Isn't it always the way. You wait for years for a bona-fide brand new F1 entry to turn up, and then three arrive at once. After the plans for USF1 and Lola were unveiled, David Richards has announced that Prodrive may be in F1 for 2010.
The team, best known for it's time running the Subaru WRC effort, had tentative plans to enter the sport back in 2008, with a half-arsed idea based around running year-old McLarens, but eventually cancelled their entry due to the ongoing moaning about customer cars. Now though, the penny-pinching ears of Richards have been pricked anew by the FIA's radical budget cap regulations for 2010, the same juicy "F1 on the cheap" tempter that has already skewered USF1 and Lola. Richards now says that next year may finally be the right time for his squad to launch their assault on the lower half of the grid.
"The initial signs coming out from the FIA and FOM are very attractive and represent the basis for a real revolution in the sport," he nodded sensibly earlier, "They hold the promise to return Formula 1 to its fundamental ethos, where success comes to those with the most ingenious engineering and best organisation not simply those with the biggest budget. We are therefore very optimistic but let's wait and see what the final proposals look like when they published next week.
"Assuming that the new rules are commercially viable and there is the potential to be fully competitive, then we are ready to press the go button." He concluded. We really hope there is a literal "go" button. It sounds ace.
Richards also said that they were in a good position to start work on the car soon, given the groundwork conducted for their abortive 2008 effort, and that the team, like the other two potential F1 newbies, are in discussions with Cosworth over a supply of engines for the year, along with chatting to another manufacturer already on the grid. Which is in no way certainly likely to be Mercedes.
"We are in discussion with one of the current engine suppliers, as well as Cosworth," he said, echoing what we just typed, "They are developing plans for a customer Formula 1 engine which offers the prospect of a return to the good old days when you could bolt in a customer DFV off the shelf and win races.
"This resulted in an era when there was all sorts of innovation on the chassis side. Who can forget the six-wheeler Tyrrell, the ground effect Lotus or even the Brabham fan car. Formula 1 has clearly developed since then but the prospect of being able to be competitive and win with an affordable customer engine is still very compelling."
Richards didn't comment on the fact that the current stringent design rules would easily prohibit anything that technologically varied. But hey, diffusers are exciting, aren't they kids?
Finally, following on from the unmitigated success of the naff Jaguar-emblazoned F1 effort a few years back, Richards refused to rule out branding his team or engines as Aston Martin, a move that would grant no end of positive publicity as and when they qualify at the back in Melbourne 2010 and would in no way drag the name of a proud sportscar maker through the proverbial mud.
Assuming all three of the current mooted new teams for 2010 make the grid, and the 2009 lot remain, the grid size would exceed the current maximum grid limit of 24 cars. However, Bernie Ecclestone has said that he expects 26 cars to start the 2010 season, so relaxing that particular regulation shouldn't be too much of an issue.
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