Weigl aims for Super Aguri deal

The Weigl Group, a German automotive industry company, is tipped to be bidding to save the Super Aguri F1 team. The bad news is that Weigl has been around for some months and Honda has shown no great interest in getting involved in a deal, as Weigl does not appear to have the kind of money that is needed to bankroll an F1 team.

Weigl, which has sales of $200m a year, goes back to the 1970s when 52-year-old Franz Josef Weigl raced motorcycles. He then began to manufacture parts for the motorcycle industry and then expanded into the automobile business. Weigl components are now used by many car companies, including General Motors, Daimler, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Porsche, Volvo and Jaguar.

The firm is based in Pottmes in Bavaria. The company has eight subdivisions at six different locations. It concentrates on metalworking, notably with transmissions and treatments for engine parts. It also owns a foundry and a prototyping subsidiary. It has been involved in F1 since the end of 2005 when a three-year technical partnership was agreed with MF1 Racing (now Force India). The company was to help MF1 with the design and construction of its gearbox.

While one can understand why Weigl would want to be involved in F1, it is not clear how the company would fund such a deal. However, if Honda is willing Weigl could take over the role of trying to save the team, while looking for backing in the months ahead.

source:
http://www.grandprix.com /ns/ns20302.html

Management at Ferrari

One of the great mysteries in Formula 1 at the moment is who is going to be doing what at Ferrari in 2008. The company has given details of its racing programmes with Stefano Domenicali named as the director of the racing department and the various managers reporting to him have been nominated.

What has not been explained at all is what role will be reserved for Jean Todt. What we do know from the Ferrari website is that Todt remains "General Director" of the business. He is also listed as Ferrari CEO. Things are confused by the fact that one finds Amedeo Felisa referred to both as "Director-General" and as "Vice General Manager" depending on where one looks.

One is led to ask what is the difference between a director-general and a general-director. While much of this confusion can probably be explained away by problems in translation there are still grey areas. It used to be that Todt ran the racing and Felisa ran the car company but when it came to promoting others in the racing team Todt was moved to be CEO to make space. Felisa was then his deputy. But what happens now that Ferrari chairman/president Luca Montezemolo is returning to Maranello after spending the last four years based in Rome as the head of Confindustria, the employers organisation? That role officially comes to an end in May but Montezemolo says he will be back in Maranello before then. Before he moved to Confindustria he was "President and Managing Director" of Ferrari SpA, so what will his role be when he returns - and where does that leave Todt?

"It will be different once I'm physically back to Maranello," Montezemolo says. "I am convinced that the development of the company is still very strong and has to be expressed in some way, especially outside of Europe and North America, the regions where Ferrari was represented most until now."

He cites new shops, the theme park in Abu Dhabi and expanding the activities of the firm on the Internet as examples of where changes can be made - and he is clearly not speaking as a man who is simply going to sit in the office and twiddle his thumbs.

It seems that Montezemolo will be an executive chairman. If this is the role that he is planning to take and Todt's role as head of the sporting division is no longer his, one has to question what the Frenchman is going to be doing.

source:
http://www.grandprix.com /ns/ns19964.html

Who is where in the F1 pecking order in 2008?

The Formula 1 teams were testing again over the weekend in Barcelona and although times are still an unreliable guide - the two Toro Rossos were fastest on Saturday - the Formula 1 teams are now beginning to get a clearer idea of who is where in terms of overall speed, as the engineers in the different team have had a chance to digest the data that was created at the tests to date.

What is emerging from this is that everyone agrees that while some teams can set good times with low fuel loads, there is no-one close to the pace of Ferrari when the cars are running with normal fuel loads. We hear that the advantage currently enjoyed by the Italian team is in the region of 0.4sec, which is a big gap in Formula 1 terms. This may change as teams bring on new developments in the weeks before Melbourne, but Ferrari may also have some new parts waiting in the wings.

The McLaren team seems to be in a solid position in second place but from what we are hearing BMW is no longer confident that it will be third with the new F1.08 proving to be rather more difficult to drive than its predecessor.

The new Renault seems to be at around the same pace as the new Williams but what is not clear at the moment is whether this is ahead or behind the BMWs and it is not yet clear where Red Bull, Toyota and Honda fit into the picture.

It may be a while before there are any further indications of relative performance as Ferrari did not take part in the Barcelona test and the team's major rivals are not going to Bahrain.

source:
http://www.grandprix.com /ns/ns20013.html

London back on the F1 agenda?

For the last eight years London has been run by Ken Livingstone. In that period Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone tried to convince Livingstone that it would be a good idea for a London Grand Prix. Livingstone seemed keen on the idea, believing that that it would bring hundreds of thousands of people to the city. In 2004, working with impresario Harvey Goldsmith, the Crown Estate and Westminster Council, Formula One ran a demonstration of eight cars on the streets in the West End. Around 500,000 people attended. Livingstone reckoned that the best place to hold a race would be Hyde Park, as this would minimise the disruption of city life. However, he felt that F1's financial demands were too high.

Last week Livingstone was defeated in the local elections by Conservative candidate Boris Johnson. It is anticipated that Ecclestone and Goldsmith will once again try to convince the city to look at F1, either on a parkland circuit in the city, or at the 500-acre Olympic Park in Stratford.

The Mayor's job is to run the transportation, policing and promotion of the 600 square miles of Greater London. He shares power with the local councils but has strategic control over the city. His annual budget is $18bn.

One of the divisions he controls is the London Development Agency (LDA), which is tasked with developing infrastructure and sustainable business and promoting London on the international stage. It has an budget of around $60m for promotion and $200m for infrastructure, although with the 2012 Olympic Games this is currently four times that.

The LDA is currently working to decide what happens to the Olympic Park after the 2012 Olympic Games. It is intended that five stadia will remain and will continue to host big sporting events and be used to train new champions. The Olympic Village will be turned into 4000 new homes and there are plans for the International Broadcast Centre to be transformed into offices for high-tech, creative and media companies. A team of planners is currently working on other details of what happens after the Olympics and how visitors will be attracted to the venue. Their findings will go through a discussion process but that task should be completed by the end of next year. F1 could be part of that package.

Hyde Park remains an option for F1. There is also potential at Crystal Palace, in the south of the city, where a racing circuit operated between 1927 and 1974. The 200-acre park is probably too small for a modern Grand Prix and is surrounded by suburbs, which would complicate matters. The LDA has an option to take over the whole park in 2009 and there are various proposals for the facility but as yet no clear path for the future.

source:
http://www.grandprix.com /ns/ns20316.html

Super Aguri: where do things stand?

The future of the Super Aguri F1 team remains in the balance at the moment with a meeting due to take place tomorrow in Tokyo between Honda personnel and Franz-Josef Weigl, the German industrialist who seems to think he can save the team. The Japanese appear to be far from convinced that Weigl AG is a big enough company to fund an F1 team. Until the meeting on Tuesday Super Aguri is not allowed into the F1 paddock in Istanbul because Honda has already informed Bernie Ecclestone that the team will not be racing. If Honda now accepts the Weigl bid the trucks could enter the paddock, if not there will be no obvious embarrassment for Honda as the trucks are not there to be removed.

In the meantime Honda has other things to worry about. The company is currently dealing with an accusation from the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau that the company failed to report $1.3bn in income in 2004-2005-2006 by moving profits into its Chinese joint ventures. Honda says that its accounting policies were intended to comply with the local laws in Japan and China. It has not been able to reach an agreement with the tax bureau on this issue. According to the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (known as US GAAP) Honda has allowed for this liability in its financial statements, pending a final decision. This is not unusual in corporate accounting where new ideas are often tried by companies and challenged by the authorities.

source:
http://www.grandprix.com /ns/ns20317.html

Montezemolo and Silvio Berlusconi

At the end of last week there was a story in Italy suggesting that Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo (60) has had a meeting with incoming Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (71) to discuss what if any role he can play in Berlusconi's new government. According to the Agenzia Giornalistica Italia (AGI) report, Montezemolo has agreed to take on a role as a "global ambassador for Italian products".

The agency said that Montezemolo was offered a ministerial position by Berlusconi, but declined the offer of any direct involvement. Berlusconi is due to name the members of his cabinet later this week with around 20 ministers due to be sworn in. It will be his third period in power, following a seven-month term of office in 1994, and then a longer term of office between 2001 and his defeat in the elections of 2006.

source:
http://www.grandprix.com /ns/ns20319.html

The end for Super Aguri F1

Aguri Suzuki has announced in Japan that he is ceasing operation of his Formula 1 team, Super Aguri F1. The outfit has been in existence for just two and a half years, having started out in 2006 using modified versions of the 2002 Arrows A23 chassis, which were acquired from Minardi boss Paul Stoddart. SAF1 signed up Takuma Sato and Yuji Ide to drive, but the latter quickly proved not to have sufficient experience and was replaced by Franck Montagny. He in turn gave way to pay-driver Sakon Yamamoto.

The team struggled through 2006 with an uncompetitive car, but for 2007 used a revised version of the successful 2006 Honda. Sponsorship was announced from a company called SS United, although nothing appears to have been paid.

Honda paid the bills.

With Sato partnered by Anthony Davidson the team was able to pick up points in both Spain and Canada, but the success led to legal action from the Spyker F1 team, which argued that Super Aguri had broken the terms of the Concorde Agreement. This year the two drivers remained the same and the car was little different, but Honda's willingness to continue with a second team waned, particularly after it was decided that teams have to build their own cars from 2010 onwards. Honda is keen to concentrate all of its efforts on the factory operation and has, in effect, agreed to swallow those losses, as there is precious little for the team to sell. The facilities from which SAF1 operates are leased from the American John Menard and much of the equipment belongs to Honda.

The news means that there is now a possibility of a settlement of the remaining arbitration fight between Force India and Scuderia Toro Rosso, and once that has been sorted out there is a strong likelihood that there can be a new Concorde Agreement, although the ongoing mess at the FIA may cause disruptions of a different kind, as Max Mosley is probably not in a position to do any deals until his status within the federation is sorted out. Once that is done and it is clear who is running the show, a new Concorde Agreement may become possible. There are, however, no guarantees that the future management of the federation will be willing to agree to the same terms that Mosley was happy with.

The disappearance of Super Aguri means that F1 is down to 10 teams and all are thus able to claim prize and travel money. There are, in theory, two available slots for new teams, but it is hard to imagine that anyone coming in to the sport will want to invest the kind of money needed to start a new operation and so the demise of Super Aguri will probably have the effect of pushing up the value of the remaining teams. Anyone wanting to get into F1 will now have to do it by buying an existing operation. It may be that when the budget-capping schemes under discussion become a reality there will be room for new teams again, but for the moment it makes little financial sense to start a team from scratch.

"Regretfully I must inform you that the team will be ceasing its racing activities as of today," said Suzuki. "The team has competed against the many car manufacturer backed teams and has succeeded in obtaining the first points after only the 22nd race, finishing in 9th place overall in the 2007 Constructors’ Championship. However, the breach of contract by the promised partner SS United Oil & Gas Company resulted in the loss of financial backing and immediately put the team into financial difficulties. Also, the change in direction of the environment surrounding the team, in terms of the use of customer chassis, has affected our ability to find partners.

"Meanwhile, with the help of Honda, we have somehow managed to keep the team going, but we find it difficult to establish a way to continue the activities in the future within the environment surrounding F1 and as a result, I have concluded to withdraw from the Championship.

"I would like to express my deepest thanks to Honda, Bridgestone, the sponsors, all the people who have given us advise during various situations over the past couple of years all the team staff who have kept their motivations high and always done their best, Anthony Davidson who has always pushed to the limit despite the very difficult conditions, Takuma Sato who has been with us from the very start and has always fought hard and led the team and lastly our fans from all over the world who have loyally supported the Super Aguri F1 team."

source:
http://www.grandprix.com /ns/ns20318.html