HRT 2012

[Petroltorque]

As the old adage goes; the fastest way to make a small fortune in F1 is to start off with a large one. Not all investors are as clueless as Thesan Capital. The only solution is for the team to be handed over to a credible partner for a small fee and the present owners accept a minority stake in the hope of recouping at a later date.
No big Investor is going to buy a team that only posesses some race equipment and a now very depleted race team. I suppose it was a miracle HRT turned up at all because Ruiz de Marcos and Perez Sala have presided over an Omnishambles.

[Jackles-UK]

I'm sure most of us here would love to see another manufacturer coming into the sport, I miss the days of past with Honda, Toyota, Renault, BMW etc being part of the game. I think had Thesan hung onto the team for a year longer (until the 2014 engines & regs were coming into play) there may have been more of an interest from road car divisions but right now i'm not so sure. Too much risk & outlay for a one year 'throw-away'.

The only team/marque I can really think of with the funds to throw at it as well as the knowledge and facilities to make it a success would be the VW/Audi group. They already sweep the board at Le Mans most years as well as having successful DTM and WTC teams (not to mention their long mooted "potential" F1 interest). Plus with HRT finishing bottom of the Constructors table there would be the lowest entry fee for next year.

If only, eh!

[element]

WHile spain globally struggles, there's still wealthy companies and people in Spain. Is the lack of interest in F1 investment that is killing the team. Not going to happen, but there was once a Benetton team, easily could be a Zara (inditex) team. Not to mention many other companies that sponsor other teams/sports.
If Alonso was to sign for HRT there will be a queue of investors outside HRT's door, but the cold truth is that other sports are more appealing, like MotoGP which as is dominated by spaniards (also cheaper to sponsor).

[Petroltorque]

Moving the team to Spain seemed like tremendous hubris. Anyone in the know said it was a doomed venture. Now HRT have no dhassis contractor,no 2013 entry, no engine deal, no transmission deal and 50 staff. Who's going to buy that car wreck.
I don't buy the Press Release of any imminent sale either. HRT looks more and more like a Zombie Debtor Team aka ZDT. Unfortunately there is only one cure for a zombie debtor.

[Cam]

If a Middle East nation is in the rumor mill to buy HRT, perhaps Saudi Arabia? Or one of their egregiously wealthy companies/persons?

It would be interesting to see if HRT would be bought up by, say, a conglomerate of South American interests. The language barrier would be a minor hurdle (no vosotros, if my remedial Spanish from college is still with me) and the desire to bring F1 to the fore with drivers like Maldonaldo and Senna would easily garner home fans. HRT becomes Auto-Deportes del Sur Americano (ADSA?)

Otherwise, I wish some U.S. Billionaires would just buy the whole outfit, bring it to a facility in the States, and have engineers and drivers play around with it for a year and learn some solid fundamentals before storming the field in 2014.

Or Porche could buy it all up and use it for testing and then come in 2014

Agree about the US. That would be a great option. The US badly need something to both kick start interest in F1 and in home grown auto manufacturing. This is a dream cheap deal to buy in. The PR alone would be worth it. Bigger than that though is the chance for the US industry to take on Europe at its own game. Japan failed, so did South America, so what can Uncle Sam do? Or are the yanks too scared?!

Edit: typo

[Petroltorque]

HRT are asking euro 40 million asking price for the team! WTF!!!!! Someone needs to get in contact with Saul Ruiz de Marcos and find out what clour the sky is in his world, 'cos outside Caja Majica it's Black!!!!

[CHT]

If a Middle East nation is in the rumor mill to buy HRT, perhaps Saudi Arabia? Or one of their egregiously wealthy companies/persons?

It would be interesting to see if HRT would be bought up by, say, a conglomerate of South American interests. The language barrier would be a minor hurdle (no vosotros, if my remedial Spanish from college is still with me) and the desire to bring F1 to the fore with drivers like Maldonaldo and Senna would easily garner home fans. HRT becomes Auto-Deportes del Sur Americano (ADSA?)

Otherwise, I wish some U.S. Billionaires would just buy the whole outfit, bring it to a facility in the States, and have engineers and drivers play around with it for a year and learn some solid fundamentals before storming the field in 2014.

Or Porche could buy it all up and use it for testing and then come in 2014

Saudi so far has got not much interest in sports or motor racing and with the money they have I doubt they will have the patience or interest with a team like HRT. If Ferrari or Mclaren is up for sale, perhaps saudi prince awaleed might be keen.

[ScottB]

I struggle to see why anyone would pay any serious money for their operation.

What assets do they have? They rent their base, have no wind tunnel, no CFD machines, no car for next year and no ability to design a new one.


Really can't see why anyone would be interested. It's a shame as they've been quite plucky in terms of keeping pace with their better funded rivals, but they were never going to be stuck anywhere other than the back of the grid.

[Huntresa]

Here is an article that shows it better why they prob wont even break even with selling HRT.

http://pitpass.com/47887-HRT-Cheap-to-a-good-home

[WhiteBlue]

Redundancy notices have been sent to team members and that unless a buyer can be found in the next couple of weeks the team will be shut down in December.

It is over.

[Hail22]

Redundancy notices have been sent to team members and that unless a buyer can be found in the next couple of weeks the team will be shut down in December.

It is over.

So would that mean there will only be 11 teams for 2013?

As I highly doubt anyone will want to join the 2013 season with the large changes coming into effect for 2014?

[Huntresa]

I rly just cant believ ethey made it this far, but not the same ppl over the 3 year course so i guess thats why.

[Hail22]

I rly just cant believ ethey made it this far, but not the same ppl over the 3 year course so i guess thats why.

The world economic crisis is making its way through Motorsports mate. Its a sad thing to see regardless HRT being a slow runner.

I don't know whether Formula 1 will be able to intrigue/bring in fresh blood to the sport until things settle down world wide. Guess I should be an optimist and hope for a new outfit willing to join.

[Petroltorque]

From the moment Kolles' decided to cancel the contract with Dallara the paradigm changed. Up till then one was paying 2 contractors. From the moment you decide to move an operation inhouse your costs ramp up. Combine that with a decision to establish their own base and the situation becomes cost prohibitive. One stops concentrating on the car which provides the best chance of funding in terms of sponsorship and drivers.
What attracted me to HRT nee Campos Meta was that they were sourcing a chassis from Dallara. For all the criticism directed at Dallara they still provided a capable chassis on a very limited budget.

[WhiteBlue]

Sky Germany confirmed that the team in Spain is completely shut down. The only team members in employ are the mechanics and the race engineers. It appears that they will do only limited running with pay drivers for lack of reliable parts. They have run out of suspension, gear boxes, brakes, steering and other safety relevant components.