F1 Blog

No Going Back?

A vast number of long-time F1 fans are very attached to the romantic notion of the “privateer team” — a group of individuals who love racing and decide to put together a car they can race. They almost always had some connection with the big corporations who make cars, but the character of the team was set by that of its founders. Men like Colin Chapman, Bruce McLaren, Frank Williams, and Eddie Jordan put human faces on the teams competing in F1.

It shouldn’t be surprising that the rising popularity of F1 has led to a predominance of manufacturer-owned teams — if anything, we should be wondering what took them so long. The prestige of F1 is so great that even a company like Toyota, without ever having won a single race, can sell a road car by implying that its engine and suspension are somehow derived from an as-yet unsuccessful F1 effort. Perhaps the manufacturers were nervous about entering F1 because of the enormous bond demanded, or the FIA’s infuriating habit of constantly tinkering with the rules. Perhaps even major car manufacturers are wary of losing tens of millions of dollars with no guarantee that they can be competitive. Whatever the reason for their delay, it meant that privateer teams continued to compete at the front long after F1 drivers had become household names around the world.

But now we find that the manufacturers are becoming very serious about F1. In only a few short seasons, they have gone from selling engines to private teams, through being partners with the private owners, to buying teams outright. We’ve even reached the point at which a manufacturer is planning on fielding a second team.

There are many people who wish that the manufacturers would do as they threatened, and create a series of their own. But would that solve anything? Would F1 again be a series of private teams, run by committed individuals who just want to go racing, rather than corporations who make cold-blooded decisions about cost-effectiveness and will drop their F1 programs when the marketing department says to? Is it possible for private individuals to compete in a series that brings in the enormous cash flow that F1 generates? Could anybody but a major manufacturer hope to compete with Ferrari?

It seems that there is no going back. For the near future, F1 is certain to be dominated by the efforts of major auto manufacturers who are primarily interested in the series for promoting their brands. Will F1 manage to inspire passion in fans the way it used to? Or will the sport become bubble gum for the masses, dishing out contrived “excitement” that can be easily understood, so as to maximise the viewing audience?

Tags: manufacturers, privateer, teams