Money makes the world go round

With all the talk about Sato and Bourdais trying to scrounge up funds to get a seat at Toro Rosso, it definitely reinforces the idea that heads clashed at the team over driver policy.

Back in May, the former driver spoke out about his desire not to employ chequebook drivers in the team. Granted, the economic climate has changed since, but given the amount of talk about the prospects having to bring money to the table, one can't help but wonder. (see: Chequebook Drivers? No Thanks!)

McLaren have joined Ferrari in calling for a postponement of the KERS system because of the cost of the system. The top-two could also have an ulterior motive for it, given that both would have had to delay work on their 2009 whilst others got the train early.

Of course, many in forums alluded to such when Ferrari made the call with the all too familiar Ferrari 'whinging'. I wonder how these same people will perceive McLaren's stance on it. I can see this issue splitting into two camps. I don't see those who already have a system in place willing to play ball.

Speaking of McLaren, team principal Ron Dennis has commented about Honda and it's Earth Dream concept, more or less saying what I have for two years now. So it has taken two years for people to notice this. And for some reason I don't have any official job in the sport.

Ending on a happy note, major props to Nascar's Jeff Gordon, who said he is willing to take a pay cut for the betterment of his team. In tough times, cuts need to be made. The biggest problem is, it is often hard to take back what is already given. People in all sectors are bitching and moaning about not wanting to even freeze their salaries until the skies clear.

With all this selfishness , Gordon's gesture is one I hope everyone, not just in the sports world, will take not of. Whether it be motorsport, football or any other sport - the money handed out has risen to a ridiculous level.

Red Bull Acquire Toro Rosso.... Again

In a somewhat unexpected move, Red Bull has re-acquired the 50% stake in the Toro Rosso team owned by Gerhard Berger.

A surprising move to say the least, given that Red Bull supremo, Dietrich Mateschitz, stated earlier in the season of his intention to sell his half. At the time of that announcement, the situation regarding customer car usage was against their usage.

Of course, that was back in March. A lot has happened in the sport and the world since then. With the economic downturn and the desire of everyone to tighten their belts, there have been rumours in the media about revisiting the topic. A situation like that would definitely entice Red Bull to continue their investment in the team that they use to groom their future talent.

With that in mind though, why upset the status quo? There is nothing wrong with how the Toro Rosso team ran this year. As the old adage goes, if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.

In fact, one wonders if they ran too well. In the second half of the season, the junior Red Bull squad easily out-raced their sister team. Perhaps, and this is simply just my own personal thought on it, that they plan to merge the two teams in the future to get to improve the overall Red Bull package.

Honestly, that is the only thing that comes to mind with the deal. Unless of course that a decision on customer cars is further up the road than we are led to believe. Naturally, I could be completely off the ball on this. But I wouldn’t be surprised if more on this deal comes to light in the future.

Checkbook Drivers? No Thanks!

Toro Rosso boss Gerhard Berger signalled that he would not turn to pay drivers in 2009.

The future of STR is shrouded in doubt with Red Bull supremo, Dietrich Mateschitz, planning to sell his half of the team. Mateschitz plans to pull Red Bull’s involvement with its junior team due to end of the customer cars ‘era’. I use the term ‘era’ lightly, given that it has only lasted a couple of years.

Red Bull have no intention of trying to finance too teams. Although, they have gone about it in a much better way than Honda did with Super Aguri. That leaves co-owner and former race winner Berger looking to stabilize the teams future. So far there hasn’t been much talk about an investor. On-track results have hardly helped the situation either.

I have to say, I have a load of respect for Berger in his desire not to touch pay drivers. The idea of people paying their way into Formula One has always gotten underneath my skin. It just isn’t right. Formula One is the pinnacle of single-seater racing. That means we should have the best drivers in the world. Why should someone be able to buy in to that?

Minnow teams have been filled with this sort. Luckily, the past few years have seen this breed of driver die out. Not in its entirety of course. Nakajima to an extent is a pay driver, helping to shave numbers off the Toyota engine bill at Williams. Sakon Yamamoto is another example of a driver who somehow found his way back onto the grid last year with Spyker after a year with Super Aguri. Did he get there because of his brilliant driving talents or the size of his wallet? Pretty much a no brainer there!

In the cut-throat world where money seems to be everything, Berger’s stance is something to be admired. Hopefully come the end of the year he doesn’t find himself having to change his mind.

For Sale: Pre-owned F1 team. No Longer Wanted Due To Impending Rule Change. Need Sold By 2010

Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz has confirmed that the Toro Rosso team is up for sale. With customer cars outlawed from 2010 with a new Concorde Agreement, the junior Red Bull squad will no longer be able to run a similar car as the main squad.

The customer car row has been rumbling for a number of years now with independent teams such as Williams and Force India (under it many previous guises) fighting tooth and nail against the customer cars. We’ve already seen its impact earlier in the year with Prodrive not making it onto the grid as expected.

I’ve never been a fan of customer cars in Formula One. When I think customer cars I think of the racing in the United States. Not that it is a bad thing mind you. But that’s the way they have done it for many year there and it has it benefits. This however is F1, the pinnacle of single-seater motorsports. F1 doesn’t have a team championship, it is a constructor’s championship – and you can’t spell ‘constructors’ without ‘construct’! The likes of Toro Rosso and Super Aguri don’t do that, rather they run with modified versions of their parent teams. ‘Synergy’ is a term that has been thrown around to cover what in layman’s term can be described as using the same car. If you copy someone’s homework in class, you don’t get away with it. Why should you in F1?

One of the draws of F1 is to see teams running cars that carry the mark and influence of the team. If I wanted to see cars that were all the same, I would watch another form of single-seaters.
Prodrive abused the entry slot they were won to make it onto the grid. At the time customers cars were a hot topic, they knew this. They held out as long as they could in the hope the rules would change that would suit their entry with a customer car. They didn’t and the series lacked a 12^th team this year. Why were they allowed to do this I ask? Perhaps one of the other bidders had ambitions or resources to make their own car if it came to it and could’ve been on the grid this year. We will never know now.

Don’t get me wrong, customer cars do have advantages. They would help with the much heralded cost-cutting that Mosley goes on about.

Should the sport be diluted that much in an attempt to save money? I think not.