Martin Donnelly calls for more F1 teams

**V12** · 13th January 2008, 15:32

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64658

Well said that man - I have nothing more to add. I'm just shocked that someone with a connection to the sport has actually had the balls to say what I - and many others here - have been saying for ages.

Of course if the 12 team limit was lifted tomorrow, there wouldn't be anyone capable of entering right now, and chances are the entry list would stay at 22 for the time being, but the possibility should always be there, none of this closed-shop nonsense.

But had the "12th team" not just been restricted to Prodrive, and they'd opened it up to everyone who wanted to enter, it would have increased the probability that at least ONE of them would have made it, and we would actually have had a 12th team for next year!

Of course Bernie and the teams would probably never go for it, would interfere with their vision for F(ranchise)1 too much

**Osella** · 13th January 2008, 17:29

Originally Posted by V12

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64658

Well said that man - I have nothing more to add. But had the "12th team" not just been restricted to Prodrive, and they'd opened it up to everyone who wanted to enter, it would have increased the probability that at least ONE of them would have made it, and we would actually have had a 12th team for next year!

Of course Bernie and the teams would probably never go for it, would interfere with their vision for F(ranchise)1 too much

See the '12th team' thread!... I totally agree,especially the bit about giving young drivers a chance. Otherwise people like Mika Hakkinen, Michael Schumacher, Alan Jones, Ayrton Senna, Pierluigi Martini and many more may never have got their chances.. The reason for the limit was a few teams Bernie felt were embarrassments, so he pushed for the limit to ensure that all the teams in F1 would be 'proper' and not damage the image of F1.
And another thing, why not allow single-car teams again. I miss those.

**AndyRAC** · 13th January 2008, 22:48

Why not allow 3 car teams, with maybe a young driver in a year old car? Remember Pre qualifying when there was 30 odd cars trying for Qualifying. And 26 cars in the race.

**Osella** · 13th January 2008, 23:06

Originally Posted by AndyRAC

Remember Pre qualifying when there was 30 odd cars trying for Qualifying. And 26 cars in the race.

I remember those days well! But now we have 4-car teams, in effect, so I don't want to see 3-car teams, besides it wouldn't really encourage cost cutting or more teams to enter. But single-car entries would..
To be frank, I don't care if they are off the pace, more cars is more cars, and it was always good to see who would do what, and at some tracks teams like Minardi, Tyrrell, Lambo, Leyton House/March, Footwork/Arrows and Scuderia Italia could spring some surprise results on performance or strategy.

To me that is a lot more interesting than seeing if Toyota can beat Honda to 12th place...*yawn* And another thing, we should have had points down to 8th then not now, when there aren't enough cars to justify it! Just look at Michele Alboreto's 1992 season for an example.. 7th place 7 times = 0 points. Nowadays that alone is more than Honda scored all this season!

**Rollo** · 13th January 2008, 23:55

Does anyone remember the 1988 Detroit GP? No? Was it remarkable for anything?

Minardi who after three seasons with a best result, with Pierluigi Martini at the wheel, scraped into 6th place to claim their first point ever and their only point that year.

If you look at the video, it's not just Minardi who go absolutely ape-**** insane, but most of the pit wall is draped in red, white and green.

You just don't get that in F1's highly stratified atmosphere any more. Where are the little guys trying to rub $10m together to build a car? Where is Lord Hesketh's camp suit? What of tartan baggy pants?

**AndyRAC** · 14th January 2008, 08:08

Originally Posted by Rollo

Does anyone remember the 1988 Detroit GP? No? Was it remarkable for anything?

Minardi who after three seasons with a best result, with Pierluigi Martini at the wheel, scraped into 6th place to claim their first point ever and their only point that year.

If you look at the video, it's not just Minardi who go absolutely ape-**** insane, but most of the pit wall is draped in red, white and green.

You just don't get that in F1's highly stratified atmosphere any more. Where are the little guys trying to rub $10m together to build a car? Where is Lord Hesketh's camp suit? What of tartan baggy pants?

Because the big Manufacturers have taken over, And they're not 'Racers', have no passion. Sad!!!

**Osella** · 14th January 2008, 12:22

Originally Posted by Rollo

What of tartan baggy pants?

He sold his team to Ford, who renamed it Jaguar...

**woody2goody** · 14th January 2008, 14:38

I would love F1 to have an entry list of 30-plus cars, it would be exciting watching qualifying to see who makes the race at all!

The top 3 teams from the previous season could each have one provisional, like in NASCAR. Then they could get away with one bad qualifying, but not two, and not making the race when fighting for the title would be VERY BAD.

Or they could have a grid of 30, and give points down to 10th. 12-10-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 for example.

A point each for pole position and fastest lap could also help.

**inimitablestoo** · 14th January 2008, 16:47

I'd allow a grid of 30 and leave the entry open-ended if it were up to me. If I had to have a cap on entries, I think 30 is more reasonable than 24 - quite why most series seem to think that having 20 cars is something to cheer at I don't know. I'd love to see a return to cars actually having to qualify for the race rather than be guaranteed a start, but with the expense involved, I don't think Bernie or the teams are going to let it happen again.

And, given how competitive and reliable modern F1 is, I'd bring back the old WRC top ten scoring system - 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1. They're still sensible numbers, the gaps between them are about right and it rewards the right proportion of the field.

But then, these are drums that have been banged before, and I don't think anyone in authority's caught the rhythm...