Prodrive F1 Team was the name of a proposed
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
team to be run by
Prodrive
Prodrive is a British motorsport and advanced engineering group based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. It designs, constructs and races automobile, cars for companies and teams such as Aston Martin, Bahrain Raid Xtreme and Team X44. Its advan ...
. The team was selected by the FIA in 2006 to be the 12th entry into the
2008 Formula One world championship
The 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 62nd season of Formula One motor racing, recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) – the governing body of motorsport – as the highest class of competition ...
. In November 2007, a legal challenge to the team's proposed use of customer cars led to Prodrive pulling out of the 2008 season.
In 2009, Prodrive boss
David Richards announced that either Prodrive or
Aston Martin Racing
Aston Martin Racing is a British auto racing team established in 2004 as a partnership between automobile manufacturer Aston Martin and engineering group Prodrive. The partnership was initially created for the purpose of returning Aston ...
would appear in F1 from 2010 should the budget caps planned be acceptable. Prodrive Ltd. is based in
Banbury
Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census.
Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, but has unveiled plans to relocate to a new motorsport facility called "The Fulcrum" (based at the former
RAF Honiley
Royal Air Force Honiley or RAF Honiley is a former Royal Air Force station located in Wroxall, Warwickshire, southwest of Coventry, England.
The station closed in March 1958, and after being used as a motor vehicle test track, it has been sub ...
airfield) near
Wroxall, Warwickshire
Wroxall is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Beausale, Haseley, Honiley and Wroxall, in the Warwick district, in the county of Warwickshire, England. It is from Kenilworth, and from Coventry on the A4141 road. Accord ...
.
Entry into F1
2008 attempt
On 28 April 2006, rallying and motorsports technology firm Prodrive were officially granted entry to Formula One when the
FIA
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used.
Fia or FIA may also refer to: People
* Fia Backst ...
announced the list of entrants to the
2008 Formula One World Championship
The 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 62nd season of Formula One motor racing, recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) – the governing body of motorsport – as the highest class of competition ...
. While a total of 22 teams applied for entry, the FIA had always maintained that, for reasons of both safety and practicality, only 12 teams would be granted entry, meaning only one new team would line up on the grid in 2008.
FIA president
Max Mosley
Max Rufus Mosley (13 April 1940 – 23 May 2021) was a British racing driver, lawyer, and president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), a non-profit association which represents the interests of motoring organisations and ...
was impressed by Prodrive's bid, which beat off stiff competition from
Carlin Motorsport
Carlin, formerly Carlin Motorsport, is a motor racing team based in the United Kingdom. It currently competes in five championships: FIA Formula 2 Championship, FIA Formula 3 Championship, F4 British Championship, BRDC British Formula 3 and E ...
, the
Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin. After successes in minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, ...
-led and McLaren-supported
Direxiv
Direxiv was a motorsports company that competed in Super GT and Formula Nippon. The company had links to the GP2 Series, then the feeder series for Formula One, and had submitted an entry to run a Formula 1 team in 2008 onwards.
The team sponsore ...
outfit,
BAR
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
co-founder
Craig Pollock
Craig Pollock (born February 20, 1956) is a British businessman. He was the manager of 1997 World Champion Formula One driver Jacques Villeneuve throughout his top-level career. Pollock was the founder of the British American Racing Formula One ...
, former
Minardi
Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal followin ...
owner
Paul Stoddart
Paul Stoddart (born 26 May 1955) is an Australian businessman, airline owner and former Minardi Formula One team boss.
Personal life
Born in Coburg, Melbourne, Australia, and attended Preston Technical School and St Joseph's College Melbou ...
and ex-
Jordan Grand Prix
Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team was named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan. The team was based at Silverstone, UK but raced with an Irish licence.
In early 2005, the t ...
team principal,
Eddie Jordan
Edmund Patrick Jordan, OBE (born 30 March 1948), also known as EJ, is an Irish businessman, television personality and former motorsport team owner. Born in Dublin, Jordan worked first at the Bank of Ireland. He won the Irish Kart Championshi ...
.
Mosley revealed that Prodrive had found the finances to support their bid, adding: "Prodrive have the best combination of financial backing, technical capability and motor sport experience and are well known to the FIA through their participation in the World Rally Championship. Also, Prodrive's chief executive, David Richards, has experience as a Formula One team principal". Richards has previously acted as team principal of the
Benetton and
British American Racing
British American Racing (BAR) was a Formula One constructor that competed in the sport from 1999 to 2005. BAR began by acquiring Tyrrell, and used Supertec engines for their first year. Subsequently, they formed a partnership with Honda which l ...
teams.
According to some reports, Prodrive F1 was to use
Mercedes engines and the same cars as
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
. During the 2007 season, McLaren boss
Ron Dennis
Ronald Dennis Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 1 June 1947) is a British people, British businessman and Official British Business Ambassador for the United Kingdom. He is best known for his former role as owner, CEO, chairman and founder ...
denied that the partnership had been finalised. Discussions with other potential suppliers of cars, including
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
, were also carried out. On 25 April 2007, it was announced that Prodrive had attracted a title sponsor for 2008. The same article also referenced
Gary Paffett
Gary Paffett (born 24 March 1981 in Bromley) is a British racing driver. Having become a household name in the DTM, following fifteen years in the series and two championship wins, Paffett moved onto Formula E for the 2018/19 championship, afte ...
for a race drive citing his "one year" contract in
DTM
DTM may refer to:
Sport
* Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, a motor-racing series staged annually in Germany since 2000
* Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, a motor-racing championship staged in Germany from 1984 to 1995
Computing
* Deterministic T ...
and with McLaren as a test driver. There were also rumours linking DTM driver
Bruno Spengler
Bruno Spengler (born August 23, 1983) is an Alsatian-born Canadian racing driver, currently racing for the BMW factory/works team. Nicknamed 'The Secret Canadian', he won the 2012 DTM Drivers' Championship.
Career
Early career
Spengler was b ...
, ex-F1 driver and McLaren tester
Pedro de la Rosa
Pedro Martínez de la Rosa (; born 24 February 1971) is a Spanish former Formula One driver who has participated in 107 Grands Prix for the Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren, Sauber and HRT teams. He made his Formula One debut on 7 March 1999, becoming ...
and ex-McLaren test driver
Alexander Wurz
Alexander Georg Wurz (born 15 February 1974) is an Austrian former professional racing driver, driver training expert and businessman. He competed in Formula One from until , and is also a two-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours.
He is curren ...
to the team. By October 2007, it was believed that the team had an agreement in place to use
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
-
Mercedes cars, at a cost of around $100M.
Although David Richards also led the consortium which owns
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...
, he ruled out the Aston Martin brand entering F1.
Although the FIA had announced in 2006 that customer cars would be permitted from the 2008 season, the 2007 season saw complaints against two teams,
Scuderia Toro Rosso
Scuderia Toro Rosso (; literal translation of "Red Bull Racing Team"), commonly known as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, was an Italian Formula One racing team. It was one of two Formula One teams owned by Austrian beverage company Red ...
and
Super Aguri F1
Super Aguri F1 was a Formula One team that competed from to . The team, founded by former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki, was based in Tokyo, Japan, but operated from the former Arrows Grand Prix International, Arrows factory at the Leafield Technical ...
, believed by other teams to already be using customer cars. The use of customer cars (cars built by a constructor entered in the F1 championship and sold to another entrant) is forbidden by the
Concorde Agreement
The Concorde Agreement is a contract between the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the Formula One teams and the Formula One Group which dictates the terms by which the teams compete in races, and how the television revenues and ...
. The Concorde Agreement is the contract between the
FIA
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used.
Fia or FIA may also refer to: People
* Fia Backst ...
, the F1
teams and
Formula One Administration
The Formula One Group is a group of companies responsible for the Promotion (marketing), promotion of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula One World Championship, and the exercising of the sport's commercial rights.
The ...
which dictates the terms by which the teams compete in races and take their share of the television revenues and prize money. As the Concorde Agreement was schedule to expire at the end of 2007 and a succeeding Agreement had not yet been finalised, in October 2007 the
Williams team challenged Prodrive's proposed use of customer cars for its entry to the 2008 championship in the FIA's International Court of Appeal.
Following lengthy negotiations between president Mosley and Richards, including a request that the team be allowed to enter from mid-season, Richards announced on 23 November 2007 that Prodrive F1 would not compete in the , as the legal situation left no time for the team to be set up for the start of the season. "It is still our ambition to compete in Formula One," Prodrive said in a statement. "We are hopeful that a new Concorde Agreement between the
FIA
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used.
Fia or FIA may also refer to: People
* Fia Backst ...
,
FOA
Foa may refer to:
People
* Arnoldo Foà (1916–2014), Italian film actor
* Barrett Foa (born 1977), American actor
* Edna B. Foa (born 1937), Israeli psychologist
* Emanuele Foà (1892–1949), Italian engineer
* Eugénie Foa (1796–1852), ...
(Formula One Administration) and teams will provide clarity as to the terms on which this might be possible. When this new agreement is reached, we will be in a position to consider the extent to which we can adapt our plans for participation in the future."
In an interview Richards said that he would have wanted
Pedro de la Rosa
Pedro Martínez de la Rosa (; born 24 February 1971) is a Spanish former Formula One driver who has participated in 107 Grands Prix for the Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren, Sauber and HRT teams. He made his Formula One debut on 7 March 1999, becoming ...
and
Lucas di Grassi
Lucas Tucci di Grassi (born 11 August 1984) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula E World Championship for Mahindra Racing. He became the FIA Formula E Champion in 2016–2017, achieved three overall podium ...
as his drivers for the 2008 season.
Further attempts
When
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
withdrew at the end of 2008, Richards was linked to buying out the team and using it as an output for Prodrive, but
Ross Brawn
Ross James Brawn (born 23 November 1954) is a British Formula One managing director, motor sports and technical director.
He is a former motorsport engineer and Formula One team principal, and has worked for a number of Formula One teams. Serv ...
and the rest of the team's management bought out the team instead, becoming
Brawn GP
Brawn GP was a Formula One constructor which competed in the 2009 Formula One World Championship, with drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The team was formed in 2009 by a management buyout led by Ross Brawn of the Honda Racing F1 ...
.
In May 2009, Richards lodged an entry for the
2010 Formula One season
The 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 64th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. Red Bull Racing won its maiden Constructors' Championship with a 1–2 finish in 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix, Brazil, while Red Bull Racing's Se ...
. If successful, it would have allowed the
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...
name to return to Formula One (which ultimately occurred in 2021, when the former
Racing Point F1 Team
Racing Point F1 Team, which competed as BWT Racing Point F1 Team and commonly known as Racing Point, was a British motor racing team and constructor that Racing Point UK entered into the Formula One, Formula One World Championship. The team w ...
was purchased and rebranded). On 12 June 2009 it was announced by the FIA that Prodrive's entry for 2010 had not been accepted. Prodrive stated in a press release that they were 'disappointed'.
In early December 2009, there were reports in the media suggesting that Renault were looking to sell their team ahead of the 2010 F1 season. Bernie Ecclestone, the commercial rights holder for Formula One, revealed on 7 December 2009 that Richards' Prodrive was one of four potential bidders. Reports suggested that Prodrive's proposal would have seen Renault withdraw from the sport as a manufacturer, but remain in place as an engine supplier.
References
{{Formula One constructors
Formula One entrants
Formula One constructors
British auto racing teams
Apax Partners companies