USF1: Windsor ‘disappointed’ with Sauber/Qadbak disparity
November 11, 2009 by Negative Camber
Filed under Prime & Option, Top Story
USF1 team boss Peter Windsor is slightly disappointed with the Sauber/Qadbak team’s possible entry in F1 with a Ferrari engine, or lump, supply. In an interview with www.formula1blog.com, Windsor shared his concerns and suggested that the former BMW F1 teams possible grid slot, afforded them by the exiting Toyota, would be disappointing as they are rumored to be allied with Ferrari engines instead of the Cosworth engine supply option so diligently created and recommended by the sports governing body the FIA.
Earlier this year three new teams were allowed to join F1 in 2010. As the ink on the contracts was drying it came to light that perhaps the FIA had mandated that any new team joining F1 in 2010 must use the FIA approved Cosworth engine supply option instead of seeking a supply of their choosing.
This created some consternation among many of the teams applying for the three slots for 2010 including David Richards ProDrive as well as N. Technology. N. Technology filed suit against the FIA for a lack of respect, transparency and preparation for the 2010 season. In short, they were dismayed that they were being forced to take the Cosworth option.
Cosworth remained at arms length when the story broke and suggested it knew nothing about any mandate or prerequisite for using their engines before gaining access to the 2010 F1 grid. N. Technology’s legal case was unsuccessful as a French court rejected all claims in the case today.
While Windsor has played down the situation of a forced engine supply in the past, this was the first time he has mentioned his disappointment with the prospect of not being able to choose an engine supply freely. The assumption is that USF1 was also forced to use Cosworth or face the possibility of not having a grid slot for 2010.
The Cosworth spec-engine program was developed by former FIA president Max Mosley in an effort to reduce the cost of F1 and make it more financially feasible for privateer teams to enter the series. There is little doubt, however, that a war for control of F1 raged in 2009 and it pitted the manufacturers against the FIA and commercial rights holder, FOM.
Part of the strategy to mitigate the power the teams had was to reduce costs drastically and to upset team unity by allowing FIA-dependent teams such as Manor, Campos and USF1 to enter the series. The manufacturers had created the Formula One Teams Association to seek unity against the FIA and FOM as they were nonplussed by the drastic measure being sought by Mosley.
In the end, it seems that Williams F1 may be the only team to have willfully selected Cosworth as an engine supplier for 2010. The assumption is the new teams really had no choice as evidenced by Windsor’s comments during the interview.
Intriguing also is the FIA’s restriction on Mercedes on their ability to supply engines for F1. Mercedes has been approved to supply three teams and no more. Next year, Cosworth will be supplying no less than five teams and it makes one wonder why the disparity?
The plot seems to wind deeper and deeper with each passing day and as it become evident, it is painfully heavy handed and Mosley-esque. I have to say that I agree and support Windsor’s position. If they were told they had to use Cosworth and Sauber/Qadbak is, effectively, a new team entering F1 then they too should be forced to use Cosworth.
Surely the team, being the former BMW F1 team, had its own engines but should they not develop lumps anymore and need to seek alternative supplies, does this not render them a new team? Also, I agree with Windsor that the daunting taks of supplying 5-6 teams in F1 is huge. If Mercedes cannot or is not allowed to supply more than three teams, why is Cosworth getting to supply five or more? For a new engine program, this could spell disaster in the making should the lump be unreliable.
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Limiting the supplier of arguably the finest engines to three customers whilst allowing a newbie as many as five would seem ridiculous. It just looks like part of the same Mosely plan to drive down cost (through lack of powertrain competition) to allow smaller players to enter the grid just as the big boys are leaving.
I think Mercedes’ involvement in F1 is as vulnerable as any other volume manufacturer, and are not immune to the pressures faced by the others. If that’s the case, then it makes sense for FIA/FOM to limit the involvement of the manufacturers, who could pull out at any time. If USF1 (GPExyz) uses a Merc powertrain, and Merc decides to quit the sport after 2010, it would be disastrous for such a small, young team.
As an aside, does anyone else find it more than interesting that MacLaren’s new road toy uses a bespoke, new flat-plane crank V-8 (à la F1) developed in-house by same said company, and not a Mercedes lump?
I suspect Merc’s position, like the other big companies, is tenuous at best. Mad Max would have had to take a longer-term view of the situation and make this choice to bring in a supplier whose only raison d’être is to make engines, thereby ensuring a measure of continuity for this new crop of small teams.
Windsor’s whining reminds me of the man who’s caught with a whore and says “but she sold me her wares, it’s not fair!” Seems he was hungry enough to get into F1 that he even allowed himself to get into Max’s prepared bed complete with all the constraints (get it?) that Cosworth brought to bear (could not resist a subtle S & M dig here, sorry).