Should They Build or Buy?

It isn’t often that I agree with Max Mosley on his stance on policy in the world of F1 however when it comes to his view of customer cars in the Formula One Championship, I actually feel he’s right.

With Super Aguri gone in the F1 championship, and with Toro Rosso up for sale from Red Bull, it looks like the ban on customer cars next year will see a reduced grid, especially as Prodrive will no longer be racing their McLarens next year, or indeed racing at all. This ruling will do damage to the sport, that seems evident. And for once Max opposed a rule that will do that.

Ross Brawn, Ex-Ferrari and now Honda man, also agrees. He feels that the teams who voted for this change in rules were acting to protect themselves and their sponsorship more than in the interest of the sport, and he is right.

Frank Williams is one of the main opponents of Customer Car deals, claimed that Super Aguri’s demise was due to financial problems in raising funds to compete. It is true that F1 is an expensive sport to get in to However the problem only arose when Aguri found that they needed to develop their own car for next season. So now that the grid is down to just 20 cars, the question is, why should there be a problem with two teams racing similar cars?

Formula One is about driver skill, not how much money you can throw at your R&D department in hope that you will win on sheer performance. Unfortunately with the way the sport works that is how it has become, and it would appear that it is going to become even more that way.

OK so Super Aguri were never up there fighting for podiums, rarely even points, and Toro Rosso weren’t the best of the best, but they offered some form of entertainment, and allowed new drivers a place to start and work their way up the ranks. A grid of 22 cars is what we have become used to, it will sit at 20 for the rest of this season, and should Toro Rosso not be bought and have a car ready it could well be 18 cars next season. Is that really what the sport needs?

So, customer cars are going next year, that is inevitable. Some teams will not be competing, that too is inevitable. Formula One is going down hill, that isn’t quite inevitable, but of the current trend of decisions continues, it is a slippery slope, and one caused by people who should know better.

MTFBWY