Dave Richards (head of Prodrive and WRC) new boss of BAR

[vat_man]

Further to yesterdays thread about Craig Pollock leaving BAR comes the news today that he is being replaced by Dave Richards of Prodive (Subaru) and WRC fame.

Quoth the Autosport:
New British American Racing team principal David Richards has backed and praised former World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, whose mentor and manager Craig Pollock made way for the World Rally Championship supremo to take over. Richards, who was revealed as the new BAR boss at the launch of its 2002 challenger at its base in Brackley, England, today (Tuesday) said Villeneuve is one of the team's strengths.

"Obviously Jacques is one of the key elements of this team," said
Richards. "He is an extraordinarily talented driver."

Richards has also insisted that his new role as team principal of the
British American Racing Formula 1 team will not have an adverse affect
on rallying. Richards announced last week that he was taking a backward
step from his role as the WRC supremo. He says there is nothing for
rally fans to worry about.

"I don't have any concerns about it," he said. "I think we have the
right management team in place, it's very well established now. I've
worked for the last two years to set it up, I'm not deserting it. I'll
be at the Monte Carlo rally in January. I think we're on the right track
there."

F1 anoraks will recall Dave Richards spent some time at Benetton some years back.

I guess it's Newton's Law - for every reaction there is an equal and opposite reacton...

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Indeed.

Richards was at Benetton at the time the family were courting Renault, but Dave was proposing a one-stop-shop to Ford, where Prodrive/Benetton would run the rally cars, the British Touring Cars, and the F1 program. The family didn't like it, and so Richards was out on his ear.

Interestingly, there are already rumours connecting Pollock with Renault, which would indicate a certain destiny to the 2003 driver market. You can all laugh at me when this doesn't turn out right, but look at the following driver movements, and have a think:

Villeneuve: BAR -> Renault (Renault's last World Champion reunited with his manager)
Button: Renault -> Jordan (Benson & Hedges want a British driver to use as they bow out of the sport because of the 2006 ban)
Sato: Jordan -> BAR (to go with the three year Honda plan)

Oh, and I wouldn't be surprised to see BAT sell at least 40% of the team to Honda...

I see things falling into place!

 

[vat_man]

Interesting theory.

We're already seeing a shift in power in F1 with the tobacco ban coming in, with manufacturers coming in in numbers we haven't seen in years - factory teams from Ford, Renault, Toyota and Ferrari are in next year and we're seeing fewer and fewer cigarette sponsors.

The big key will be Marlboro - they've been responsible for the levels of driver salary since, well, years. They're currently paying Michael Schumacher's salary, but they used to pay McLaren and Ferrari's driver bills. Their absence will leave a big hole although I suspect 2005 might be Michael's last year.

Villenueve at Renault's a given - Renault want a French speaker and the only other guy you'd bother with is Panis, but he's probably past his best.

Fly in the ointment in the Button thing is the fact that Jordan are yet to announce a naming sponsor (ie. it isn't B&H).

You might be right on the Sato thing - with Pollock gone and BAT needing to get out before the end of 2005, it's practically a welcome mat for Honda, and you'd think they'd want a Japanese in the car (especially if he's any good!).

Any idea where HHF is going? I'm curious that Arrows have yet to make an announcement.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Originally posted by vat_man
Interesting theory.

We're already seeing a shift in power in F1 with the tobacco ban coming in, with manufacturers coming in in numbers we haven't seen in years - factory teams from Ford, Renault, Toyota and Ferrari are in next year and we're seeing fewer and fewer cigarette sponsors.

The big key will be Marlboro - they've been responsible for the levels of driver salary since, well, years. They're currently paying Michael Schumacher's salary, but they used to pay McLaren and Ferrari's driver bills. Their absence will leave a big hole although I suspect 2005 might be Michael's last year.

Marlboro are putting in a lot of money, yes, but it is Shell who are paying Michael's salary. Hence the godawful adverts on the telly! I think Marlboro are funding a lot of the rest of the team, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were less cash than people think - say as low as US$15m/yr. In the old days, of course, that was a lot of money...

Originally posted by vat_man
Villenueve at Renault's a given - Renault want a French speaker and the only other guy you'd bother with is Panis, but he's probably past his best.

Fly in the ointment in the Button thing is the fact that Jordan are yet to announce a naming sponsor (ie. it isn't B&H).

On Villeneuve and Panis, agreed. Panis is employed to frighten Jacques into doing some work, which he has, but he's not much of a peddlar really.

Originally posted by vat_man
You might be right on the Sato thing - with Pollock gone and BAT needing to get out before the end of 2005, it's practically a welcome mat for Honda, and you'd think they'd want a Japanese in the car (especially if he's any good!).

BAT need to sell the team, since they own a lot of it, which means that they have to find a buyer, rather than just BAR finding another sponsor. That makes it all the more interesting. BAT need to sell quickly, before Prost goes under, and thus devalues the teams market.

Originally posted by vat_man
Any idea where HHF is going? I'm curious that Arrows have yet to make an announcement.

I have heard a rumour that the contractual issues regarding Verstappen's US$1m buy-out clause have been resolved, and that therefore HHF will be piloting an Arrows, and that they'll wait until the new car launch to announce it.

 

[vat_man]

Shell - I didn't know that - when did that change? When they came aboard? I imagine this must have something to do with Phillp Morris' problems with legal action in the US.

Given the wrangling over the ownership of Prost I'd be surprised if Honda went that way, especially with the amount of technical support they're giving BAR.

It's a shame about Panis - he was never really the same after he broke his legs at Canada - he'd have won a couple of GPs that year too.

I'd forgotton Verstappen was the issue with Arrows - where's he going to go.

It's a shame Bernoldi holds the Red Bull cash - Verstappen & Frentzen would have been a pretty solid line-up.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Originally posted by vat_man
Shell - I didn't know that - when did that change? When they came aboard? I imagine this must have something to do with Phillp Morris' problems with legal action in the US.

Given the wrangling over the ownership of Prost I'd be surprised if Honda went that way, especially with the amount of technical support they're giving BAR.

It's a shame about Panis - he was never really the same after he broke his legs at Canada - he'd have won a couple of GPs that year too.

I'd forgotton Verstappen was the issue with Arrows - where's he going to go.

It's a shame Bernoldi holds the Red Bull cash - Verstappen & Frentzen would have been a pretty solid line-up.

1. It was when Shell were having problems in Germany, over the Brent Spar oil platform, which they wanted to dump in the sea. All the environmentalists got upset about it, and they had real PR problems. So I guess it's three or four years ago now.

2. Oh I don't doubt that Honda will buy BAR. The point I was making is that BAT will not be able to make so much money from it if Prost fold. This is because of the 12 team maximum.

3. Yes, the shunt definitely affected him, but I think he spent too long at Ligier/Prost. According to the rumours this was because he refused to learn English. Career Limiting Move.

4. Well, Arrows is a commercial entity... I too think that Jos and Heinz could have spurred each other along. Still, I hope they do well, I really like Arrows.

 

[Schumy]

liking these rumours eh Villeneuve?

 

[Phil]

Marlboro actually brokered the Vodafone deal so that Ferrari wont be affected as much as expected by the tobacco ban.

I expect HHF to be announced as Bernoldi's team mate when they launch the car.

Don't forget Panis was as fast as hakkinen and Coulthard in the McLaren when he was the test driver in 2000.

I expect Verstappen will end up doing the fasionable thing now and become a test driver for a top team.

I don't think Honda will buy out BAT's stake in BAR because it will cause a conflict with Jordan but what about the chance of Prodrive buying into the team.

The most likely scenario with Villeneuve will be a straight swop with Button but I think he likes the new BAR. Also BAR have a Japaneese test drive to keep Honda happy.