Which team/teams will leave? Why?

[neilap]

There are rumors of Toyota leaving F1 though Howett has said that is all rubbish. Max stated at Monaco that at least one of the manufacturers would not return.
Personally, I have always thought Renault was on its last leg but its been hanging in there for the last few years. Honda blamed the economy (I am a skeptic) now some teams are saying they will leave because of the rules. Who do we think will leave F1 and why?

[jab]

Well, the rumoured 3 are Toyota, Renault and BMW

Toyota have been spending too much for too little for years and have stated a desire to get back into sportscars where they were doing well before F1. They were also involved in the WRC, and maybe now with more affordable rules they'll go back there too. Fact is they seem to have botched a potentially race-winning car for the 2nd time and they may not get another chance before the natural order rights itself, and Panasonic aren't overly happy either

Renault's boss Carlos Ghosn is a notorious cost-cutter and pulled Nissan out of motorsport back in 1999 even though they were doing very well (especially in touring cars). Now that Renault have hit a bad patch in F1 and have lost their title sponsorship, rumour is they'll flog the team to Briatore and the board like Honda did

Thiessen has been making unconvincing noises about BMW, both regarding the cap and their future in general. He has also said they're considering their future in touring cars as well. So the disaster of this year in F1 could lead to them going as well. I think Brundle mentioned that it was rumoured that they were going during qualifying

Mercedes are a long shot but Daimler suffered massive losses in Q1, but I'd have thought they'd be doing too well in F1 right now to pull the plug

[Minicross424]

Its got to be between Toyota and Renault.
The boys at the bbc seem to know more that they are letting on and that comment about supply 4 cars on the grid has got to be either the williams / toyota tie up or renault / red bull deal.
Gut reaction says Renault with Alonso in big trouble if both Massa and Kimi keep up there current form.

[Ralf's Girl]

I can see Toyota going - they have to start getting some good results (and by "good results", I really mean wins) or there's no justification to continue the investment.

I wouldn't be too surprised if BMW are starting to rethink their F1 involvement as well. They didn't push for the title last year because they wanted to concentrate on this year's car, and they're slower than Force India.

[strider]

Originally Posted by jab

Well, the rumoured 3 are Toyota, Renault and BMW

Toyota have been spending too much for too little for years and have stated a desire to get back into sportscars where they were doing well before F1. They were also involved in the WRC, and maybe now with more affordable rules they'll go back there too. Fact is they seem to have botched a potentially race-winning car for the 2nd time and they may not get another chance before the natural order rights itself, and Panasonic aren't overly happy either

Renault's boss Carlos Ghosn is a notorious cost-cutter and pulled Nissan out of motorsport back in 1999 even though they were doing very well (especially in touring cars). Now that Renault have hit a bad patch in F1 and have lost their title sponsorship, rumour is they'll flog the team to Briatore and the board like Honda did

Thiessen has been making unconvincing noises about BMW, both regarding the cap and their future in general. He has also said they're considering their future in touring cars as well. So the disaster of this year in F1 could lead to them going as well. I think Brundle mentioned that it was rumoured that they were going during qualifying

Mercedes are a long shot but Daimler suffered massive losses in Q1, but I'd have thought they'd be doing too well in F1 right now to pull the plug

Very good summary. I think all three will leave with Renault handing over the team to Flavio, if he wants it.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by strider

Very good summary. I think all three will leave with Renault handing over the team to Flavio, if he wants it.

FBGP-maybe with Mercedes or Cosworth power.

[JeremySmith]

Toyota will leave first I feel..Too much money spent without the results.

[climb]

http://italiaracing.net/notizia.asp?id=23412&cat=1

italiaracing.net (sorry only in italian this time) talks about Briatore taking over renault F1 outfit.

Interestingly, an increasing number of Mosley's opponents could find his proposals more and more interesting...