Dead By China?

[HandyNZL 1]

So here we go again. Another season upon us, and HRT have yet to turn a wheel.

The excuse at the last test was that they had no dampers, their lot having been held up at customs. Now, a damper, is just a swish engineering word for what is commonly known as a coil over spring shock absorber. You can get one at Pedro's Speed Shop near the track for 150 Euro or so....so why did they not do that?

Got no money, that's why...

The car is last years car, albeit with a new front wing, engine cover and tweaked sideplates on the rear wing. The nose and main bodywork is the same. I'd imagine without too little difficulty that the chassis has Dallara stamped on it.

So this leads to the question...can they qualify in Aussie inside 107%? RBR, Ferrari, Merc, Macca...they're all going to post times in Aussie faster than last year, and HRT was half a lap behind them over a lap. In my view, they are not going to qualify - the side pod will continue to say "your name here" because no one is going to buy the real estate for a car parked in the garage.

If we go back in time, and studied the annals of F1, the average life span of a non-qualifying team is three races (I don't know if it is, I just made that bit up...), so come Sunday evening in China, the "For Sale" sign will be hung on the door.

So who will buy them? The only piece worth anything in the entire outfit is the entry to the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. It can and will be sold to the highest bidder. I can't see the bidder being a car manufacturer (Porsche, Audi et al), but I could see a shrewd move from the likes of Ganassi, Penske, or one of the GP2 outfits.

I wonder if you could buy the entry and then sit on it for a few years, till someone really really really wanted in, and was willing to sell their grandma to get it? Wouldn't be a bad investment....no less an investment than pouring money into Japanese energy shares....

[Schumikonen 2]

Villeneuve will gladly buy that team, he cannot let this opportunity to pass him by, just wait and see.

[Rainmaster 7]

Yeah, the customs story sounded like a load of rubbish and they are obviously struggling for cash. The 107% rule might just kill 'em off straight away. It'll be a big loss to the use of blue flags.

[lewisthegreat2 0]

Villeneuve will gladly buy that team, he cannot let this opportunity to pass him by, just wait and see.

Villeneuve tried to buy a NASCAR team. He didn't have the money.

With radical new regulations in 2013, buying a team now is a horrible idea. STR have been for sale for years and never seem to put anything together. HRT will run into the same issue if they can't make it on their own.

[Kopite Girl 0]

So here we go again. Another season upon us, and HRT have yet to turn a wheel.

The excuse at the last test was that they had no dampers, their lot having been held up at customs. Now, a damper, is just a swish engineering word for what is commonly known as a coil over spring shock absorber. You can get one at Pedro's Speed Shop near the track for 150 Euro or so....so why did they not do that?

Got no money, that's why...

The car is last years car, albeit with a new front wing, engine cover and tweaked sideplates on the rear wing. The nose and main bodywork is the same. I'd imagine without too little difficulty that the chassis has Dallara stamped on it.

So this leads to the question...can they qualify in Aussie inside 107%? RBR, Ferrari, Merc, Macca...they're all going to post times in Aussie faster than last year, and HRT was half a lap behind them over a lap. In my view, they are not going to qualify - the side pod will continue to say "your name here" because no one is going to buy the real estate for a car parked in the garage.

If we go back in time, and studied the annals of F1, the average life span of a non-qualifying team is three races (I don't know if it is, I just made that bit up...), so come Sunday evening in China, the "For Sale" sign will be hung on the door.

So who will buy them? The only piece worth anything in the entire outfit is the entry to the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. It can and will be sold to the highest bidder. I can't see the bidder being a car manufacturer (Porsche, Audi et al), but I could see a shrewd move from the likes of Ganassi, Penske, or one of the GP2 outfits.

I wonder if you could buy the entry and then sit on it for a few years, till someone really really really wanted in, and was willing to sell their grandma to get it? Wouldn't be a bad investment....no less an investment than pouring money into Japanese energy shares....

Good post.

I think if anyone was going to buy the team, enquiries would have been made by now. Saying that, perhaps a buyer slash investor is shrewdly sitting back, waiting for something like this to happen, so he/she/they could pounce and buy at cut price rates, so that they're able to refit the outfit affordably and with minimal impact up the chain.

Its unfortunate what happens to the small teams. However, they knew the risks entering the sport. Some survive, some don't.

I believe that with utter determination and extreme hard work, anything can be achieved. Ultimately, making sacrifices is an absolute necessity. Have HRT really done all that they can do? Are they cutting their own expenditure in one area and moving it to another? Can the amount of staff working for them be cut? Are their overheads justified? Can they get parts on a special discounted deal in return for advertising on the car? Are monthly forecasts run to enable the team to predict just how much is being spent and how much can be made? Can travel costs be reduced?

So much more, but these are some of the things they need to think about. A lets go racing attitude is great, but you need to literally think of EVERYTHING before you take the risk.