Prodrive-McLaren negotiations collapse

[mipuumal]

From autosport:

Prodrive's negotiations with McLaren-Mercedes for a partnership in next year's Formula One World Championship have collapsed, autosport.com has learned.

Prodrive have been pursuing a deal with the Woking-based outfit for a supply of customer cars, and just a few weeks ago Prodrive boss David Richards said the only hurdle left to overcome in the negotiations is the new Concorde Agreement.

However, sources have told autosport.com that McLaren F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh notified his staff yesterday that the team are no longer pressing ahead with their plans for a partnership with Prodrive.

Neither McLaren nor Prodrive would comment on the matter.

It is not clear yet why the negotiations fell through. Nevertheless, it comes just days after the FIA announced Prodrive will face a Court of Appeal hearing later this month over their entry, following legal questions from rivals Williams.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis said at last weekend's Chinese Grand Prix that the team had not signed a deal with Prodrive, and could not do so without complete clarity over their entry.

"We have not entered into any contract with any team at this moment of time," he said. "If a team wishes to enter the 2008 World Championship and that team does not have complete clarity as to whether it is or is not permitted to enter then it is a matter for that team and certainly not for McLaren."

As recently as the Belgian Grand Prix, Richards revealed that a deal for car and engines had been agreed - although he never named McLaren specifically.

"We are there, but there are lots of issues surrounding the validity of the Concorde Agreement," Richards told autosport.com about the progress with his team.

"It is those sorts of things that leave question marks at the moment, and they need to be resolved. Every other aspect of it is cleared up."

Despite Whitmarsh's statement, Prodrive sources insist that they have not yet completely given up on reviving the McLaren deal.

Should that not be possible, however, then Prodrive may still have opportunities elsewhere - with Renault having been favourites for a supply deal at one point.

In an interview with the Times newspaper in August, Richards said that McLaren were one of three teams that Prodrive were speaking to at the time.

So much for De La Rosa and Paffett getting a drive.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I always wondered what happened to Prodrive. They were expected to make an announcement of their title sponsor back at the British Grand Prix, but nothing happened and no reason was given as to why it didn't happen.

But the Court of Appeals thing doesn't sound too good ... I wonder what "legal issues" Sir Frank's team has with them?

So much for De La Rosa and Paffett getting a drive.

They still may; I don't think Ron Dennis is going to be de la Rosa's biggest fan after he was deeply involved in Spygate, and there's nothing to say Gary Paffet is under a McLaren cotnract as test driver, is there?

 

[Blake]

But the Court of Appeals thing doesn't sound too good ... I wonder what "legal issues" Sir Frank's team has with them?

We were going to have a new concord agreement for next year, but an agreement hasn’t been reached and we’re probably going to extend the current concord for another season, thus making customer cars illegal.

And I hope Prodrive doesn’t show up. I despise the notion of customer teams.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

And I hope Prodrive doesn’t show up. I despise the notion of customer teams.

I hope they do; I think it's been a long time since we've seen a full grid. While I do see your point on the whole customer car issue, I think a compromise is in order: once a team has established itself in the sport (say, after three or four years), they shouldn't be allowed to use customer cars as they should be at the point where they can construct their own chassis.

 

[Sting]

Either way its really bad organisation, Prodrive are leaving it very late to get things finalised. I hope they do show up on the grid, because then its another British team, and it would be nice if Paffet got the drive. De La Rosa can go to hell, he doesnt interest me at all and his actions in the spygate issue are unexcusable.

 

[Roo]

Super Aguri managed it. They did have a car given to them from Honda, of course, but it shows that there's still time left for Prodrive. Not much, but enough.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

I've been expecting this for a while. In fact, if you check my August 22nd post in the '08 driver line-up thread, you'll see I was having doubts back then.

We were going to have a new concord agreement for next year, but an agreement hasn’t been reached and we’re probably going to extend the current concord for another season, thus making customer cars illegal.

And I hope Prodrive doesn’t show up. I despise the notion of customer teams.

Something makes me think that there's more to it than that, and that the Concord issue is a smokescreen.

If Prodrive can't make F1 work, it really shows how the barriers to entry are formidable. I also doubt that any of the GP2 teams could make the jump.

 

[Skid Mark 33]

I think the prodrive thing is and always has been, a joke. They said they were joinig F1, then they just seemed to dissapear!

 

[Only_in_f1]

If Prodrive can't make F1 work, it really shows how the barriers to entry are formidable. I also doubt that any of the GP2 teams could make the jump.

Direxiv's application to run in the 2008 season was rejected, aswell as Carlin Motorsport's.

According to Wikipedia.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Direxiv's application to run in the 2008 season was rejected, aswell as Carlin Motorsport's.

According to Wikipedia.

Direxiv's application was rejected in favour of Prodrive's. Since Direxiv is no longer involved in motorsport, that was probably a good thing. Carlin don't have the resources.

 

[Blake]

If Prodrive can't make F1 work, it really shows how the barriers to entry are formidable. I also doubt that any of the GP2 teams could make the jump.

Prodrive can’t make it work because they want to be a team, not a constructor. As a fan of fair competition between teams there is not a single part of me that thinks someone should be able to buy a rolling chassis from another constructor and get roughly comparable results for a quarter of the price… Bad medicine.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Well, yes. It will cause difficulties for the Spykers of this world, but in truth there are relatively few instances (Super Aguri being one) where the customer team is faster than the works team. I liked the model whereby a new team could join as a customer, but had to be a constructor after three years, but it looks like that has gone by the wayside.

 

[Alfaholic]

They already allow customer engines so I don't see the problem with customer chassis.

 

[jammyozzy]

You know, I think this all stems from the McLaren/Ferrari scandal. After all the dealings McLaren have had with the FIA over use of other teams information this year, I think the last thing McLaren wants is to be backing a potentially illegal team. I think they're simply cutting their losses and avoiding any further embarrassment. The Concord agreement, as Giles pointed out, is a convenient smokescreen.

 

[Roo]

That and producing twice the cars and parts might put too much if a strain on an already damaged budget. I know Prodrive would've paid for them eventually, but it would still be a bit of a risk.

 

[Lee]

Perhaps a team from IRL can make the jump over, sure Chip Ganassi has been looking at the idea of a Formula 1 team, or maybe even Andretti-Green?

 

[Studentdriver]

I doubt Chip Ganassi would consider F1, that would basically be undermining the efforts of JPM, wouldn't it?