Mention of those names from the past demonstrates that this
isn’t a new problem for the sport. There were only twenty regular Formula 1
entries for much of the last decade, and smaller teams like Jordan and Minardi
had to rely on wealthy buyers in order to survive. With manufacturers like
Honda, Toyota and BMW falling by the wayside in the midst of the global
financial crisis, the field only expanded significantly in 2010 when four teams
had entries accepted on the basis of lower cost
regulations which eventually failed to materialise. Of these, US F1 never even finished their
car, while HRT struggled for three years and, after a change in ownership,
went bankrupt at the end of 2012. Caterham and Marussia are the other two of
course, and have had their own changes in name and ownership since.
Sad thought the probable demise of both teams is, in
particular for the staff affected, four cars missing from the rear of the field
is unlikely to bother the casual observer all that much. But other teams are
struggling – Sauber are reportedly in crisis, and the sheer
number of (presumably paying) test drivers on their books is a worrying
sign. Lotus have had financial problems in the past, and should Pastor
Maldonado’s Venezuelan backers ever tire of bankrolling his tour of the world’s
Armco barriers one must assume that they too would struggle to survive.
Suddenly we’d be down to fourteen cars, and who’s to say Red
Bull will stick around indefinitely if F1’s health deteriorated, especially
given their past success. If Red Bull went, they’d take Toro Rosso and
presumably Renault as engine makers with them, leaving us with a ‘core’ of
teams historically associated with Formula 1 – Ferrari, Williams and McLaren –
as well as Force India (who as a privateer team will always be vulnerable) and
Mercedes (whose entry is presumably subject to the whims of the Stuttgart
board).
That’s not to say that other parties aren’t interested in
bolstering what could become a very thin field. NASCAR entrant Gene Haas is pressing
ahead with his plans for a new American team in 2016, while speculation
that Audi want to get involved in F1 refuses to go away, though it has to
be said that such rumours have been floating around for some years.
And who knows, maybe a buyer or additional backers will be
found to allow one or both of Marussia or Caterham to complete the season. It’s
pretty ironic that Marussia are due substantial financial bonuses for 2015 should
they do so, thanks to the two precious points scored by Bianchi in Monaco,
though given the events of Suzuka it would be understandable if the team felt
unable or unwilling to continue.
But things clearly need to change in the future as too many
teams are on or over the poverty line at present. Quite how a sport which is so obsessed with money and
glamour fails to have a prize money structure that sustains the smaller teams is
a mystery. Look across the Atlantic at NASCAR and you’ll see a series that attracts
43 (or more) cars every weekend, and provides generous enough reward for simply
starting a race that a culture of “start and park” entries has developed.
While this is hardly a desirable scenario, and admittedly
NASCAR is largely a spec series, this raises a case for customer cars being
revisited in Formula 1 in order to encourage more entries. Formula
1 itself had 39 entries for the 1989 season, thanks largely to the wide
availability of normally aspirated customer Cosworth engines after the ban on
turbos (another irony given this season’s new engine rules).
Looking to other series, as well as into the past, could
therefore result in rule changes such more generous prize money (with less
going directly into Bernie’s pocket), customer cars (or at least parts), and a
cost cap (perhaps even incorporating a
baseball-style ‘luxury tax’), and these measures would undoubtedly help to
sustain and even enhance F1’s entry list in the future.
In the meantime however, it now seems likely that some
existing teams will be asked to run three cars to increase the number of cars
on the grid. It has to be said that this could throw up some interesting
scenarios and intra-team battles, but I for one (as
well as many team bosses) would prefer the variety that eleven teams on the
grid provides, and the excitement of the smaller teams managing giant-killing
feats and young drivers proving their worth in lesser machinery. As a staunch
supporter of the underdog I hope that those days haven’t gone forever, but I’m
starting to wonder about the future of not only the small teams, but Formula 1
as a whole.
