Porsche in F1

[moosthuizen]

Why is porsche not participating in F1? It is racing, though in another form. Am I missing the point?


Marius
'80 911 sc

[Hoffman912]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[Panzer909]

Originally posted by Hoffman912
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Exactly. Dough. Cashish. Moolah - and LOTS of it.

[layzee]

Costs a lot and if you aren't coming top 3 regularly it does nothing for your brand image.

[TigerTrash]

They participate, They sponsor the track preview on Speedvision and have lots of cayanne commercials. Other than that.............

[masraum]

Why would Porsche participate in F1? Other than 1 or 2 dissappointing attempts they haven't ever really participated in F1, have they? I can see the point behind them running a prototype in one of the sportscar series, but even while it would be nice to see them doing that it seems unnecessary since they still seem to be able to put out a technologically advanced supercar. I would love to see something like the 917, 935, or 956/62, but at least they have the GT3RS/RSR.

[Hoffman912]

early 60's porsche did ok in f1.

another reason why we are not in f1 now.. look at the last time with the footworks porsche. heaviest engine, with mediocher performacnce out of the engine... i believe it qualified only once. needless to say, it was an embarasement, and was a huge drain on the financial end of things

[Zeke]

On a side note, with the news of Max Mosley's proposed changes came the statement that Ferrari spends $450 mil anually compared to Toyota's 50 mil and Minardi's 35.

I thought Toyota spent more and I wondered where Ferrari gets that much money. Are they raiding the other marqes accounts they are affiliated with?

On another side note, Ferrari's president, Luca (forgot last name), is reputed to be on the list to replace Ecelstone. This all adds up to something lopsided to me.

Porsche would have to sell a lot of Cayene's to field 2 (required to enter) F1 cars.

[Jeroen]

The Porsche (TAG) engined McLarens did pretty well in the early 80-es IIRC

But why would you even bother to get involved in F1 anyway. It's ****** boring.

I'd rather see them back in LeMans proto-type / endurance racing, where they belong...

cheers,

Jeroen

[Todd Simpson]

Other than 1 or 2 dissappointing attempts they haven't ever really participated in F1, have they?

I think they supplied the engines for the '84, '85 and '86 world champs, McLaren?

[tchanson]

Originally posted by Zeke
On a side note, with the news of Max Mosley's proposed changes came the statement that Ferrari spends $450 mil anually compared to Toyota's 50 mil and Minardi's 35.

I thought Toyota spent more...

They do. As I recall the $50M figure was basically the entry fee that Toyota (or any other completely new team) paid to get in the game. Their actual operating budget is rumored to be close to Ferrari levels, i.e. in excess of $300M per annum for the current season.

The chart below is a little dated (estimates from Credit Suisse) , but good for comparison purposes:



I like a lot of Mosley's new FIA proposals for 2008 when the current Concorde Agreement ends, especially the 2.4 liter V8's that must last two race weekends, narrower front/wider rear rubber, and the banning of automatic gearboxes, by requiring manual gear selection and manual clutch(!). I think that alone would go a long way to bring driver skill much higher in the equation again.

I doubt they'll all be adopted, but at least they're talking about it, and recognize the need to bring down the currently insane budget levels. Even at reduced budgets, its still a game thats just too expensive for Porsche to play, IMO. Nor would F1 help further the marketing needs/objectives of Porsche's selling of trucks, which is currently its core business.

Tim