Campos is up for sale!

[WhiteBlue]

I have just listened to the valid concerns of people who saw this coming.

http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=354653

New Formula One teams: Lotus F1
Racing series COMMENTARY F1
Date 2010-01-09
By Berthold Bouman - Motorsport.com

It was always the wish of former FIA president Max Mosley to get some fresh blood in Formula One; he predicted that the manufacturer teams would leave Formula One as a result of the economic recession, and unfortunately he was right. Honda, Toyota and BMW have turned their back to Formula One, and only car manufacturers Renault, Mercedes and Ferrari will be present at the Grand Prix circuits in 2010. However, Renault sold out to investor Genii and is therefore a manufacturer team in name only.

Peter Sauber managed to save the BMW team and will be competing under the BMW-Sauber name, though without BMW participation. Without the new teams there would only be nine teams or 18 cars at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 14th. It could have been worse, as without the rescue of Renault and Sauber, only seven teams with 14 cars would compete in 2010. It seems I owe Mr. Mosley an apology for not sharing his skeptical, but correct view on the manufacturer teams as he expressed earlier in 2009.

[Pup]

In winning the FIA's engine contract, Cosworth agreed to provide engines for as few as one or as many as twelve teams. So the engines would be there, regardless of what happened with FOTA.

proof please? I remember the minimum being 4 teams for cosworth to consider starting development.

Here.

They had to provide two quotes. One for a single team, up to 3; and another assuming 4 or more teams.

Cosworth had agreed to provide an engine to anyone who wanted one. That in itself insulated the sport from failing if the manufacturers left. So keeping the new teams from using manufacturer engines was simply to prevent the manufacturers, particularly Mercedes, from gaining any allies with the new teams, and to dilute their overall influence.

So, I repeat:

There's a value to that in itself from a certain perspective, but not enough to justify flooding the sport with financially risky teams at the expense of other, far more stable efforts.

By forcing Cosworth on the new teams, the FIA wasn't ensuring an engine supply should the manufacturers leave. That had already been accomplished. The FIA's actions were geared instead to enter teams which were not allied with the manufacturers and who therefore, hopefully, would remain with F1 had FOTA created their own series. A valiant effort, but wholly anti-competitive, since the FIA wasn't protecting the sport from losing it's engine supply, but rather was working to prevent a competing series from forming.

[WhiteBlue]

In winning the FIA's engine contract, Cosworth agreed to provide engines for as few as one or as many as twelve teams. So the engines would be there, regardless of what happened with FOTA.

proof please? I remember the minimum being 4 teams for cosworth to consider starting development.

Here.

They had to provide two quotes. One for a single team, up to 3; and another assuming 4 or more teams.

The call for tender happened in fall 2008. It was for a voluntary supply and it deflects from the real issue that in 2009 FOTA threatened to boycott F1 engine supply only to defend their right to outspend each other. Demanding exclusive Cosworth contracts from new teams was a legitimate defense against the boycott threat.

[Pup]

When did FOTA threaten to boycott an engine supply? (Can one boycott and engine supply?) They threatened to set up another series.

Same effect, of course, but for the FIA to interfere with the latter is a definite EU no-no.

[WhiteBlue]

FOTA made it pretty clear that no team which would stay with the FIA F1 championship would receive engines. Williams was such a case.

[Pup]

So?

They threatened to leave; the FIA contracted with Cosworth in case they did. Problem solved.

[WhiteBlue]

So?

They threatened to leave; the FIA contracted with Cosworth in case they did. Problem solved.

They did a little more. They decided to leave on 16.June 2009.

So from the 16. June 2009 until the meeting of the WMSC on 24. June the likely participants of the 2010 FIA F1 championship would have been Williams, Force India, Manor, Campos, and USF1 all probably with Cosworth engines. Another three or four teams may have joined the ranks but several earlier applicants withdrew their application and joined the FOTA camp. So there was a real scenario of F1 racing with Cosworth only in 2010 if the compromise had not been achieved at the MWSC meeting on 24. June 2009.

That situation was already looming in April or May when the decision was taken to require a Cosworth contract. From the view of the FIA it was an emergency stop gap measure to ensure a championship could be run in case the FOTA broke away.

[xpensive]

At the end of the day, there might not be so many Cosworth teams on the grid as intended?

The intention was having three additional teams initially. With Williams joining the lot there would still be a good result if one team drops out.

Wonder how many Cosworth-teams we will see on the grid in Bahrain, three perhaps, one or two by the end of the year?

[mx_tifoso]

Furthermore, how many of them will be present past the 2010 season? With funding problems even before the final design is completed and competition actually starts it's hard to imagine that the finances will improve since those disadvantages won't aid in acquiring sponsorship/funding.

[xpensive]

Furthermore, how many of them will be present past the 2010 season? With funding problems even before the final design is completed and competition actually starts it's hard to imagine that the finances will improve since those disadvantages won't aid in acquiring sponsorship/funding.

Indeed, I'm not sure I like what I hear from Williams either, RBS will be gone for 2011 anyway.

[gibells]

The real point of this discussion must be the the FIA failed to do proper due diligence in the selection of teams. End of story.

My belief is they got themselves into trouble by ignoring more established efforts like Lola and Prodrive, and the failure to have 13 operating teams on the grid is the result of mindless politicing, with Williams vetoing a 14th team- (possibly at the bidding of the FIA), and the FIA insisting on the new teams having Cosworth motors. I'm sure that, if approached differently BMW/Toyota could have agreed to supply engines alone. And based on that principle, why gun for the manufacturers?

[marcush.]

to me Campos looked always weak in terms of funding ...it seemed to be their missing stone in their plan.
I had the impression they relied on working with big names to give them credibility
and expected to raise the necessary funding in form of a title sponsor later on...
whereas the other Teams seem to have based their business plan on someone who has the funds available if necessary .Lotus -Fernandes,USF1-Hurley,Manor-Virgin wheras Campos only has a big sportsmarketing company as a partner-would they have the funds in their pocket to pay for all the bills ?

[WhiteBlue]

The real point of this discussion must be the the FIA failed to do proper due diligence in the selection of teams. End of story.

Quite contrary the FIA did an excellent due dilligence with Deloitte

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pr ... ntry1.aspx

I'm sure that, if approached differently BMW/Toyota could have agreed to supply engines alone.

The BMW board made a fundamental decision not to supply engines from 2010 on. I have posted a sources for that several times. Honda also excluded an engine supply. Toyota may or may not supply Stefanovic if they get going.

[Richard]

to me Campos looked always weak in terms of funding ...

Typical anti-Spanish hatred found in the forum

Sorry ... spent too long in the USF1 thread.

To be serious, Campos always seemed to be the weakest. They are the only team without an in-house technical capability or assets. I thought it looked like a bit of badge engineering by a middleman.

[Pup]

Quite contrary the FIA did an excellent due dilligence with Deloitte

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pr ... ntry1.aspx

Excellent? I'm not sure how you justify that adjective. Regardless, "due diligence" in this case was really just about checking to make sure that what the FIA was being told about their current financial health was true. One can't really do due diligence on a business plan when that plan contains assumptions like "and then, wealthy sponsors appear".