Is Lola coming back to F1?
April 22, 2009 by Negative Camber
Filed under Parc Fermé
Lola has long been associated with F1 and it appears that a special assessment group has been formed within it’s offices to determine if 2010 is the right time to come back to the series. Most recently Lola have been developing LMP1 and LMP2 cars for the Le Mans series under the Prodrive-Aston badge and they seem keen to give F1 another shot now that Max Mosley has provided a ground work of a sub $100MM opportunity to compete at the top level. This new budget cap has prompted USF1’s Peter Windsor to suggest that this is a tough economy but it is the right time to get in to F1. The budget cap also has tempted Lola apparently.
“The announcement that teams may opt for a prudent, financially responsible ‘cost-capped’ regime from 2010 has resulted in us deciding to fully evaluate the opportunity to develop a car to compete in the FIA Formula One World Championship,” he said.
“Providing world-class engineering excellence, offering high quality solutions governed by a tightly controlled financial regime has been part of Lola’s DNA over the last decade.
“The current necessity for F1 to adopt a responsible approach in times of economic uncertainty has created the ideal conditions for us to consider developing a car for the world championship.”
This is terrific news for me as I think having more teams with competitive packages is good for the sport. Yes, the “Garagistas” are back! That’s not a bad thing to me although I have serious questions about how this is being handle via the FIA. Max knows how to supply teams and to his credit, he may pull this off. As a former owner of March; he could be instrumental in getting new teams in the sport and competitive through economies of scale. Tyrrell lives again!
I welcome privateers and the return of the Garagistas, as Enzo Ferrari once called them, and I think Max should spend most of his time helping make this happen. What I question is his decisions as they tend to be antithetical to everything he is trying to accomplish. Bring Lola back and perhaps a Cosworth/Lola USF1 team would be a welcome sight around these parts.
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Hell yes! This would be awesome. Lola and Cosworth both making entries in one way or another would be great for the sport. More manufacturer entries can lead to more independent entries as well. Aren’t each of the manufacturers going to be limited to a specific number of customer machines as well?
I’m with you and Jason, NC. A Lola GT was the first racing car that made me go, ‘wow’, followed by a Lola T-70. It’d be mega FA.
Cheers
Excuse this post it has turned into a big rant :
Am i getting the wrong end of the stick here, even if all these names come into F1, thats all they will be, NAMES…. if they are budget capped and running standard engines, ecu, restricted testing, same tyres, where can the technological innovation come from ? a couple of differing (invisible) winglets and rear diffuser (legal or illegal) changes straight from the CAD machine/wind tunnel to the track….
perhaps I am being cynical, but wont F1 start turning into a precession of cheap race cars with big branded names justifying it because of its ‘huge’ marketing potential… rather than expensive race cars as we have now. We need rules that can promote real innovation and alternatives and diversity – while keeping the budgets reasonable, not wishy-washy budget capping and standardisation to appeal to accountants and keep Bernies pockets lined with TV money…
There is certainly an element of that Tony. I have to be true to my old school way in that privateers have always been a part of F1 and while a spec series is nothing I want for the sport, I do think you can have both worlds. I think of Sir Frank who started this business in that manner. The Ford DFV comes to mind as a privateer option that dominated the series giving many teams a realistic chance of success. not sure cosworth can pull something similar off when only allowed to charge 5 million euros for their efforts but we’ll see.
This is what Max wants at the end of the day. Lots of small teams with small budgets Lola, USGPE, FiFi, etc….. All these teams can be controlled easily because it will be easier to find a team to replace them. Ferrari, Macca, BMW, Renault, Toyota are the enemy to the vision of F1 via the FIA and Max. More teams are great but what kind of teams will they be???
Let’s see….USGPE is in. Lola, Prodrive and Aston Martin are evaluating entering F1. Who’s next? Mitsubishi? Kia? Tata?
Let’s get about a dozen more teams on the grid so they can be the worldwide equivalent of NASCAR.
oooo….Audi would be a good choice.
thats kinda what bothers me about this… at least with teams needing to spend $100mil to run well, you only get people and teams that 100% committed to the process. I’m not sure thats entirely the case with Lola and Prodrive.
If its easy to get it, its easy to get out – with minimum investment teams would come and go (or plenty of take overs) depending on which way the market-winds were blowing at the time….as JIM says above – it would make it easier for them to be ‘controlled’ – I think the threat of the big manufacturers breakaway series is still stuck in the back of Max’s throat…he’s got read of honda, ron dennis, and now he can use the market-downturn as an excuse to restrict budgets. bye bye toyota and bmw….