Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says that it is wrong for F1's established elite to be haughtily judging the new influx of teams for 2010 before they have had a chance to prove themselves, adding that he feels an independent future is good for F1.
The Formula One grid will be graced by four new teams in 2010, as you might possibly have heard, with Virgin Racing, 'Lotus', USF1 and Campos all preparing for life in the F1 pit lane starting with the Bahrain GP in mid-March. Added to that, Peter Sauber's team will return to it's privateer roots in 2010 after losing it's BMW ownership.
The new breed of penniless independents have replaced the likes of Toyota, Honda and BMW on the grid, all of whom have pulled out in recent years, while Renault have drastically scaled back their involvement, and are now effectively a private team in all but name.
But despite the derisive comments aimed at the new privateers from a number of F1 names, including Bernie Ecclestone, who opined that not all of the new starters would even make it to the grid in Bahrain, Horner says that F1's established names are wrong to act so dismissively, and that the new squads should be left to prove themselves on the track.
“I think it’s wrong for us to judge them,” Horner grimaced in an interview with crash.net, “It’s down to them to do the job. It’s a heck of a challenge for any grand prix team – irrespective of size – but they’ve been given the opportunity and it’s wrong for anyone to judge them until we get into the racing season.
"I’m sure they’re all working very hard. It’s a big challenge to design, produce, manufacture and develop a grand prix car, but hopefully they’ll all make the grid in Bahrain.”
Horner, whose Red Bull Racing team will start as one of the title favourites in 2010 after their ultra-successful 2009 season, added that the shift away from a manufacturer-led grid to a privateer-dominated one was not a bad thing, saying slightly pretentiously that "out of negatives, positives appear".
“In 2008 there were six manufacturers, and now there are only three effectively (including Renault),” Horner counted, “But the big teams are still there – the Ferraris, the McLarens, the Williams’ and now the Red Bulls, because we are growing in stature as a team that has proved itself as obviously credible.
"I think it’s important to have a blend of manufacturers and independents, and that tends to sway if you look back over the history of Formula 1."
He added that: “I still think Formula 1 is in good shape; we saw that in Abu Dhabi, with the spectacle that was put on there, and the excitement that we had in the 2009 championship.
"As costs become more under control it becomes more affordable for the independents, and for sure that’s one of the key reasons why Red Bull has been able to achieve the kind of performance that we did in 2009. Out of Honda withdrawing came Brawn GP – often out of negatives, positives appear."
F1's manufacturer exodus began at the end of 2008 with the withdrawal of Honda, with BMW announcing the end of their F1 programme in the middle of 2009. Toyota then followed suit in a surprising, if still rather dull, move at the end of the 2009 season. And Horner said that he was sorry to see the Japanese team join the others in leaving the sport, remarkably claiming that the winless dunces had "significance".
“Obviously there had been mixed signals and speculation about Toyota all year," Horner blabbered, "But it was ultimately a surprise when they announced their withdrawal. It’s a great shame to lose any grand prix team, but particularly one of the significance of Toyota, who are obviously one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world.
"Ultimately I guess it boils down to several factors, and results are obviously a key part of that – but our feeling goes out to the employees, and we hope they will be able to find employment in other Toyota motorsport projects or within some of the new Formula 1 teams."
He went on to say that: “We’ve got some good new teams coming in, the re-emergence of Lotus which is interesting for Formula 1, and more cars potentially on the grid than we’ve seen in several years – if they all make it.
"It’s always sad to lose any grand prix team, but manufacturers do have a tendency to come and go; the independent teams are the stalwarts of Formula 1, and out of one team’s unfortunate situation is created an opportunity for another. I think Formula 1 is well-set for the short, medium and long-term future.”
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