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**QXCharles** · 03-08-2010, 11:42 PM

OK, the dust from the Stefan/USGP/artist formerly known as Campos mess has settled and it's pretty much set in stone we'll have three new additions to the grid this year

They may have collectively gathered a bit of (IMO disrespectful) negative press over the winter, and yes, they'll probably all get hosed by the established boys in their first season, but I for one am really looking forward to seeing how they get on, particularly against each other.

So will it be Branson or Fernandes wearing the air hostess uniform come the end of the season? And will Hispania come from nowhere to blitz the both of them, or own the 12th row as expected? I thought I'd do a little summary of their plus and minus points as I see them at this present moment:

Lotus
STRENGTHS:
-A driver line-up that wouldn't be out of place in an established upper-to-mid grid outfit
-Mike Gascoyne, may have the odd reputed flaw, but has relevant experience in creating contemporary F1 cars, none of which have been dogs.
-Malaysian funding probably makes them the most solid financially of all the newcomers

WEAKNESSES:
-Entry was confirmed later than all the other new boys, the 127 will have had less gestation time than the Wirth and Dallara efforts.
-Could the will-they-won't-they situation regarding the wholesale move to Sepang destabilise them in the medium term?

Hispania
STRENGTHS:
-Dallara know how to build a good solid single-seater racing car, without doubt the leading "customer" formula car builder of current times.

WEAKNESSES:
-Drivers unproven at this level, Senna has promise, Chandhok less so.
-The car will hit the track for the first time in Bahrain
-Last minute ownership (Carabante) and organisational (Kolles) changes, there must be some gelling to do surely?

Virgin
STRENGTHS:
-Manor's strong record in lower formulae. While not a guarantee of F1 success, it must surely be a help.
-Good driver line-up, Lotus's maybe just shades it overall, but Glock has been Trulli's equal and di Grassi has earned his F1 shot after his long GP2 service.
-Seem to have a respectable collection of commercial sponsors aboard given their status as a new team, although how much are they all paying? Including Virgin for that matter?

WEAKNESSES:
-Operations fragmented between Manor GP (operational), Wirth Research (technical), and Virgin (marketing, etc.). The gelling of these three entities may be a potential for something to go wrong.
-CFD, could be the best thing since sliced bread, may acheive similar results on a fraction of the budget, but for now there must be some sort of question mark.
-Reliability, while testing teething problems are understandable, they've had more than Lotus, who have had less time to design and build their car.
-Virgin's commitment. Will Branson get bored a year or two down the line and decide he wants another challenge?
-Resources - they are proudly declaring their intention to stick to the spirit of original budget cap, will this hinder them in the development race?

After writing this down from my head, I must say Virgin have more "weakness" points than I would have thought, I would still rank them 1. Lotus, 2. Virgin, 3. Hispania at this point though.

I agree with most of what you say apart from 2 things, both to do with 2 of Virgin's "weaknesses" that you've pointed out.

Firstly, i've not seen Branson as the sort of man that gets bored easily, maybe you're likening him to Alex Schnaider who sold the Midland team to Spyker because he got "bored". Branson is not like that, he can see that there is a huge opportunity not only to be different from everyone else and to prove that a team can be run successfully on a small budget, but also from a business sense too, seeing it as an opportunity to promote the Virgin brand in an arena he had not touched until last season, plus the continued support going towards the new team suggests that after that season with BrawnGP, Branson seems to have got hooked on the sport. Schnaider was no businessman, he was like Abramovich when he bought Chelsea, the F1 team was his little toy and predictably he did what we all do when we got bored of our "toys", he got rid.

Secondly, the Resources bit, the team would not have committed themselves to the low budget if they were not confident that they could carry out the necessary development on the car. Plus with Wirth developing the car using his CFD method, it will be significantly cheaper for them to do that work.

03-08-2010, 11:42 PM	#2
QXCharles Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 457 Senior Member	OK, the dust from the Stefan/USGP/artist formerly known as Campos mess has settled and it's pretty much set in stone we'll have three new additions to the grid this year They may have collectively gathered a bit of (IMO disrespectful) negative press over the winter, and yes, they'll probably all get hosed by the established boys in their first season, but I for one am really looking forward to seeing how they get on, particularly against each other. So will it be Branson or Fernandes wearing the air hostess uniform come the end of the season? And will Hispania come from nowhere to blitz the both of them, or own the 12th row as expected? I thought I'd do a little summary of their plus and minus points as I see them at this present moment: Lotus STRENGTHS: -A driver line-up that wouldn't be out of place in an established upper-to-mid grid outfit -Mike Gascoyne, may have the odd reputed flaw, but has relevant experience in creating contemporary F1 cars, none of which have been dogs. -Malaysian funding probably makes them the most solid financially of all the newcomers WEAKNESSES: -Entry was confirmed later than all the other new boys, the 127 will have had less gestation time than the Wirth and Dallara efforts. -Could the will-they-won't-they situation regarding the wholesale move to Sepang destabilise them in the medium term? Hispania STRENGTHS: -Dallara know how to build a good solid single-seater racing car, without doubt the leading "customer" formula car builder of current times. WEAKNESSES: -Drivers unproven at this level, Senna has promise, Chandhok less so. -The car will hit the track for the first time in Bahrain -Last minute ownership (Carabante) and organisational (Kolles) changes, there must be some gelling to do surely? Virgin STRENGTHS: -Manor's strong record in lower formulae. While not a guarantee of F1 success, it must surely be a help. -Good driver line-up, Lotus's maybe just shades it overall, but Glock has been Trulli's equal and di Grassi has earned his F1 shot after his long GP2 service. -Seem to have a respectable collection of commercial sponsors aboard given their status as a new team, although how much are they all paying? Including Virgin for that matter? WEAKNESSES: -Operations fragmented between Manor GP (operational), Wirth Research (technical), and Virgin (marketing, etc.). The gelling of these three entities may be a potential for something to go wrong. -CFD, could be the best thing since sliced bread, may acheive similar results on a fraction of the budget, but for now there must be some sort of question mark. -Reliability, while testing teething problems are understandable, they've had more than Lotus, who have had less time to design and build their car. -Virgin's commitment. Will Branson get bored a year or two down the line and decide he wants another challenge? -Resources - they are proudly declaring their intention to stick to the spirit of original budget cap, will this hinder them in the development race? After writing this down from my head, I must say Virgin have more "weakness" points than I would have thought, I would still rank them 1. Lotus, 2. Virgin, 3. Hispania at this point though. I agree with most of what you say apart from 2 things, both to do with 2 of Virgin's "weaknesses" that you've pointed out. Firstly, i've not seen Branson as the sort of man that gets bored easily, maybe you're likening him to Alex Schnaider who sold the Midland team to Spyker because he got "bored". Branson is not like that, he can see that there is a huge opportunity not only to be different from everyone else and to prove that a team can be run successfully on a small budget, but also from a business sense too, seeing it as an opportunity to promote the Virgin brand in an arena he had not touched until last season, plus the continued support going towards the new team suggests that after that season with BrawnGP, Branson seems to have got hooked on the sport. Schnaider was no businessman, he was like Abramovich when he bought Chelsea, the F1 team was his little toy and predictably he did what we all do when we got bored of our "toys", he got rid. Secondly, the Resources bit, the team would not have committed themselves to the low budget if they were not confident that they could carry out the necessary development on the car. Plus with Wirth developing the car using his CFD method, it will be significantly cheaper for them to do that work.
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