Toyota Launch ‘06 Challenger…And New Levels Of Spending.
Written by George Katinger · January 15, 2006
The Panasonic Toyota Racing 2006 challanger for F1 racing glory was unveiled yesterday, along with a new way to spend even more money in the sport.
speedtv.com: Toyota Officially Launches ‘06 F1 Challenger
grandprix.com: The shape of things to come?
virgin.net: No space for private teams says Richards
guardian.co.uk: Toyota’s early birds chase Ferrari in pecking order
Did you here this one Mr. Mosley? Never underestimate business inventiveness when it comes to competition. Here you are working your butt off to reduce costs and those clever team owners keep finding ways to circumvent your feeble efforts.
The latest car unveiled today, the TF106, is only the first of three NEW cars to take to competition for the Toyota squad in 2006. The TF106B is expected for Monaco, and a TF107 will arrive in the fall. But surely these are modified versions of the TF106, no? Not according Mike Gascoyne as described in the Grand Prix posting:
Gascoyne applied the same philosophy to F1 design when he arrived at Renault, setting up two design teams which worked on alternate cars, which meant that the engineers had more time to think about what was needed rather than using their time developing one car. This has now been carried forward, with the financial muscle of Toyota, to create the current system which will see the TF106 serving only until the Monaco Grand Prix at which point a new TF106B will be introduced. The first TF107 will then follow in the autumn
So in order to maintain any aerodynamic advantages, or to correct noted difficiencies in a design, the best approach is to test and build new chassis. More wind tunnel work, more design work, more testing, more money, more money, more money.
As admirable a goal as it is to keep racing costs to a mere 100 million dollars yearly, is it reasonable? Mr. Richards and his ProDrive operation want back in F1 starting in ‘08 if costs can be kept down. Nice try Max, you’ve got to do better than the proposed 2008 regulations to keep a determined spender like Toyota in check!
And has anyone heard anything from the GPMA lately? Could the level of Toyota spending (rumored as most in the sport) and their investment in multiple wind tunnels be an indicator that the GPMA is far from dead and moving forward? They allegedly are arranging track venues and setting up schedules for 2008. Anyone heard anything to that effect? I’d love to know.
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For $100 mil they could field all the teams in Champ Car for a season. Rebage the Fords and it becomes a possible idea.
But they wouldn’t have a chance to win in F1 if they did that.
Toyota clearly are going to spend what it takes to win both championships, although I’m baffled as to how they will do it with their existing driver line up. It would appear that they can maintain this level of spending for several seasons. On one hand they should be praised for their efforts & on the other, saved from themselves (if not themselves, then save the well being of the sport). Control of excessive spending is really role of the governing body & is something Max claims he is doing, although the various cost cutting measures he has proposed & introduced have met with claims that he has achieved the opposite.
You really have to worry about the long term future of F1 when you have Max proposing changes to cut costs, while five international automakers saying they are happy to maintain existing spending & going off to form their own series (notwithstanding the profits from a new series off setting some of their costs). I think that F1’s future is a little bit like an ice age, when it happens it happens, with little warning & through a process of natural selection some creatures adapt & survive while others perish.
With or without the GPMA, we could be about to enter a golden era of F1, with unprecedented manufacturer involvement, however, it can’t last forever & will ultimately implode. My suggestion to Max, let them spend what they want, on the condition that all manufacturers provide a independent team with a customer engine, no lower than one spec behind their own, FREE OF CHARGE! This will benefit the sport in that there would be a very healthy mid field, with independent teams coming into the sport with new engineers & new drivers further strengthening the herd. It will also have the effect of curbing their spending, knowing that they must support another team. This should be the price manufacturers must pay for participating in the sport, if they don’t like it they can’t enter.
Am I out of touch with reality or is my suggestion an enforced system of checking & balancing the manufacturers.
Beginning in ‘08 the teams will be allowed to sell chassis to other independent teams. The question is will they recieve aero upgrades during the season? And how could that possibly reduce costs?
Even if a team recieves free engines and chassis, without the costly mid-season upgrades and testing, the new squads will only serve as rolling chicanes ala the old Minardi and Jordan teams.
I do have to say that the rules changes made so far certainly seem to have seriously benefitted the well funded teams by making the testing gap that much wider.
To have an engine last two races and perform at the appropriate levels obviously requires HUGE testing budgets. To get tires to run a whole race on a car that is less than optimal on its tires once again requires a signficant committment to testing - and even worse - when the tire company builds tires specifically for a competing team it just can’t be optimal for your car.
I say - especially when we get back down to one tire manufacturer - that we have open tire changes again. Maybe even do it like Champ Car’s limit to the number of tires in a weekend if costs are to be controlled/managed.
I do think that something is going to have to happen. You can’t keep shrinking engine size in an attempt to control costs and expect to have a meaningful series. The problem is that as you reduce engine size (and weight) you make it easier for the cars to go even faster through corners. By requiring cars to use the same tires all weekend you really can endanger the drivers.
Where F1 was once full of innovation, rules have really prevented fans from seeing the differences between the cars. Casual fans can’t tell the difference between F1, Champ Car and IRL (And A1 for that matter)
For F1 to be seen as the “pinnacle” by the fans, it’s going to need some kind of shake up - and in spite of Max’s insane rules by fiat - that’s not going to happen until Max moves on and someone really decides that there needs to be room for innovation.
Minardi might have it with the V10s next year. But I’d much rather see a fixed engine volume or, although this is a horrid phrase “restrictor plate” and let innovation abound around the limitations.
The natural extension of being able to sell chassis to other teams almost seems like everyone could be running a McLaren in 2010.
2006 will see unlimited tire changes again, I am expecting Bridgestone to resume the dominance they showed in 2004 with the benefit mostly going to Ferrari.
“The natural extension of being able to sell chassis to other teams almost seems like everyone could be running a McLaren in 2010.”
That’s based on the presumption that McLaren WANT to sell a chassis. I wouldn’t expect McLaren or Ferrari to start selling chassis, as they are too competitive to share design secrets with anyone.
But McLaren might be willing to part with a B Spec chassis…
Renault would be happy to sell more cars… (Imagine the PR of having 6 of 20 cars be Renaults!)
Someone’s going to be willing to sell their souls.
But I do agree with you - The best cars simply won’t be for sale - but you couldn’t give away last year’s Jordan.