Lola Assessing 2010 Formula One Entry
According to the company’s website Lola are considering entering the Formula One championship next year giving as the primary reason the sport’s efforts at slashing costs.
“The announcement that Formula One™ teams may opt for a prudent, financially responsible ‘cost capped’ regime from 2010 has resulted in us deciding to fully evaluate the opportunity to develop a car to compete in the FIA Formula One World Championship™,” said Martin Birrane, Executive Chairman of Lola Group.
The current necessity for Formula One™ to adopt a responsible approach in times of economic uncertainty has created the ideal conditions for us to consider developing a car for the World Championship. Lola possesses the technical resources, capability and know-how to develop cars capable of competing at the very highest levels of international motor sport, including Formula One™. We are therefore embracing the WMSC’s timely announcements and assessing a relevant programme for F1™ with a view to making formal entry in the coming weeks,” Birrane added.
Might this be a validation of Max “The Littlest Perv” Mosley’s cost cutting measures?
That remains to be seen, evaluating the cost effectiveness of entering F1 is a long way from actually doing it, but it is a good sign other constructors are looking at possible entry to the sport.
Of course it goes without saying with the cost cutting that essentially is a “leveling of the playing field” Lola may actually stand a chance at being competitive, something they have failed to do in the past.
Through 15 seasons of F1 competition Lola only managed to score 43 championship points, one pole and 3 podiums. Pictured above is their final entry in 1997.
With relative unknowns 1995 Formula 3000 champion Vincenzo Sospiri and runner-up Riccardo Rosset at the wheel of the Lola T97 the squad failed to qualify at the season opening Australian GP and pulled the plug at the next event in Brazil.
To be fair Lola have run successful programs in the CART/Champ Car series and designed the chassis Aston Martin is using in the top LMP1 category in Le Mans this year.
One can hope that success will follow any new F1 project Lola deems financially viable for 2010.
AND IN RELATED NEWS:
In a letter sent to the team principals and seen by AUTOSPORT, FIA president Max Mosley requests the teams to submit what they consider to be the minimum acceptable figure for the budget cap by tomorrow (Thursday).
“I actually think it could be done for £25 million but that’s just my opinion,” said Mosley after the budget cap plan was first announced in March. “All my advisers think it should be more.”
Yeah well, all your advisers suggested you go the way of the Model T and we know how that worked out.
Well this makes far more sense than Peter Windsor’s pipe dream.
The real keystone to this whole thing is engine parity, controlled budgets or not, in the past, an engine deal dictated your cars perfomance. Now all the teams are (more or less) on a level playing field.
The Cosworth angle has me confused, you would think one of the auto’s would like to off-set their costs. Everybody but BMW is supplying customer teams.
God, that picture above! What a disaster, a few snail pace laps around Melbourne - I was there & the car was visibly crawling - & then in Brazil the cars never left the pits.
The full story of how buttf##ked Lola was at the hands of Mastercard took some time to come out. Essentially Lola was forced to throw a car together minutes before the 97 season. The original plan was for 98. To make matter worse the funding never arrived. Exactly how Eric Broadley, who knew the game, dropped his trousers was always a mystery.
“God, that picture above! What a disaster, a few snail pace laps around Melbourne - I was there & the car was visibly crawling”
11 seconds slower than Villeneuve the poll sitter if I remember correctly.