 50% female, hopefully evenly spread throughout the organisation.

Good luck with that, mate. Probably won't find a woman with enough superlicence points by then, unless the FIA make an exception for someone, and the Gulf state finances someone to be adequately positioned for that. I don't know if Jamie Chadwick would have progressed sufficiently by then through the ranks, and I don't know if drivers like Pippa Mann or Katherine Legge would do so at this point in their careers. And I don't know enough about Sophia Floresh's career to know if she might make it by then? And i assume that the Gulf state would be stumping up the $600000000 entry fee.

Autosport also state that "Junior series team Hitech and French-owned Panthera Team Asia are also believed to have submitted official Expressions of Interest in the tender process."
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

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dr-baker wrote: 28 Mar 2023, 16:30 Craig Pollock is going to be heading up a team with the aim of entering in 2026. With backing from an unspecified country in the Gulf region, the team will be called Formula Equal, with the intention that the team's workforce will be 50% male, 50% female, hopefully evenly spread throughout the organisation.

Good luck with that, mate. Probably won't find a woman with enough superlicence points by then, unless the FIA make an exception for someone, and the Gulf state finances someone to be adequately positioned for that. I don't know if Jamie Chadwick would have progressed sufficiently by then through the ranks, and I don't know if drivers like Pippa Mann or Katherine Legge would do so at this point in their careers. And I don't know enough about Sophia Floresh's career to know if she might make it by then? And i assume that the Gulf state would be stumping up the $600000000 entry fee.

Autosport also state that "Junior series team Hitech and French-owned Panthera Team Asia are also believed to have submitted official Expressions of Interest in the tender process."


Well it does say "hopefully" evenly spread. If the split is even close to 50% I'd say they could be qualified as having succeeded even if both drivers are men. But yeah, the money is the thing that seems like the first major roadblock here. Is the entry fee really $600 million? I thought it was $200 million, plus whatever it costs to build a team (which might add up to $600 mil). I just want to make sure I understand properly.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by mario »

Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: 28 Mar 2023, 16:58
dr-baker wrote: 28 Mar 2023, 16:30 Craig Pollock is going to be heading up a team with the aim of entering in 2026. With backing from an unspecified country in the Gulf region, the team will be called Formula Equal, with the intention that the team's workforce will be 50% male, 50% female, hopefully evenly spread throughout the organisation.

Good luck with that, mate. Probably won't find a woman with enough superlicence points by then, unless the FIA make an exception for someone, and the Gulf state finances someone to be adequately positioned for that. I don't know if Jamie Chadwick would have progressed sufficiently by then through the ranks, and I don't know if drivers like Pippa Mann or Katherine Legge would do so at this point in their careers. And I don't know enough about Sophia Floresh's career to know if she might make it by then? And i assume that the Gulf state would be stumping up the $600000000 entry fee.

Autosport also state that "Junior series team Hitech and French-owned Panthera Team Asia are also believed to have submitted official Expressions of Interest in the tender process."
Well it does say "hopefully" evenly spread. If the split is even close to 50% I'd say they could be qualified as having succeeded even if both drivers are men. But yeah, the money is the thing that seems like the first major roadblock here. Is the entry fee really $600 million? I thought it was $200 million, plus whatever it costs to build a team (which might add up to $600 mil). I just want to make sure I understand properly.
If I were to guess which nation state might have put the money up for that entry, I would suggest Saudi Arabia.

Back in January, the head of the Saudi Arabian motorsport association announced plans for a long term project to attract teams to set up a base of operations in Saudi Arabia, with ambitions to have engineers, mechanics and drivers, to name some roles, coming from Saudi Arabia and entering the sport. https://racingnews365.com/saudi-arabia- ... iddle-east

Given that announcement was only a few months ago, and given the increased activity by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund in F1, it sounds highly plausible that they might be the ones willing to put up the money for such an endeavour. The way in which the team is being pitched does also sound like it is designed to tie in with the modernising image that the current Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia wants to project to an international audience.

That said, looking at the list of applicants, Hitech might also find it to be something of a struggle to enter as, until March 2022, Hitech was partially owned by Dmitry Mazepin though a Cypriot registered holding company, as well as partially through Uralkali and another company that owns trademarks for the Mazepin family. https://formulascout.com/hitech-gp-team ... tfit/90178

Officially, Ollie Oakes - the founder of Hitech - has taken back control of the team (having claimed, somewhat dubiously, that holding company was always going to leave in early 2022 and that it was purely coincidental that it happened at around a time that the Mazepin's were being sanctioned). However, there has been speculation that the Mazepin's may still be indirectly involved in the background - something that is unlikely to make Hitech welcome as an entrant.

By the way Row Man Gross-Gene - you are correct that the "anti-dilution" fee, as it is termed, is currently set at $200 million, but there have been reports that the teams want the fee raised from $200 million to $600 million. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/rival ... /10436870/

Basically, the argument seems to be that the $200 million fee was based on the value of the teams and on the value of the prize fund as it was back in August 2020 - at a time when both team values and that of the sport as a whole had been heavily depressed due to the pandemic. Since then, with a noticeable increase in revenue and in team values, teams are now arguing that the $200 million fee was set at too low a value.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by Row Man Gross-Gene »

It's funny, I wonder how many teams on the current grid would not be able to start now because of the buy-in fee and the huge startup costs? Three or Four? Gotta figure at least two.

Also, if I was a multi-multi billionaire, what kind of outlay would I need to get to the grid? $200 mil buy in, probably $200 mil physical plant, $135 mil budget (first year, assuming sponsorship and prize money could cover future years) and $50 mil+ for drivers etc. Am I forgetting anything? (maybe there should be 2 years' budget before turning a wheel, I don't know.) That's pushing $600 million just to start a team. And now the teams say raise buy-in to $600 mil? Their team values have tripled since 2020?

Jaysus, F1 has been the pinnacle for a long time, but what's the next highest cost startup for a racing series? WEC? How close are they to a $600 mil startup cost?
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by dr-baker »

Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: 28 Mar 2023, 19:48 It's funny, I wonder how many teams on the current grid would not be able to start now because of the buy-in fee and the huge startup costs? Three or Four? Gotta figure at least two.

Also, if I was a multi-multi billionaire, what kind of outlay would I need to get to the grid? $200 mil buy in, probably $200 mil physical plant, $135 mil budget (first year, assuming sponsorship and prize money could cover future years) and $50 mil+ for drivers etc. Am I forgetting anything? (maybe there should be 2 years' budget before turning a wheel, I don't know.) That's pushing $600 million just to start a team. And now the teams say raise buy-in to $600 mil? Their team values have tripled since 2020?

Jaysus, F1 has been the pinnacle for a long time, but what's the next highest cost startup for a racing series? WEC? How close are they to a $600 mil startup cost?
You're never going to get the small independent teams into the sport again like this. No more underdogs, like Super Aguri, Simtek or Pacific.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by mario »

dr-baker wrote: 29 Mar 2023, 05:58
Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: 28 Mar 2023, 19:48 It's funny, I wonder how many teams on the current grid would not be able to start now because of the buy-in fee and the huge startup costs? Three or Four? Gotta figure at least two.

Also, if I was a multi-multi billionaire, what kind of outlay would I need to get to the grid? $200 mil buy in, probably $200 mil physical plant, $135 mil budget (first year, assuming sponsorship and prize money could cover future years) and $50 mil+ for drivers etc. Am I forgetting anything? (maybe there should be 2 years' budget before turning a wheel, I don't know.) That's pushing $600 million just to start a team. And now the teams say raise buy-in to $600 mil? Their team values have tripled since 2020?

Jaysus, F1 has been the pinnacle for a long time, but what's the next highest cost startup for a racing series? WEC? How close are they to a $600 mil startup cost?
You're never going to get the small independent teams into the sport again like this. No more underdogs, like Super Aguri, Simtek or Pacific.
Which is effectively what they want - they want to have major manufacturers, rather than privateers. That said, some other series have implicitly indicated that they're not really that keen on privateers either - whilst the WEC does have privateer teams in the LMH category, the regulations that they operate to are designed to make them less competitive. Indeed, whilst allowing them to compete, I have a recollection of the ACO stating that they really wanted the LMP2 to be the category for privateers and LMH to be a category for manufacturers.

With regards to start up costs for the WEC, it's hard to tell as there is not a lot of transparency about how much the teams are spending. When the LMH regulations were introduced, the ACO's target was to cut annual budgets to €20 million per season for a two car team, based on a five year commitment to the sport - but that was a target figure, not an actual budget cap (and the ACO seemed to imply that would have excluded driver wages).

Getting an indication of start up costs is also difficult, particularly since most of those who are competing in the WEC right now are teams that had existing facilities - even the privateers, like Glickenhaus and Vanwall (aka Colin Kolles), are using existing facilities set up quite a few years ago now.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

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dr-baker wrote: 28 Mar 2023, 16:30 Craig Pollock is going to be heading up a team with the aim of entering in 2026. With backing from an unspecified country in the Gulf region, the team will be called Formula Equal, with the intention that the team's workforce will be 50% male, 50% female, hopefully evenly spread throughout the organisation.

Good luck with that, mate. Probably won't find a woman with enough superlicence points by then, unless the FIA make an exception for someone, and the Gulf state finances someone to be adequately positioned for that. I don't know if Jamie Chadwick would have progressed sufficiently by then through the ranks, and I don't know if drivers like Pippa Mann or Katherine Legge would do so at this point in their careers. And I don't know enough about Sophia Floresh's career to know if she might make it by then? And i assume that the Gulf state would be stumping up the $600000000 entry fee.

Autosport also state that "Junior series team Hitech and French-owned Panthera Team Asia are also believed to have submitted official Expressions of Interest in the tender process."
Let's link the article so people can eat through the medium of pageviews ;) https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/equal ... /10449554/
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by Rob Dylan »

The first name that came to my mind was Juju Noda. Although of course, three years is a very long type considering how quickly hype can rise and fall based off of a single race. The sheer franchise value that would come with the comeback of the Noda name to Formula 1 will surely convince the teams to waive the entry fee and allow Saudi Arabia I mean the unnamed gulf state to go ahead with their plan.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by dr-baker »

Rob Dylan wrote: 29 Mar 2023, 11:48 The first name that came to my mind was Juju Noda. Although of course, three years is a very long type considering how quickly hype can rise and fall based off of a single race. The sheer franchise value that would come with the comeback of the Noda name to Formula 1 will surely convince the teams to waive the entry fee and allow Saudi Arabia I mean the unnamed gulf state to go ahead with their plan.
Yes, she did generate a lot of attention when she broke into single seater, but I wonder if that was as much to do with her age at the time as much as anything else. Alas, she did not really impress in W Series, an already maligned championship, rightly or wrongly, for the level of talent. But it would be good to get more drivers from Asia into the championship again.
Ataxia wrote: 29 Mar 2023, 09:14
dr-baker wrote: 28 Mar 2023, 16:30 Craig Pollock is going to be heading up a team with the aim of entering in 2026. With backing from an unspecified country in the Gulf region, the team will be called Formula Equal, with the intention that the team's workforce will be 50% male, 50% female, hopefully evenly spread throughout the organisation.

Good luck with that, mate. Probably won't find a woman with enough superlicence points by then, unless the FIA make an exception for someone, and the Gulf state finances someone to be adequately positioned for that. I don't know if Jamie Chadwick would have progressed sufficiently by then through the ranks, and I don't know if drivers like Pippa Mann or Katherine Legge would do so at this point in their careers. And I don't know enough about Sophia Floresh's career to know if she might make it by then? And i assume that the Gulf state would be stumping up the $600000000 entry fee.

Autosport also state that "Junior series team Hitech and French-owned Panthera Team Asia are also believed to have submitted official Expressions of Interest in the tender process."
Let's link the article so people can eat through the medium of pageviews ;) https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/equal ... /10449554/
Thank you.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by Conventi »

The whole new team procedure is a joke. Oh how I miss the 1980s and 1990s, with Life, Coloni, Osella, AGS, EuroBrun and all the other hopeless but entertaining entries. They made racing interesting, if it was only for their failures. There will never be a Life L190 again. Sad days.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by Wallio »

Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: 28 Mar 2023, 19:48 WEC? How close are they to a $600 mil startup cost?
James Glickenhaus is running a team out of a shed with the profits made from crappy B movies. They don't win but their one-lap pace isn't embarrassing.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by Row Man Gross-Gene »

Wallio wrote: 04 Apr 2023, 16:09
Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: 28 Mar 2023, 19:48 WEC? How close are they to a $600 mil startup cost?
James Glickenhaus is running a team out of a shed with the profits made from crappy B movies. They don't win but their one-lap pace isn't embarrassing.
And I have to say, I don't even want it to be easy for just anyone to rock up, I just want it to be possible. And it seems like they are making it impossible. And maybe Andretti would be a bad choice, I don't know. I mean it doesn't do anyone any good to have a big failure made of whomever the next new entry ends up being, I just feel there's room for a little more.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by dr-baker »

Been meaning to add to this for a while:

13th April 2023
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/billi ... /10455872/
Hong Kong billionaire Calvin Lo says he is considering backing one of the teams bidding for a future Formula 1 entry.

Reuters indicated that Lo ruled out any involvement in the Andretti/Cadillac and Hitech GP bids, which suggests that Panthera Team Asia might be an obvious target.

29th April 2023
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arti ... oho+Social
Rodin Carlin mulls F1 entry bid with New Zealand-based team and woman driver

Rodin Carlin, which runs F2, F3 and F4 teams, as well as entries in the new F1 Academy, would run cars designed and built in New Zealand, powered by its own engines, under plans drawn up by its wealthy tech entrepreneur owner.

David Dicker has already used his fortune to set up the Rodin car company, which produces a single-seater with F1 levels of performance. He has also funded three-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick in her single-seater career and said he’d be “perfectly happy” to put her in the car.

He told Motor Sport that he had more than $500m resources to fully fund the bid, which would expand F1’s global presence away from the predominantly British-based teams, but had still not decided whether to go ahead.

Speaking from New Zealand’s South Island a few days ago, he said: “We’ll make the whole car here and we guarantee to put a woman in one of the seats. We’d be the only team that’s got a full junior programme. We’ve been covering the entire spectrum from F4 all the way up to F2 and no-one else is even close to doing it.

“A lot of people would be really interested in getting a team that was based in New Zealand into the F1 programme. It’d do a lot for Formula 1.”


26th June 2023
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/singl ... /10487894/
British racing team Hitech has formally confirmed it has lodged an entry to join the Formula 1 grid in 2026, after revealing a major new investment deal.

The Silverstone-based squad, which currently races in F2, F3 and F4, announced on Monday that its parent company Hitech Global Holdings Limited had sold a 25% stake to Kazakh businessman Vladimir Kim.

Kim’s main interests are in the mining, banking and aviation sectors, with his Kazakhmys and KAZ Minerals Group’s work in extraction and processing of copper ore making it one of the top 10 copper producers in the world.

Previously Kim’s companies have sponsored Kazakh athletes, including boxing champions Gennadiy Golovkin and Serik Sapiyev, as well as top-ranked tennis players, but the Hitech deal is his first foray into international motor racing.
watka wrote:I find it amusing that whilst you're one of the more openly Christian guys here, you are still first and foremost associated with an eye for the ladies!
dinizintheoven wrote:GOOD CHRISTIANS do not go to jail. EVERYONE ON FORMULA ONE REJECTS should be in jail.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by Wallio »

A "British" team with Russian papers in F1? We've seen this story before lol.
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Re: Expression of Interest for New Teams

Post by Har1MAS1415 »

Only Andretti Global left standing now so it seems.
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