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Without customer cars, in one shape or another, F1's entire current business plan is sunk, because there is no other realistic way to replace manufacturers when they leave (no new entrant with enough money to set up as a constructor could get the re…
They still own an entry in an oversubscribed series which is about to open up to customer chassis teams, and which has a raft of other running cost reduction plans on stream for supporting players like Spyker. They can go customer themselves, or sel…
Solid enough showing from our guys - looks like we're in for a year in midfield, but this series is so close, anything can happen.
Like the new livery? Turquoise, hmmm...
When they entered F1, Minardi were awful. But they kept going. They got better. And better. They became a team who clearly had both passion and technical creativity, and for whom racing was about the racing. They were indescribably cool. They did te…
Any team that decided to go for it would be effectively taking the FIA to court - not a wise move, as Stoddart proved in 2005. Win or lose, they would find themselves out in the cold - and with customer cars coming in 2008 anyway, the gain ain't wor…
Interesting that they genuinely have transferred the Piquet crew to Italy, rather than build most of their operation from scratch. They should be reasonably well set to have a decent year. Also looks like the F3000 series may be a step up from last …
Normally when the suits parasitically infect a sport, it's finished. One brief flash of money fuelled excitement, then a descent into a nightmare world of predictability and fan exploitation.
F1 may be different, in that the biggest suits of all, t…
Customer chassis rules may deliver a short term improvement in "the show" - it closes up the field, and a second division team with a bright young driver will be able to really show their worth.
The problem is in the longer term, when the pressure …
There's the law, and there's realpolitik - Spyker will either be browbeaten or bribed into submission, possibly both. That's the FIA way - ask the German and Japanese manufacturers about V8 engines.
Mateschitz is in with the ruling elites of F1 - he wouldn't be doing it if he didn't have assurances he was going to get away with it. Depressing development indeed.
His problem will be Alonso - he's so consistent and relentless, it will provide a very stark benchmark against which to judge every rookie error or off day.
McLaren may be heading for a crisis period post Newey et al - that won't help either. And y…
Well, Minardi aren't Chrysler or GM, and Lotus and Ferrari just haven't been the same since Chapman and Enzo went, in my book.
As for the underdog thing, it doesn't equate to poor self image, or to automatic loser - quite the opposite. It's about t…
Better than the year before though...
I can see Minardi finding GP2 tough initially - they have some carry over from the Piquetsports setup (eg Felipe Vargas), but it will be in effect a new team, given the move to Italy. And up against some good o…
The series has been bigger in the past, when Massa won for example, but it's a very crowded market place out there at the moment.
The one make F3000 always seemed to favour those with a bit of experience of the car - it took a year or so for them t…
The team will have a hell of a lot of work to do, that's for sure. But we don't like things easy, do we? Look what happened when the team actually won - an orgy of infighting. Let's look forward to a year of slagging off Negrao, and bemoaning our lu…
Yeah, the team name is a key shop window thing, why waste it, in commercial terms? I'd cheer on a Stoddart Champcar team - you can't help but like the old bastard - and Muermann was easily the most sensible of the many Dutch types involved with Stod…
Roldan ought to blitz him. He's been, overall, the fastest driver Minardi have used in Euro3000 this year - even if he has no luck.
If Negrao brings the money, then that's how it is. 2007 is going to be a bit of a bedding-in year, so it may help to…
How does Ron actually apply team orders, while both drivers still have a chance, without any contract terms to back it up? He can't tell Alonso to back up Hamilton and expect to get any sort of repeatable response. Many of his sponsors wouldn't be h…
As I suspected, as many opinions as there are answers - no one here agrees about anything.
Minardi for me is about the old ways of doing racing, fair play, helping your opponents, putting on a smart show, enjoying the racing, all that stuff that To…