http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/104673 The first of the "new teams" folds then. HRT were always on the edge, but its always a little sad to lose a team anyway. The whole affair casts doubt on Caterham and Marussia as well with so little progress since the middle of 2010 i wonder if any of them will ever actually contribute to the sport. A couple of intersting stats for them to finish on, Since Lotus and Virgin both changed their names HRT hold the record for the most races participated in without scoring a point at 58 races and with the departures of Pedro De La Rosa and Michael Schumacher from the sport no drivers remain on the grid who participated in the 1990s. On the brighter side Q1 could be much more interesting next year presuming the FIA do the obvious thing and Make it a six car drop out in each session since two midfielders would feel the shame.
Most of the time they were a nuisance, inadvertently blocking faster cars throughout the weekend and denying more talented drivers the opportunity to race in Formula One, however my opinion changed slightly when they signed their first non-pay driver (De La Rosa). To me it was a sign that the team were committed to F1 in the long term. It's a shame they couldn't continue but you can't really blame other companies for their lack of interest in purchasing the team. That would be BRILLIANT!!!
Sad about that, well it is completely the end unless Rubens comes back. And that would be Mercedes. Hahaha.
Disappointed to see then go, and I presume it's too late to invite bids for the final slots on the grid? Yeah, it'd make sense for Q1 and Q2 to lose 6 each, so hopefully we'll see 2 midfield-ers miss out. Caterham and Marussia really have to be looking to join the midfield properly next season. KERS for Marussia should help, but if they're still the whipping boys, with Q1 elimination a certainty, then I'll be really disappointed.
It is a shame, I felt that the signing of de la Rosa showed progress but receiving no prize money at all two years in a row (and I presume the bare minimum of sponsorship money) was always going to take its toll and their inability to have a car tested before the first grand prix in any of their three years is, sadly, probably going to be their legacy.
Drive me absolutely spare that we remain in this cycle of new teams entering and then going bust. It could be easily solved by distributing the funds more evenly across the teams. If the top teams take the lions share then the status quo at top will persist. Divvy the funds better and allow others to truly compete. It shows what a lousy state things are in when nobody wants to buy the team just for it's entry slot. Bernie could stop taking so much money out of the sport too.
Talking of Bernie look what he wastes money on http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...bathrooms--F1-heiresss-78m-palace-sister.html Any wonder entry costs are sky high ?
Shame to see HRT go, but I really couldn't see them finding a buyer. As others have said, it makes 2013 all the more important for Caterham and Marussia.
It's ridiculous. Surely Bernie should be paid a salary by the teams/FIA to sort out the media rights, and the rest should go to the teams, and maybe some to supporting GP2 etc. Having daughters able to afford the 2 most expensive houses sold in the USA is not right. Hell, I wouldn't have minded if she'd bought HRT, renamed it Tamara Sparkly Princess F1, with a bright pink livery and the two worst female drivers ever, but the money shouldn't be taken out of the sport like that. Bernie's last legacy for F1 will be the dependence on pay drivers we currently see up and down the grid, and a series of empty venues in far flung locations, where we can't even see the races as they won't be on free-to-view TV.
People say that Bernie saved the sport as it was dying and that's as may be but he's taken so much out of it that it might need another saviour.
Its a shame for any team (and all the staff concerned), but their inadequate budget makes them a laughing stock and devalues the sport IMO. They should never have been allowed on the grid in the first place. Teams that are a lap down by the 1st round of pitsops and often finishing several laps down overall is pitiful.
Its not their fault really. They had a goal of getting backing from there own country but the economy collapsed. Im suprised they made it 3 years.
