Customer Cars

[PSfan]

Well, I was thinking about this, and a question I have now is, how long has Honda R&D been developing for Honda F1? I would assume that its has just started this year, or else Aguri could have used this loophole last year. So if thats the case, then I don't believe that Aguri should be able to use last years Honda, or its design for 07. But I would believe that Honda R&D could design the Aguri car around the new Honda f1 car, and that should be alright...

If Spyker was smart, they would allow the use of 1 year old chassis this year (better that then Aguri, and Rosso utilizing a loophole to use current spec chassis.) and part of the deal would be to have them make a deal with Ferrari to use their year old chassis.

[ioan]

Fair point, although the idea of 'B' teams was not on the agenda at that time. It is now, and as Toro Rosso appeared to have been allowed to run a "Jaguar" in 2006 the door has opened for others who want to do something similar.

Well the idea it's on the agenda for 2007 not before.

If Spyker was smart, they would allow the use of 1 year old chassis this year (better that then Aguri, and Rosso utilizing a loophole to use current spec chassis.) and part of the deal would be to have them make a deal with Ferrari to use their year old chassis.

Not a bad idea, the question is if Spyker can afford to buy the Ferrari chassis, given that they are not a Ferrari B team.

[PSfan]

Not a bad idea, the question is if Spyker can afford to buy the Ferrari chassis, given that they are not a Ferrari B team.

Well depending on how its implemented, They wouldn't be owning the ferrari design, just the right to use it for one season, I would imagine, like Aguri, and Torro, they would have to manufacture the chassis' themselves. So how much Ferrari would charge for the use of their design is anyones guess. But I imagine if Torro & Aguri get to use their sister teams current chassis, its a easy bet as to who will finish last in the championship in 2007, and not hard to predict they will be running Ferrari engines :

[ioan]

But I imagine if Torro & Aguri get to use their sister teams current chassis, its a easy bet as to who will finish last in the championship in 2007, and not hard to predict they will be running Ferrari engines :

This would turn F1 into charity and would be wrong, I doubt Ferrari would agree to do that.
People know that having a good engine doesn't mean winning races.

[PSfan]

This would turn F1 into charity and would be wrong, I doubt Ferrari would agree to do that.
People know that having a good engine doesn't mean winning races.

I'm not suggesting that Ferrari give away the design to their year old chassis, Just that what ever value is placed on the design, be weighed against the possibility that should Spyker's main competitors be allowed to use chassis' developed by a third party, then there is a good chance that Spyker will finish last in 07, which won't look that good for its engine supplier... Besides, Spyker and Ferrari already have the f1 engine deal, and an engine deal for Ferrari powered Spyker SUV's which is more then what Sauber had with Ferrari, and its still arguable that Sauber got their hands on ferrari designs at some point...

Oh and I almost forgot, if Spyker use Ferrari designed chassis then there might be the possibility of some benefitial feedback, which might be of some value with the limited testing this year...

[Powered by Cosworth]

I always thought you could use a teams car aslong as the Team wasn't in F1 anymore. Example:

Toro Rosso Could use the old 'Red Bull' car, but argued it was designed a non-constructing team (Jaguar).
Just like Minardi (If they wanted to) Could run all the Arrows that Stoddy bought a while ago.

[sonic_roadhog]

Been here before haven't we?? Ligier/Benetton, Ferrari/Sauber, RBR/STR. As long as the team own the rights nothing can be done. And quite frankly even if these smaller teams made a completly new design would we notice - modern cars are all so similar who cares??

Sonic

[harsha]

it is probable to think that ferrari might benefit from spyker using their chassis as well as their engines,in that case,we might well see a ferrari at the front row of the grid and a ferrari engine at the back row of the grid

[PSfan]

I always thought you could use a teams car aslong as the Team wasn't in F1 anymore. Example:

Toro Rosso Could use the old 'Red Bull' car, but argued it was designed a non-constructing team (Jaguar).
Just like Minardi (If they wanted to) Could run all the Arrows that Stoddy bought a while ago.

Well from what I understand, Toro was able to use the Jaguar chassis, was because Jaguar F1 wasn't the constructor:

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http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/55813

FIA president Max Mosley said earlier this year, when commenting about the Toro Rosso situation: "My understanding is that with Ford/Jaguar, the parts were, for some obscure reason to do with tax and the internal structure of the Ford Motor Company, designed and built by a company that was not the racing team.

"If the parts are designed and manufactured by another company, and you own the intellectual property rights of the car that requires them, then it is completely legitimate.

"The thing you can't do is if you're Williams you can't run a McLaren front wing. But both Williams and McLaren could run a Lola front wing."

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Anyway, this seems like the loophole Honda are trying to jump threw by having Honda R&D, design the car instead of Honda F1.

[grassrootsracer]

Another interesting point comes into play when the financial and points risk to backmarker teams is considered, as pointed out in a recent Autosport article:

"Teams like Spyker and Williams could lose several constructors' championship positions, and many millions of FOM payments, if both Super Aguri and Toro Rosso leapfrog them as a result of running customer cars."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/55953

However, this smells of political BS and doesn't leave a good taste in my mouth.