F1 may lose Jaguar!

[Teletubby]

As reported by the BBC

"The Jaguar brand could disappear from Formula One next year, ending three years of massive underachievement by the Ford-owned team.
Dietrich Mateschitz, the boss of soft drink company Red Bull, is to have talks with the senior management of Ford about buying the team.

Mateschitz wants to set up an outfit called Red Bull Team USA, using his drinks brand as a promotional tool to bring on young American drivers.

The 59-year-old Austrian is said to want to buy a 70% stake in Jaguar for about £50m.

As part of the deal, the Jaguar name would be ditched, but the team would continue to use the same Ford Cosworth engines as this year.

Mateschitz has approached Ford management through the current bosses of the Jaguar team, Niki Lauda and Richard Parry-Jones and wants to have a decision within about four weeks, the BBC has learned.

Mateschitz is planning to announce his driver development programme at the US Grand Prix next month.

He wants a decision about buying Jaguar to be made one way or the other by the same time.

Jaguar is a sensitive issue within Ford management at the company's base in Detroit.

The team have been a failure since Ford bought out the Stewart outfit and rebranded them Jaguar for the 2000 season.


This year has been Jaguar's worst so far in F1, and many in Ford's top management would like to see the end of the team.

They point out that Jaguar alone costs more than the rest of Ford's motorsport programme added together.

That includes their involvement in the world rally championship and America's highest-profile series, the Nascar Winston Cup.

However, other senior Ford managers recognise that F1 is by far the world's most important motorsport series and that Jaguar can only benefit from a presence.

Ford's chief financial officer, Allan Gilmour, has said: "If you want to raise blood pressure around here, you will do it when you discuss Formula One, because there are no neutral people.

"This is a high-visibility sport related to automotive products.

"The other view is, no, we don't need to be doing this. It is interesting and exciting, but it is terribly expensive."

Jaguar's involvement in F1 was thrown into further doubt at the Hungarian Grand Prix when it was announced that Jordan had struck a deal to use works Ford Cosworth engines in F1.

That would put Jordan in direct competition with Jaguar - and has been seen as an indication of Ford's lack of confidence in its own team.

Mateschitz has already had one bid to buy an F1 team founder this season.

He was in talks to take over the Arrows team, but those collapsed when an injuction was obtained by the team's chief shareholder Morgan Grenfell."

[av8rirl]

Wouldn't it be grand to have the odd $50 million lying around like that?? How bad could it be?

[JohnnyBravo]

This story won't lie down

There's a saying.....

...No smoke without fire!

Be an interesting 4 weeks then, shame for the workers at Jaguar after the demise of Arrows this sort of speculation can't be good for morale

[ghinzani]

I heard a rumour Andrew Craig is involved - he the ex CART Ceo.

[f1manoz]

It wouldn't surprise me if Ford did sell off Jaguar racing to the highest bidder. Couldn't blame them really as the team is just hopeless.

And without having to finance the entire Jaguar operation, Ford can return to what they know best - engine supplying.

[BootsOntheSide]

Jaguar was a bad idea in the first place really, but this could be a good move. I just hope Red Bull don't think they can run 2 rookie Americans next season. Would De La Rosa still be under contract? The comment about how much debate the Jaguar programme throws up in ther Ford baordroom is funny.

[Maxmil]

Originally posted by Teletubby
As reported by the BBC

"Ford's chief financial officer, Allan Gilmour, has said: "If you want to raise blood pressure around here, you will do it when you discuss Formula One, because there are no neutral people."

What he does not say is that the "beancounters" at Ford have long had a strong say in the company's operations. Having been one myself in Detroit, I can testify that money sinks like F1 which cannot demonstarate a clear return on the investment are generally not viewed favorably by the finance side. I made a lifelong friend when I joined my company out there because I supported his campaigning a Corvette for one more year at Daytona and Sebring.

[racer69]

If it wasn't for the fact that any deal that sold the team would probably leave James Courtney out in the cold, i wouldn't mind seeing a deal done.

[Valve Bounce]

Hamlet to Polonius: Buzz Buzz

If you are going to quote BBC, at least quote their latest article, please. Stale new is stale news, especially when it has been superseded by events.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/2209216.stm

Valve

[DNQ]

I honestly think calling it Jaguar was a stupid idea in the first place, the whole thing has been so poorly run with crappy drivers (to a certain extenet), terrible management, saturation of media-hype at the start, it's been a joke.

Shame cause Ford is my favourite brand

[Valve Bounce]

It could have been worse - they could have called it Volvo


Valve

[Teletubby]

VB, You might notice that the story I quoted was considerably earlier than the one to which you refer!

[Valve Bounce]

That's what I meant by Buzz Buzz, sorry, but you must have missed out on the subsequent article by a matter of minutes. I got it this morning, our time. However, to be fair to you, there is another article in grandprix.com that does not believe the BBC report I qouted. :confused:

Valve

[Tom Fuller]

I dont particularly fancy America being promoted in this sport. They have CART

[DNQ]

That is a bit unfair Tom.

[Adam43]

Originally posted by Valve Bounce
It could have been worse - they could have called it Volvo

As a Jaguar fan I wished they had called it Volvo.

[Tom Fuller]

Originally posted by DNQ
That is a bit unfair Tom.

I dont think so

[EERO]

Originally posted by Tom Fuller
I dont particularly fancy America being promoted in this sport. They have CART

And you're right, what do Harry Schell, Phil Hill, Ritchie Ginther, Dan Gurney, Lance Reventlow, Peter Revson, Mario Andretti, Skip Barber, Mark Donahue, Danny Sullivan, Eddie Cheever and Michael Andretti; or Scarab, Eagle, Parnelli, Penske and Shadow have to do with F1 anyway????

Who cares about history? Who cares that the world's largest economy has a presence in F1? Who cares about the mant Formula One fans in the USA??????




Those who rightly mock Major League Baseball for calling their championship, "The World Series", have no problem calling it the Formula One World Championship without an American presence.

Tom, you're way off base.

[Nicholas]

I agree with you there EERO, especially about the WC bit

You'd think that any prospective buyer would take Minardi even with its debts over Jaguar, at least in the short term. And Stoddart wants an American driver so it would make sense...