Sidepodcast

When is a Team Not a Team?

Yet another story emerged yesterday about a potential new team for Formula 1 and we all sighed just a little bit. Bassano raised a good point in the comments, suggesting that perhaps if he said he'd like to start an F1 team, that would also hit the headlines.

Naturally, Aguri Suzuki's past in F1, and the fact that he dramatically swore off the sport when he left in 2008, have made this a topic worth discussing, but the initial quote that sparked 1,000 articles was: "If it's physically possible I would certainly like to."

It might surprise you to know that I don't actually want to get into a discussion about the merits of creating fictional news from simple statements, but what this story did make me ponder was when we should actually start caring about a team. When do we start believing it really could happen?

The Light Bulb Moment

Just recently, a plethora of names have emerged suggesting they'd like to (re-)enter F1. Lola, Prodrive, USGPE, these are all companies who are supposedly considering snapping up a spot on the grid. GP2 teams might make the jump if the budget caps are right, and Super Aguri are going to make a glorious return and prove us all wrong. Or are they?

When a team owner/former F1 personality/rich person suggests that F1 might be fun, that doesn't seem to be the right time to sign up to the mailing list and purchase a baseball cap from the merchandise store. However, if Bassano says he's going to enter F1, then I whole-heartedly believe him.

I Can Draw Too

USGPE started out with just a name and a logo. The name changed, of course, but the logo seems to have stuck. They also are planning buildings, recruiting staff and designing cars. The talk of funding has been a little bit quiet, but perhaps that is because it doesn't need discussing. Donington wouldn't shut up about their capital plans and that hasn't worked out so well, just yet.

Perhaps it is different with Peter Windsor's team though. They are being created specifically for a Formula 1 entry, and thus you can tell the intent is genuine. What about Prodrive, where Dave Richards has plenty of other interests to keep him occupied? Will he just rock up one day and say the time is right? Or will we see the gradual progression of logo and car and sponsors?

Sign Me Up

For me, a team becomes real when it has an F1 entry secured and is testing out drivers. None of this: "we'd love to get Danica in the car." I want to see helmets on, laps completed, contracts signed. The FIA are increasing the number of teams to 13 next year, so they clearly believe interest is going to be raised. As yet, I haven't got as much faith as Mr Mosley. This month, the teams have to sign up if they want to get involved, and I can't believe that any of the names we have heard so far are ready to jump on board the F1 bus and get going. F1 is a sport of looking far into the future (although recent regulation changes would have you believe otherwise) and this just feels like too short notice.

Perhaps even being on the grid isn't enough though. Super Aguri's future was never really secure, even when they were trailing each Grand Prix. Maybe we should look to teams to start winning before we begin to put any faith in them sticking around. The unexpected will always happen, but once a team gets a taste of the champagne, it must make them more keen to stick around.

How do you feel about new team rumours? Any of them particularly grab your attention? Do you think Prodrive (or Aston Martin as they may be called) would be ready to sign on the dotted line? Are USGPE's car designs going as well as their logos? When should we really start to put our necks on the line and switch allegiance to a new team?

Anthony Davidson Tries Commentating

This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.

Takuma Sato says he is actively looking for a role in Formula 1 next season, and the rumours continue unabated regarding the different teams he has links with. The latest discussion is that he might have a test with Toro Rosso for a race drive.

Anthony Davidson, meanwhile, has been keeping a relatively low profile, but has suddenly resurfaced in the F1 public eye. He's been commentating for BBC radio, and doing a very good job of it.

It's no secret that commentating partnerships work very well when there is a mixture of broadcast experience and racing knowledge. On ITV in the UK, we have Martin Brundle (ex-driver) partnered with James Allen (journalist), and there we should have the best of both worlds.

Murray Walker started this trend being partnered with James Hunt for many years. The pair didn't always get on, it's fair to say, but when they did, it was a team that worked like magic. With Walker's enthusiasm and Hunt's inside knowledge, fans were in for a real commentating treat.

Having been in the car so recently, Anthony Davidson knows exactly what's going on with those drivers down there, and can share some very valuable insight into the race weekend. As a fan, I enjoy listening to his commentary and think it's something he could do in the future.

But what about his driving? Davidson says he's not ready to hang up his helmet just yet, and is looking to return to the paddock in 2009. Whilst Sato is keeping generally quiet when it comes to the media, but actively talking to teams behind the scenes, Davidson is getting the best of both worlds.

Presumably he is in talks with some teams for an opportunity next season, but at the same time, he's earning a living, keeping his name in the public's mind, and getting some useful experience for the future - beyond racing. I hope he does manage to get a seat for next year, because that's what he really wants, but at the same time, I can't wait until he is signed up as a commentator full time.

Super Aguri Withdraw from F1

This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.

It seems to have been a long time coming, but Super Aguri have finally had to admit defeat and withdraw from the 2008 F1 World Championship.

The team looked like they were about to be saved by a last minute deal with German company Weigl, and talks have been ongoing this week to secure the investment. However, it looked like things weren’t going to plan, when CEO of Honda, Nick Fry said that Weigl weren’t in a financial position to be able to actually support the team, and therefore the deal may not go ahead.

Super Aguri’s transporters and motorhome turned up to the Istanbul circuit ahead of this weekend’s Grand Prix, but they were not allowed entrance to the paddock. Somewhere along the line, someone (presumably Honda) had told FOM, who are in charge of the entrance, that Super Aguri weren’t going to be participating in the race. This confounded the team, who were under the impression that they would be racing and that their future was looking a little brighter.

After crisis talks with Honda and Weigl, team owner Aguri Suzuki released a statement today saying they would be withdrawing from the season.

It’s a sad end for the team, who have battled adversity at every stage, and I don’t think anyone is glad to see them go. The team was essentially created to house Takuma Sato, after Honda didn’t want him in the main team, but couldn’t afford to lose the Japanese support. Although always at the back of the grid, Super Aguri were looking stronger towards the end of last year, when they got their first ever championship point, and reacted as though it was a win. However, their main sponsor was SS United, a controversial company who defaulted on payments, and have since appeared to cease to exist.

This put Super Aguri under serious financial strain, and with the customer car row becoming ever more threatening, the future started to look bleak. Honda didn’t want to support them anymore, as without the customer car option, they didn’t need two constructors teams. The main team was faring badly enough.

And so, it is with regret that we have to say goodbye to Super Aguri. Suzuki hasn’t ruled out a return to Formula 1, but the wounds are still fresh and he admits to being completely worn out by his efforts to keep the team afloat. He thanks all the team, including engineers, Davidson and Sato, for their hard work and wishes everyone well.

Talking Is the Next Best Thing

Super Aguri have been gone only 24 hours, and already the drivers are looking for the next step. I imagine it will be difficult for them to get a decent drive mid-way through the season, but you never know what’s going to happen, or who’s going to get the boot.

Davidson, in particular, has been very vocal about his desire to continue in the sport.

“I really feel it’s unfinished business for me in formula one. I feel it’s where I belong. You only begin to realise just how much you love it when it’s taken away from you.”

And also:

“I definitely feel I've done enough to show people that I'm quick, can race, give excellent feedback, always do a solid and professional job, and when it's under my control, bring the car home.”

I suppose the big worry for Ant at the moment, besides finding a job, is that he might end up another Alex Wurz - always testing. Now, it’s different for Wurz because he had his chance at racing and found that he didn’t like it so much. Davidson, meanwhile, is desperate to keep racing, but he just seems to be a much better test driver.

If testing doesn’t suit him so much, I have another idea. I’ve been thinking about it and have come up with another job prospect, still on the fringes of the sport. Commentator.

He was brilliant covering the Hungarian GP for ITV, and the BBC could surely find space in the box for him. He certainly has all the inside knowledge and is capable of sharing it with us (unlike another ex-driver who I won’t mention but who’s name rhymes with Ramon Bill). I guess Davidson will feel like commentating is a step down from being a driver, but I reckon it’s one of the most important jobs going. Think of how much respect Murray Walker commandeers – and Brundle is rapidly approaching a revered status.

Giving fans an insight into a very mysterious and well-shielded sport is a worthwhile and valued career path, and I think Davidson would be a welcome addition to our ears.

Sato, meanwhile, is going to take a lot more thought.

Cutting Them Loose

It was with particular disappointment that I read of Super Aguri's struggles getting into the Istanbul paddock yesterday. My dismay came not from the desire to see the team find a safe passage to race next Sunday, but rather because I hoped they had just stayed home this week.

I appreciate this is an incredibly harsh thing to be thinking, and I'm also aware that amongst F1 fans I'm in the minority here. The problem for me is this whole process has now been publicly dragged out for far too long, leaving the Oxfordshire outfit with little dignity at the end of the day.

It's been pointed out to me by several people during the past couple of weeks that it was SS United defaulting on sponsorship payments, that led the team into their current predicament. We know Aguri lost almost $30 million after the contributing company failed to make an expected second payment, but there was also an additional $10 million missing from the coffers after Giedo van der Garde's sponsors failed to honour any payment.

Now these two issues may be entirely unconnected, but I'm seeing a pattern emerging here. Someone must be responsible for the failure to land the supposed income and it isn't helped by the fact that to all intents and purposes SS United Group don't appear to exist.

Back in my day, it was customary for companies who failed to generate and collect necessary income, to go bankrupt, but lately you could be forgiven for thinking that financial failure is merely a stepping stone on the road to acquiring additional support. In the UK recently, our government was effectively forced into nationalising the commercial bank Northern Rock, and this was swiftly followed up by a £50bn bond offer to help out other struggling British banks. Apparently, commercial failure is a very viable option these days.

The flip side of this particular coin of course, is success.

On track last year Aguri did a veritably fine job of humiliating the Honda factory team, soundly beating them in the first part of the season using the previous year's car. At the time Nick Fry came under a lot of criticism for Honda's performance and although he eventually saved himself with the appointment of Ross Brawn, there was a time when many felt his F1 career was on the ropes.

I'm sure then, it was with a wry smile that Nick apparently informed Formula One Management that Super Aguri would not be attending the Turkish Grand Prix this weekend. While there does appear to be time to withdraw said order and allow the ostracized transporters to enter the paddock, the question is, is there the will within Honda to do so?

Personally I think it's time they were cut loose. Many will argue that 11 teams are better than 10, maintaining they're doing a perfectly good job given the budget they have, or that the two drivers and all of the employees deserve to be treated better. However, Formula 1 is in so many ways broken right now, it's going to take a a huge event to focus the attention on fixing the issues. If that has to be the demise of everybody's favourite underdogs, then so be it.

I appreciate many, if not all of you, will disagree with me here, and therefore I encourage you to check out Lou's post over on F1Break or Alianora La Canta's podcast thoughts for a more balanced view.

Feel free to discuss in the comments as usual.

Super Aguri Sale Off

This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.

It looked as though Super Aguri had a deal in place that would secure their future in the sport for the foreseeable future. However, last week things took a turn for the worse, and it looks like the deal is now off.

Super Aguri have been in talks with the Magma group, a British company willing to invest in the team and bring from the brink of folding. It emerged that the team weren’t going to be able to take part in the Barcelona test last week, yet another unfortunate side effect of the unfinished deal.

The longer Super Aguri continue to miss tests, the further behind they’re going to get, and the less attractive they’re going to look as a potential investment.

The deal was due to be signed on the 16th April but the investors behind the Magma group began to get cold feet and pulled out at the last minute. It looks like they are in the midst of a complex deal to buy the Liverpool football club, and as that investment rumbles on, it means there are less funds available for purchasing another sports team.

This leaves Super Aguri right back at square one again. Top bods in the team are beginning to get nervous about the short term future, with their appearance at the Spanish Grand Prix looking doubtful. A transporter has been despatched to the Barcelona circuit but this is by no means a guarantee that Super Aguri will be taking part. And beyond this weekend’s race in Spain, things are looking even more grim.

Current backers Honda have made no secret of the fact they have no desire to continue supporting their sister team. Whilst the investment has returned some valuable data, and effectively doubled the amount of testing Honda has been able to achieve over the past couple of years, it’s fair to say that the ‘A’ team have their own worries to contend with.

The results haven’t been forthcoming, for either team, and it’s not a surprise that Super Aguri have found themselves in these dire straits. Whilst it is unfortunate that we may lose them from the grid in the not-too-distant future, they aren’t really adding anything to the sport at the moment, anyway. We do like to see more teams involved, but if they can’t afford to run their cars at anything other than a bare minimum level, it leaves a lot to be desired for everyone involved.

Here’s hoping there is some good fortune on the horizon for F1’s smallest team.

Episode 53 - They've Got the Drivers, They've Got the Money, What Can Go Wrong?

• Length: 34:29 
• Size: 31.7 MB 
• File: episode53.mp3 
• Enhanced: episode53.m4a 
• Transcript: episode53.pdf 
• Torrent: episode53.torrent 

Last week we looked at the drivers taking to the grid, these week we look closer at the 2008 contenders - the teams, how they've changed and how they will fare.

Intro

A quick update on the status of my bad luck - this week is better but I have proof that last week was the worst ever.

Good Week / Bad Week

Bernie Ecclestone gets someone onside, Super Aguri can't find anyone, Fuji are looking to stay in the sport, and which one is Pinocchio Schumacher?

News and Views

Alonso has his main sponsor following him around, so does that means he's a pay driver? We're worried about the state of mind of Toyota drivers, they seem unable to stick to an opinion. And we briefly recap a very wet testing session, and discover we're looking forward to the return of a previously disliked figure.

2008 Contenders

A rundown of the 2008 teams with snappy statistics (again Krypton Factor stylee), what's been updated with the launch of their new car, and how we think they will do this year.

Feedback

One voicemail to do with F1 Racing and Skittles, we want you to call us with your predictions. Facebook guest blogging, and the Fantasy F1 Sidepodcast league. A couple of good emails from poorly Steve (feel better!) and Blake who gave up his King of F1 crown too easily.

Housekeeping

Don't forget to visit I Heart Franck, my new website, all about, erm, Franck. I promise that I'm not deserting F1 though, even if he has.

Super Aguri: A Sign of Things to Come

The usual process of including guest posts on a blog is for the owner to ask some of their favourite writers to come up with a piece or two to be featured. As you well know, Sidepodcast likes to do things a different way. The Facebook Group has plenty of fascinating discussions going on, and we want to bring those to the main site. The idea is for you guys to write your opinions and entries over on the group, and then we pick the best ones for feature over here on Sidepodcast. Sort of self-selecting guest bloggers, if you will. If you want to get your name in bright lights, just join the group and get writing. We read everything and everyone will be considered.

The first blog entry comes courtesy of Dan Brunell, our guest blogger guinea pig, and focuses on the plight of Super Aguri and what it means for the future of F1.

As “me” and Christine have so eloquently pointed out, Super Aguri is in serious trouble. If they last the year it will be an achievement. If they get someone to buy them it would be a miracle. However, is their slow demise a sign of things to come in F1?

It’s an understatement to say that F1 is an expensive sport. Advertising arrangements with some teams are in the tens of millions of pounds. Manufacturers themselves pour in hundreds of millions of pounds. The strong economy of the last few years have allowed many auto manufacturers and companies to spend their efforts in F1. However, as the economy goes from bull to bear and wallets get tightened; their hefty spending on F1 might be one of the first things to go from the ledger sheet.

We have already seen Toyota, Honda, and Renault question their financial commitment to F1. Many grands prix are having a hard time finding proper sponsorship to pay the amounts demanded by Formula One Management. Plus, F1's own corporate hospitality and advertising business is $3 million in the red for last year. Add to this the uncertainty of F1 beyond Bernie and Max and this adds up to some troubling waters ahead. The last time the sport looked this uncertain financially, there was a massive turnover and upheaval in the sport due to the loss of cigarette advertising. The loss of several of the manufacturers and primary sponsors could have a similar, even more pronounced, effect.

In my view, there is a lot that F1 can continue to offer for advertisers and people involved. For Pete's sake, their estimate world audience for F1 is 6 billion people! However, unless F1 lowers its costs across the board and lower their expectations from advertisers and manufacturers, the long-term finances of Formula One looks very bleak. After all, for all the riches and egos in F1… these people still have to live on a budget and within their means. If Bernie and the F1 conglomerate which he leads continues to ask high prices of everyone involved in F1, the teams, races, and ultimately advertisers will go on to more effective advertising vehicles that are less costly. If F1 starts hemorrhaging advertisers, manufacturers, and sponsors, then the sport is in major trouble.

Super Aguri's Financial Struggles

This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.

The majority of teams are making the most of their winter test session opportunities, practicing race weekends, testing out new aero devices and giving the drivers time to adjust to the car.

Super Aguri have missed out on a few of these test sessions, putting them on the back foot for the new season. The problem is, they may not even make it to the grid in Australia, and that is a higher priority than the speed of the car.

Last season, Super Aguri had serious problems with one of their sponsors. Money didn’t change hands, and this put constraints on the small teams budget.

Over the winter, they have been looking for outside investment to bring a new lease of life to the team, but so far, they have not announced anything. There were rumours that an Indian company may be interested, and there’s been contact by some Russian companies but nothing has been confirmed.

The lack of a definite future has led to Super Aguri not being able to officially announce anything. Their two drivers, Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato, are on the FIA entry list, but they have not signed their contracts yet.

The launch of the SA08 has been postponed, perhaps indefinitely. In its place, a series of interviews are set up for the media, with key members of the team.

Super Aguri have obvious links with Honda. They were created as a sister team to provide a place for Takuma Sato to sit. SA use Honda engines. Having Honda in the background must be a comfort to those involved, but it is not without its sacrifices. Honda insist on Anthony Davidson having a race drive there, because they value his experience and ability to give expert feedback on the engine and the car. They also appear to use Super Aguri to test out some young drivers, although this is seriously frowned upon. There’s a limit to the amount of mileage a team can do under testing, and it would not be fair for Honda to use their “B team” to get extra data.

For now, Super Aguri seem reasonably confident that they will at least start the season. It may all depend on whether they can find a suitable sponsor/investor or not, but so far, there has been no real indication that they may pull out. However, the lack of testing means they are a step behind everyone else already and that could, in turn, reflect badly for any interested sponsors.

Better Than Half the Grid

At the tail end of last year, on the 30th December to be precise, a Formula 1 related video documentary aired in the UK on ITV4. You may not have heard of it, I imagine most people didn't know it was on because ITV didn't bother to promote it.

I didn't see any advertisements for the program, and no mention was made on their F1 website, so you can be excused if you missed it. We only heard about it because a friend of ours texted to suggest we tune in. The documentary was entitled "Life Behind Lewis".

As it happened, we were busy at the time the program aired, so we threw the details into the PVR and went about our business. This week we managed to catch up and it turns out we got it completely wrong. The show had nothing to do with Lewis Hamilton, and made no reference to his dad at all. It was in fact a documentary about Anthony Davidson. The 'Behind Lewis' premise being something to do with following the McLaren driver from some distance.

In an ideal world the program would have been called A Year in the Life of Anthony Davidson and we'd be raving about it for weeks to come.

The content was a mix of the fantastic peppered with the surreal. At times we got to see some really unique footage of an F1 driver away from the media. Anthony getting himself lost while following Sat-Nav through France, or taking 12 minutes to top up his oil at a service station were just a couple of the highlights. But every now and then the narrator would drop in some random reference relating to Lewis, as if to keep the casual viewers attention.

More Davidson highlights included what I assume to be a sneak preview of Super Aguri's 2008 challenger sitting in a wind tunnel - it had a McLaren style bridged front wing attached, which as far as I'm aware has never been publicly tested, let alone raced.

The program was also the source of Anthony's wonderful soundbyte that did the rounds the first couple of days of this month:

I'm so happy I've proved to myself that I'm good enough for Formula 1, and probably better than half the grid – I can say that easily, without a doubt.

Added to that, Mr. Ecclestone must have been having a good day when this idea was pitched to him, because official FOM race footage appeared during the broadcast, including a re-run of Ant's stellar qually lap in Turkey. Bernie's going soft in his old age.

At points the tenuous Hamilton connections started to wear thin, as did the lack of video - I had to hide behind a cushion when the camera slowly panned across a collection of Autosport magazine covers, presumably due to a lack of any suitable Lewis footage.

Due to the vagarities of our PVR, we did manage to miss both the beginning and the end of the show, so there may have been other key bits we didn't see. I'd be curious to learn what Anthony thought of it all as there's nothing on his official site, nor on Super Aguri's.

It's such a shame that ITV decided to bury this program, because a documentary like this deserves better.

If you did manage to catch it, please let us know your thoughts.

Disclaimer: Didn't appreciate this at the time, but this TV show was made by a company called USP Content, the very same people who took us to Honda Dreamfields in 2007. My complaints still stand though, some things could've been better.

Update: It's been pointed out to us that during television re-runs, the FOM footage was excluded due to rights restrictions. In short, scrub the bit about Bernie going soft in his old age!