I was quite surprised when I read Tony Teixeira’s (A1 GP boss) outburst aimed at Vijay Mallya, the Force India F1 boss. I was also quite impressed by the strong and well aimed reply Mr. Mallya sent back. Here is quick summary just in case you missed out:

Tony Teixeira to Reuters:

“It’s the wrong message. I think Vijay is trying to set something up which is a long-term plan but it’s not the right message having Force India and non-Indian drivers. I think India wants to see India with Indian drivers. And India wants to see Indian drivers winning. Karthikeyan has proven that. I don’t see Force India winning a race in F1 for the next five years.”

“I think A1 for all intents and purposes brings through the right messages into India by saying that India, although not a motor sport racing nation, can win the World Cup and can beat the rest of the world.”

Vijay Mallya in response to Tony Teixeira:

“I am amused by the comments of Mr Teixeira, promoter of the A1GP series, on how Indians should view motorsport in general and Force India’s participation in the FIA Formula One World Championship in particular. Mr Teixeira is better advised to comment on his native South Africa and his self-styled World Cup of Motorsport that is nothing more than a standard single seater series. Trying to reach out to India’s youth by encouraging participation in and the temptation of winning a title in a series that does not even begin to compare with GP2 or F1 is just promoting mediocrity amongst young Indians who aspire to be World Class. This, indeed, is a wrong message which seems to be an act of desperation given the huge and growing support for Formula One and the Force India Formula One team.”

I am totally on Mallya’s side. And reading what other bloggers have to say it looks like I am not alone. I have nothing against A1 series. If people are willing to pay for it, participate in it and someone will actually watch it, then it is all good. To Teixeira’s credit he (and earlier his partner from Dubai) did manage to start a racing series that still survives. The teams fielded several F1 wannabies, F1 test drivers, former F1 drivers (Verstappen and Karthikeyan). One of the A1 GP race winners, Nelson Piquet jr. is racing in F1 this year. But, A1 si no World Cup of motorsport and giving it this ridiculous name will not make it one. The cars may be relatively powerful, but winning an A1 GP race is in my opinion on or perhaps even below par with winning any lower tier Formula race. I would rate Macau Formula 3 race way above the whole A1 GP championship any time you ask me …

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F1Wolf

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I believe that by now Max Mosley is not the only person with serious doubts about the future of the smallest team on the Formula 1 grid. These are the latest words of Aguri Suzuki, the team owner:

“Super Aguri will not take part in testing in Barcelona this week because of elements out of our control. We plan however to particpate in tests from next week on the Catalunya circuit with two cars.”

It has been only a week ago that Super Aguri postponed their car launch planned for today. However team boss Aguri Suzuki and technical director Mark Preston were to be at the circuit to answer media questions. This is apparently not going to happen today…

There was a bit of good news last week for the team when they finally made it to the test track, although with one car only. Both Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson felt confident they would secure their race seat cotract with the team. Moreover Sato sounded quite sure the team will weather their current financial troubles. That feel good mood did not last for long …

There has been a lot of Superi Aguri rumours in the news - the rumours of team sale to Alejandro Agag, the plans from Indian consortium Spice Group to invest (or purchase the team) and place Narain Karthikeyan into the cockpit. Most recently Russian investment was mentioned in connection with Super Aguri. Nothing however have worked out yet and does not look like it is going to anytime soon …

The time is running out for Super Aguri and if no new money comes buy soon, the team’s future will solely depend on the mercy from Honda, Nick Fry late in January:

The intent for 2008 is that Aguri will be on the grid but clearly what Ross (Brawn) and I need to do, and are doing, is ensure that doesn’t detract from our primary job. At this stage, the intent is that they will be on the grid with Honda engines and support. Exactly how much of that support comes from here is being worked on at the moment.

The last thing the troubled Honda team now needs is a distraction and diversion of resources towards Super Aguri. I am afraid that unless there is some development benefit (more test mileage) from having baby B team on the grid, Honda may want to pull the plug on Super Aguri sooner than later. They do not need 2 teams at the back of the grid …

Let’s see how this develops further. The plans (to show up at the next test and run 2 cars) are just the plans, as was the car launch, as was the appearance of Suzuki and Preston for the media. Once the “elements out of our control” enter the picture, the future is rarely bright and rarely orange. Arrows could talk …

F1Wolf

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It was crazy enough idea 2 or so years back when Superi Aguri got conceived in order to keep Taku Sato in F1. I am a fan of Sato and I am glad he is still around and his move on Alonso last year was awesome. But still, the idea to create a multimillion dollar company for the sake of keeping one driver in F1 does sound crazy, right ?

This madness has proven to be contaigeous ! It has spread to India and another consortium around the Spice Group has openly admitted that the only purpose of their possible purchase of or investment to Super Aguri is to provide a race drive for Narain Karthikeyan …

Neha Rastogi, spokesman for the Spice Group:

“The discussions right now are centred on commercial feasibility. But our main mission is to support Indian drivers and give Narain the opportunity to drive in F1 again. So you can say the deal is contingent on this condition.”

People, please get real … Throw your money into F1 if that is what makes you feel good. But please choose the drivers based their skills …

F1Wolf

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This week has been mostly about Honda, thanks to their car launch. Super Aguri also made it to the news thanks to Max Mosley’s doubts about their future. Now the strong words from Honda, namely from Nick Fry (to Reuters) only add to Super Aguri woes:

“The intent for 2008 is that Aguri will be on the grid but clearly what Ross (Brawn) and I need to do, and are doing, is ensure that doesn’t detract from our primary job. At this stage, the intent is that they will be on the grid with Honda engines and support. Exactly how much of that support comes from here is being worked on at the moment. I would not personally be convinced that the driver you mentioned would be of an acceptable standard for us.”

Nick Fry went on to point out that Anthony Davidson is the driver of the appropriate standard.

The driver Reuters mentioned is Narain Karthikeyan. His name came up in connection with Indian telecom company Spice Group. Spice Group is said to be one of the parties in talks with Super Aguri over funding or investment.

Now this is not an easy situation for Super Aguri. Paid drivers have been source of funds for the cash strapped teams for years. And the race seat may be the only thing thatSuper Aguri has to offer at the moment. On the other hand, while they may struggle without new funds coming in, they would surely go down and under and out of business should Honda pull the plug. Super Aguri simply can’t afford to go against Honda’s wishes…

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F1Wolf

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