Should teams have a road car?

Just a thought, should teams have an eligibility criteria to enter F1 that they should have their own branded sporty type car or at least be associated with a sporty type car? this would be more for the credibilty of F1 than for the entrants but not a bad money grabber for them either.

We all know the following manufacturers have had;

Ferrari
McLaren
Williams
Mercedes
Renault
Honda
Toyota
Lamborghini
Alfa Romeo
Peugeot
BMW
Lotus
etc.

Should there be say a Red Bull Koenigsegg or a Hispania Racing SEAT? How about a Force India Tata GT ( ).

Lets make part of this post a joke competition and name a Virgin road car .......

No, they shouldn't.

Virgin Marussia

ROTFL

No. The idea is Virgin Ontheridiculous.

TATA GT. I can see a flurry of photo chopping going on right now.

As to the question it may excite some PR departments for marketing purposes to make these industry partnerships, but money is the bottom line. So I am not sure if its a viable option for most of the independents. McLarens model is different by design RD has vision for McLaren to be so much more than a F1 team as evident for some time now.

this would be more for the credibilty of F1 than for the entrants but not a bad money grabber for them either.

I think the fact that a soft drink producer can produce better racing cars than Toyota, Mercedes, BMW, Honda or Renault pretty much shoots down the manufacturer link credibility.

In a season where 3 teams are barely scraping by and 1 team has just enough money to make airfare and 0 left over for spares you want to force a road car division on them?

That aside, no I don't think they should have road cars. I like the idea that some teams are just in the business of being F1 teams and nothing else.

The Hispania Allegro.

The Austin Allegro was well known for being more aerodynamic when traveling backwards than forwards. Seems quite fitting for HRT.

No.

It's never been a requirement, the majority of teams have not had a road car division and I've never heard anyone question the credibility of F1 because of it. F1 is a racing series and other than for the manufacturer teams who try to market their cars off the back of it has no real relevance to the cars on the public roads.

Ha! Some funny posts

No.

It's never been a requirement, the majority of teams have not had a road car division and I've never heard anyone question the credibility of F1 because of it. F1 is a racing series and other than for the manufacturer teams who try to market their cars off the back of it has no real relevance to the cars on the public roads.

I put up a list of those who have had sports cars or association (Williams Clio and Williams developed MG6R4 Group B for example), I'm sure I could think of others if I put my effort to it. Yamaha made the OX99 concept.

Actually the FIA has a history of bending over for and to get manufacturers into F1 and a history of fighting with the "only" F1 car manufacturers or the "Garagists" even "kit cars"

Isn't that the GT World Championship? We don't need two series with that requirement.

I sometimes see a VW-Beetle with a giant Red Bull can attatched to the roof - will that do?

OK, I have to ask: who really wants to drive a Force India? Or an HRT? Picture yourself in a RedBull car...you don't want that, no?

And the Virgin car should be called Mary, obviously.

Ha! Some funny posts




I put up a list of those who have had sports cars or association (Williams Clio and Williams developed MG6R4 Group B for example), I'm sure I could think of others if I put my effort to it. Yamaha made the OX99 concept.

Actually the FIA has a history of bending over for and to get manufacturers into F1 and a history of fighting with the "only" F1 car manufacturers or the "Garagists" even "kit cars"

That is certainly the way the FIA have worked, but that was because they viewed the manufacturers as having more money and therefore providing more stable teams (look how that worked out). It had nothing to do with F1 being more credible if a team had a road car as well. The teams that have made or collaborated on road cars have done so because it is a marketing opportunity, nothing to do with credibility.

I think the fact that a soft drink producer can produce better racing cars than Toyota, Mercedes, BMW, Honda or Renault pretty much shoots down the manufacturer link credibility.

And this year and last Ferrari, Williams, McLaren etc etc. Stupid irrelevant comparison. Especially when you consider that the "Soft drink manufacturer" is technically the Jaguar nee Ford racing team

OK, I have to ask: who really wants to drive a Force India? Or an HRT? Picture yourself in a RedBull car...you don't want that, no?

And the Virgin car should be called Mary, obviously.

Anyway, I think F1 doesn't need that kind of credibility. F1 has precious little to do with road cars. Should be looking for common sense, consistency and integrity before looking for credibility (which they already have)

And this year and last Ferrari, Williams, McLaren etc etc. Stupid irrelevant comparison. Especially when you consider that the "Soft drink manufacturer" is technically the Jaguar nee Ford racing team

How is it irrelevant? Red Bull's core business is soft drinks production. Honda's, Toyota's, BMW's core business is road car manufacturing. You would think that a car manufacturer should have more competence when designing and building racing cars. However, professional racing team's are who do the job and ownership by a car producer is not important. It doesn't matter who they are owned by. The owner could even be a soft drinks producer. As we have seen in 2009 and 2010. That was my point. I fail to see you point though or what you are arguing against.

And P.S. Ferrari does produce road cars.

Edited by Dolph, 11 November 2010 - 14:45.

Renault Clio Williams? had no involvement from the team, just a sly nod at the Regie's 'racing arm'....

Seat Leon HRT? Sounds like a GTi for 40+ women... would it come in that awful grey they paint the race cars in?

BMW M3 Sauber? Would've been a cool idea (with a Sauber-esque blue/black and white paint job) had Beemer not run off...

Mercedes SLS Schumacher Edition - Slightly slower than the Mercedes SLS Rosberg Edition, though has a 7-CD autochanger compared to the Rosberg's none...

Red Bull Renault Twingo... comes with driver-style Red Bull drinks bottles, RBR-themed interior and seats, and logo on side of car next to rear wheel arches... that'd be quite cool actually...

Edited by DanardiF1, 11 November 2010 - 15:01.

I just recently read Lotus (F1) has no road cars. Neither has Lotus Group F1 cars nor history at there.

*Highfives with David Hunt
link

Edited by The Kanisteri, 11 November 2010 - 14:51.

If Red Bull produced road cars:



I think we could name it "Dirty Bob"

Edited by Dolph, 11 November 2010 - 14:49.

I wonder why the Red Bull drivers never show up at the press conference, open a Red bull can and start sipping.

Edited by Dolph, 11 November 2010 - 14:52.

I wonder why the Red Bull drivers never show up at the press conference, open a Red bull can and start sipping.

Maybe because they are not allowed by the team, to drink or eat anything that can cause serious health problems - in short called poison.

I just recently read Lotus (F1) has no road cars. Neither has Lotus Group F1 cars nor history at there.

*Highfives with David Hunt
link

Man, those Group Lotus guys and ofcourse, also the Malayisian government are real sons of bitches aren't they!? I'd like to declare a big F-you to Group Lotus and the country of Malaysia as the owner who is, I'm sure quite aware of what's going on.

Maybe because they are not allowed by the team, to drink or eat anything that can cause serious health problems - in short called poison.

Yeah, I also thought about that possbility. But you can fill Red Bull cans with almost anything. Even mineral water

No, they shouldn't.

Virgin Marussia

ROTFL

totally forgot the virgin/marussia tie in

http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/88125

Russian car maker takes stake in Virgin

By Jonathan Noble Thursday, November 11th 2010, 07:46 GMT

Virgin Racing has secured its long-term future after selling a major shareholding to Russian sportscar manufacturer Marussia Motors.

The team will become known as Marussia Virgin Racing, with the company already having been a partner of the team since its launch in 2009.

Virgin says the deal will not result in any significant changes to the its organisational structure.

"Our first year in Formula 1 was always going to be tough - even more so as we were launching in the midst of a worldwide recession," said Virgin chief Richard Branson.

"Virgin is delighted to have secured a partner which shares our vision and spirit for challenging the establishment and we look forward to working together to move the team up the F1 grid."

Virgin Racing team principal John Booth says the deal with Marussia is important for the outfit, as it has provided it with a solid financial platform to go forward.

"It is massive," he explained. "We had security anyway, but it allows us to be a bit more ambitious in our planning. On the technical side there are lots of exciting things happening. It won't happen immediately but it will happen as the year goes on."

Graeme Lowdon, CEO of Virgin Racing, said: "This announcement cements our place on the F1 grid and is testimony to the hard work and dedication of every single member of our team."

HRT GTi Or should that be HRGTi?

Edited by Tenmantaylor, 11 November 2010 - 15:25.

HRT GTi Or should that be HRGTi?

Would be the equavilent to a Hairdryer GTi

Edit: Already exists

Edited by Richard T, 11 November 2010 - 15:41.

Mercedes SLS Schumacher Edition ...

Merc are pretty much there as it is if the lane dicipline of drivers in their road cars is anything to go by.

There's certainly alot of potential. When you have names like Williams teaming up with Cosworth or Renault and producing something, it's bound to make waves.

(Independent, non-Manufacturer) F1 teams should team up with Manufacturers more often, you only really had Williams and McLaren making forays into that. Now McLaren are becoming a factory team of their own, like Ferrari. Williams have the name for it, there's big potential with that, although you'd think it should have happened a long time ago when they were huge, if someone came in with the money. They could have been up there with Ferrari in terms of being a prestigious brand.

no offence to the OP but I think it shows how much modern F1 has been manufacturer dominated and that people now see F1 teams tied in with car makers.

Cooper, Brabham, BRM and others all did fine in F1 without being car manufacturers and I can't see how any business someone does outside of F1 would have any effect to the on track action

Having a supercar brand which is very closely associated with F1 will be great for F1 and racing in general. At the end of the day Ferrari is in F1, because people think that Ferrari road cars are derived from F1. Ferrari w/o F1 is much less powerful.
Now Ron Dennis wants to become Enzo Ferrari and he's making the new McLaren road car project and I'm fully for this concept.
But if they associate too closely, then some teams will again go out of F1 because they don't want to be seen as losers. The same thing happened with Honda, Toyota & BMW. They were seen as big spenders with bad results.
Otherwise I would love to see Williams and Sauber producing supercars!
But it would be a much better business concept if F1 figures out a way for the teams to become profitable commercial organizations, even better if they're publicly traded. I think the budget cap will do exactly this.

How is it irrelevant? Red Bull's core business is soft drinks production. Honda's, Toyota's, BMW's core business is road car manufacturing. You would think that a car manufacturer should have more competence when designing and building racing cars. However, professional racing team's are who do the job and ownership by a car producer is not important. It doesn't matter who they are owned by. The owner could even be a soft drinks producer. As we have seen in 2009 and 2010. That was my point. I fail to see you point though or what you are arguing against.

And P.S. Ferrari does produce road cars.

That;s exactly my point tarado, and who doesn't know that Ferrari produces road cars?