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NAK November 4, 2009 10:30 AM

William got it right when they opted for Cosworth power from 2010 on.

Overall I think Toyota have done the right thing. They may have had more success over the years if they had spent less on big name drivers and got a few more hungry for success drivers on board. Trulli may occasionally be brilliant on a good day but they are very few and far between and as for Ralf - all the arrogance of Michael but not the ability to match it.

MattDB November 4, 2009 11:22 AM

Maybe they will sell up just as BMW and Honda did and the team could re emerge as a private outfit from its German base with guess what a Merc engine in the back.  Could end up becoming an all German outfit.

We would have once thought this was not possible but look at Brawn.  Only problem is that they lack a decent team leader

Peter Nunn November 4, 2009 11:26 AM

Max Mosely's adage that you can't rely on car makers long term in F1 and that they come and go as they please, is a convenient, smug I-told-you-so when another one quits the sport.

But then quite a few privateer teams have also fallen by the wayside - Arrows, Minardi, Ligier, Footwork, Tyrrell, March etc etc - so you could say you can't rely on them, and they can't cut it in Formula One, either....

Too bad about Toyota but in the current business environment, it was all but inevitable.

pabs November 4, 2009 11:37 AM

exceptions to the rule  Ferrari and Renault

MadBaz November 4, 2009 12:02 PM

When they lose, they bottle it. Yet when they sniff a modicum of success, they’re in for the long haul. Ish.

This whole sad saga really puts into perspective the commitment that teams like Williams have.

If Renault follow suit, as they are tipped to later today, at least we'll see the most competitive race of the last decade...that of the drivers panicking in their search for a drive!

brinardi November 4, 2009 12:19 PM

Agree with MattDB that a sale to create an all-German outfit would help Toyota guarantee the team's continued participation as per the Concorde Agreement - maybe Daimler-Benz should buy it to create a new Silver Arrows team and who better to install as team boss than Mario Theissen who may not fancy running a private, budget-constrained Sauber team or devoting his future to touring cars...

Notiron November 4, 2009 12:57 PM

How does the Concorde Agreement work? If a new team comes into F1 to replace Toyota, say, then do they get Toyota's share of the TV rights money?

dobbie100 November 4, 2009 1:18 PM

Problem is that a manufacturer wants instant success and nothing else. They are not in it for the 'sport'.  They hoover up a privateer team [Honda/BAR - Tyrrel , Renualt - beneton ( which was Toleman before that, BMW - Suaber). but when they decide they've had enough and leave its unlikely anything will be left to carry on .

beachland2 November 4, 2009 2:51 PM

"Overall I think Toyota have done the right thing. They may have had more success over the years if they had spent less on big name drivers and got a few more hungry for success drivers on board. Trulli may occasionally be brilliant on a good day but they are very few and far between and as for Ralf - all the arrogance of Michael but not the ability to match it."

Nak, Toyota at the end were criticised for spending millions but in the wrong places, they didnt spend the money on big name drivers, it has been said they could have achieved success if they spent their money on the likes of Alonso, Raikonen etc, they needed world champions in their cars.

Canuck1 November 4, 2009 7:33 PM

Shouldn't this read "uncompetitive car manufacturers can't cut it in F1"?

At the end of the day it's only a sport and the car manufacturers have lots of other things to worry about as well these days, and other things they can spend their money on - F1 is an investment like any other, and if you don't see a good enough return you move onto something else that may be more profitable.

matt007 November 4, 2009 8:17 PM

Why don't these manufactures just move away from F1 and move into the WRC, sportcar or touring car championships. With all the arguements about rules and regualtions in F1 to be honest its become a bit pointless and not much fun for the motorsport fan like me and you. Why not watch or compete in a championship were the racing is more fun and more relevant to the every day man??????

theop November 4, 2009 8:54 PM

Corporate culture is a funny microcosm of human nature isn't it?

Corporations are like most investors. They are followers not leaders. When the markets go up and have been going up most people decide to invest. They thus buy on the up and sell during the fall. Wrong.

Corps do the same thing... On the F1 issue, they now pull out after the storm. When they will decide to reenter 5 years down the line things will be much dearer.

I am glad at least that Bernie is making money - smart cookie that man. Hate saying it, but he deserves every single penny of his billions.

Fred Dagg November 4, 2009 11:32 PM

Peter Nunn,

Arrows and Footwork were the same team, bought up by Tom Walkinshaw who ran them into bankruptcy, Minardi are now Toro Rosso and going quite well, Ligier became Prost who went the same way as Walkinshaw, Tyrrell sold up to BAR who went on to become Honda and now Brawn and March fizzled out after several years of underperforming.

Just thought I would point that out.

optimal_909 November 5, 2009 10:24 AM

On Bloomberg.com, I've found the following:

"Ferrari Says Formula 1 Rulers to Blame for Exodus of Carmakers

“The reality is that this gradual defection from the F-1 fold has more to do with a war waged against the major car manufacturers by those who managed Formula 1 over the past few years, than the result of any economic crisis,” Ferrari, the sport’s oldest team, said in a statement on its Web site...Comparing the loss of some of the sport’s “major players” to the plot of “Ten Little Indians,” the 1930s crime novel by British writer Agatha Christie, Ferrari said that Formula One’s reality was more serious....“In Christie’s work of fiction, the guilty party was only uncovered when all the other characters died, one after the other,” Ferrari added. “Do we want to wait for this to happen or do we want to pen a different ending to the book on Formula One?”".

sco1 November 5, 2009 5:08 PM

Mossley made sure that there are no manufacturers left. Manufacturers were always a part and parcel of F1 as not a single team, other than Ferrari, produced its own engine. There would have been no Formula 1 all those years without them. So Mosley's remarks were (intentionally???) offensive to the manufacturers. The golden eras of Maclaren, Williams, Benetton etc came at the back of a manufacturer works engines. At that time, manufacturers could get value for money as they could push the technological envelope (e.g. Renault with their V10, Honda with V-Tec technology to name a few) and justified the expense of F1 involvement on proper R & D, not on marketing terms. They hoped that by becoming full blown teams, they could expand their reasearch and development into all areas of car engineering. Active suspensions, traction control and clever gearboxes to name but a few came from F1 before Mosley started meddling with the sport and ruined it. Manufacturers were keen to invest, research and develop. Fast forward to 2009. Stanardised engines, development freezing and how un-F1, suggestions to tune BACK the Mercedes engine as it is too good!!! I am so surprised that Mercedes has not pulled out yet! With development work severly curtailed and so many standardised components, including engines, there is little real reasearch and development going on or scope for innovation. So what is left? Marketting/ Promotion. And is that any good? With no US races, European races under threat, and the FIA villifying the manufucturers, no wonder they are leaving in droves. Why pay all those millions? If the manufacturers withdrwaw, then we will end up with a single series championship. All running the same standardised (Cossworth or whever wins the tender next) engines, same standardised tyres (again with tender, no competition, i.e. no development) etc. with Ferrari the only team having its own engine, which they cannot develop to compete with the standardised one. It is a nightmarish scenario for F1, and its happening now, because of the FIA. The eceonomic downturn is just a pretext. If F1 was value for money (in terms of research & development and marketing), not a single manufacturers would have left. A budget of 100 million is not particularly big amount for the manufacturerers. FIA had no qualms slapping it on Maclaren as a fine......