Prodrive boss Dave Richards said that he had finally given up on applying for a Formula One grid slot because he didn't want to 'risk livelihoods' on getting the spot, rather than just because he'd got bored of the FIA turning him down.
The saga of Prodrive's pursuit of a spot on the F1 grid is a long and tedious one. The team was originally given a spot back in the middle of the last decade, only to be forced to back out when a plan to run year-old McLaren cars fell through after the FIA banned 'customer cars'.
The team then submitted an application last year for a 2010 spot, passed over in favour of the hapless gadabouts at Manor, USF1 and Campos Meta, despite many observers criticising the selection process that saw the relatively professional Prodrive company overlooked for three teams that struggled (and in one case failed) to make the grid.
Rumours suggested that Prodrive was overlooked because they signed an agreement to use Mercedes engines for 2010, with the FIA accused of favouring teams who opted for their 'neutral' Cosworth spec engines rather than aligning with a manufacturer.
Another attempt to gain a spot on the grid by taking over the Renault team fell through when the French company opted to sell a majority stake in their team to Gerard Lopez over the winter.
After that, Richards finally seems to have had enough, and did not submit an application for the 13th grid slot for 2011, currently being fought over by a new gaggle of hopeless hopefuls.
And he told the Independent newspaper over the weekend that he had refused to submit another application out of a desire to not risk the future of the company on an unsuccessful bid.
"I wasn’t prepared to risk everyone’s livelihoods," Richard bellowed, "It was quite interesting to watch the reaction of everybody [at Prodrive's headquarters] when I told them.
"The biggest fear people at Prodrive had was that we were going to risk everything on one throw of the dice by entering F1."
Prodrive are now being linked with a return to the World Rally Championship for 2011, potentially with a new Toyota works effort, or with a BMW-backed Mini entry.
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