mika
Still Wondering
F1 News
autosport.com: Campos hindered by budget cap u turn.
autosport.com: Q&A with Campos Daniel Audetto
crash.net: Brawn ÔÇô Spa will be acid test for cold weather form
motorsport-total.com: Howett hopes for the survival of FOTA
Rumors: Silly Season and More
telegraph.co.uk: Rosberg not joining McLaren
motorsport.com: Schumacher talks to take place at Monza
Schumi may not return to the cockpit of an F1 car but what is his role for Ferrari going forward?
Back to the courts?
motorsport-total.com translated: WhatÔÇÖs the deal with the Cosworth deal to be?
speedtv.com: Spa must pay to keep hosting popular GP - Ecclestone
BMW Suaber F1: Hope and the search for investors struggles on ÔÇô just
The cold reality of what the future holds is settling in for the team. Survival into the 2010 season is a complex exercise in business math and negotiating strategy. The numbers and positions are slowly emerging.
BMWÔÇÖs asking price remains in the range of 65 million euro. Four years ago BMW paid 80 million Euros for its 80% stake in the F1 team. Apparently investors have been found that are willing to part with that much money to join the circus but the asking price is only part of the cost of admission. Along with the up front cost a new owner group would have to assume existing debt and licensing fees (what these are and what they represent is still unclear). Adding these into the cost of buying the team brings the acquisition cost closer to the 100 million Euro mark. But that is not the entire financial concern.
Funding commitment to make the team viable in 2010 and beyond is the second criteria BMW has set for the sale of their portion of the team. That number has not been defined but there are hints. If we look back to the budget cap fights Mario Theissen argued for a budget cap of between 90 and 100 million euro as the starting point for ratcheting down the F1 budgets. Using the lower number this would put the total up front cost and ongoing funding requirement for the first year in the range of 190 million euro.
The Concorde Agreement continues to be an obstacle. BMW SauberÔÇÖs share of the revenues to be paid in 2010 for its 2009 participation in the 2009 series is place in the range of 42 million dollars (I wish sources would use one currency but that is another story in itself). This is a substantial sum of money that alone would not balance the books for a buyer but would go a long way to take the sting out of the cost of joining the circus. That money may not be available.
Bernie Ecclestone / FOA increasingly appear unwilling to part with that money. It would be easy to cast Bernie as a villain as a result. We like to do that. However; it may not be a role he totally deserves in this case.
The FOTA eight apparently are willing to let a reconstituted BMW Sauber have the money. That may be self interest on their part. If they find themselves in BMWÔÇÖs position in the future the Concorde Agreement money availability would make their exit easier.
The new teams are walking a politically correct line in public but they may not be so docile in private talks with Bernie. The lack of a budget cap has drastically changed the cost of admission to the circus for them, as evidenced by the Campos article above. The team performance expectations of their investors have not changed. No one wants to spend this much money to be a back marker so why would you quietly and willingly stand by as Bernie hands over this sum to what they see as a new team?
Investing is a misnomer when it comes to spending money in a F1 team. People and companies invest for a return. The return for a F1 team investor is not in euro but in the ÔÇÿblue skyÔÇÖ value for the exposure they receive for their other businesses due to their association with the sport.
Blue sky has become black for BMW. BMW board members are willing to take a one time financial hit and walk away from F1. They seem willing to absorb the financial cost and hope to avoid the ongoing association cost of having their name associated with a team that is struggling.
Without a reconstituted BMW Sauber Team, or another replacement for it, F1 would still be fielding a 24 car grid up from its current 20 car grid. There are other options to expand the grid. Allowing teams to field a third car is but one if a 26 car grid is necessary. The selection of a 13th team could be delayed until next year.
Hope is the last thing to die. The hope of reconstituting the BMW Sauber team may never die for Peter Sauber and Mario Theissen. The likely hood of doing so seems more and more in doubt.
Information source: auto-motor-und-sport.de
autosport.com: Campos hindered by budget cap u turn.
autosport.com: Q&A with Campos Daniel Audetto
crash.net: Brawn ÔÇô Spa will be acid test for cold weather form
motorsport-total.com: Howett hopes for the survival of FOTA
Rumors: Silly Season and More
telegraph.co.uk: Rosberg not joining McLaren
motorsport.com: Schumacher talks to take place at Monza
Schumi may not return to the cockpit of an F1 car but what is his role for Ferrari going forward?
Back to the courts?
motorsport-total.com translated: WhatÔÇÖs the deal with the Cosworth deal to be?
speedtv.com: Spa must pay to keep hosting popular GP - Ecclestone
BMW Suaber F1: Hope and the search for investors struggles on ÔÇô just
The cold reality of what the future holds is settling in for the team. Survival into the 2010 season is a complex exercise in business math and negotiating strategy. The numbers and positions are slowly emerging.
BMWÔÇÖs asking price remains in the range of 65 million euro. Four years ago BMW paid 80 million Euros for its 80% stake in the F1 team. Apparently investors have been found that are willing to part with that much money to join the circus but the asking price is only part of the cost of admission. Along with the up front cost a new owner group would have to assume existing debt and licensing fees (what these are and what they represent is still unclear). Adding these into the cost of buying the team brings the acquisition cost closer to the 100 million Euro mark. But that is not the entire financial concern.
Funding commitment to make the team viable in 2010 and beyond is the second criteria BMW has set for the sale of their portion of the team. That number has not been defined but there are hints. If we look back to the budget cap fights Mario Theissen argued for a budget cap of between 90 and 100 million euro as the starting point for ratcheting down the F1 budgets. Using the lower number this would put the total up front cost and ongoing funding requirement for the first year in the range of 190 million euro.
The Concorde Agreement continues to be an obstacle. BMW SauberÔÇÖs share of the revenues to be paid in 2010 for its 2009 participation in the 2009 series is place in the range of 42 million dollars (I wish sources would use one currency but that is another story in itself). This is a substantial sum of money that alone would not balance the books for a buyer but would go a long way to take the sting out of the cost of joining the circus. That money may not be available.
Bernie Ecclestone / FOA increasingly appear unwilling to part with that money. It would be easy to cast Bernie as a villain as a result. We like to do that. However; it may not be a role he totally deserves in this case.
The FOTA eight apparently are willing to let a reconstituted BMW Sauber have the money. That may be self interest on their part. If they find themselves in BMWÔÇÖs position in the future the Concorde Agreement money availability would make their exit easier.
The new teams are walking a politically correct line in public but they may not be so docile in private talks with Bernie. The lack of a budget cap has drastically changed the cost of admission to the circus for them, as evidenced by the Campos article above. The team performance expectations of their investors have not changed. No one wants to spend this much money to be a back marker so why would you quietly and willingly stand by as Bernie hands over this sum to what they see as a new team?
Investing is a misnomer when it comes to spending money in a F1 team. People and companies invest for a return. The return for a F1 team investor is not in euro but in the ÔÇÿblue skyÔÇÖ value for the exposure they receive for their other businesses due to their association with the sport.
Blue sky has become black for BMW. BMW board members are willing to take a one time financial hit and walk away from F1. They seem willing to absorb the financial cost and hope to avoid the ongoing association cost of having their name associated with a team that is struggling.
Without a reconstituted BMW Sauber Team, or another replacement for it, F1 would still be fielding a 24 car grid up from its current 20 car grid. There are other options to expand the grid. Allowing teams to field a third car is but one if a 26 car grid is necessary. The selection of a 13th team could be delayed until next year.
Hope is the last thing to die. The hope of reconstituting the BMW Sauber team may never die for Peter Sauber and Mario Theissen. The likely hood of doing so seems more and more in doubt.
Information source: auto-motor-und-sport.de
, or comedy 
?
