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Dutch team

Stan
in ForzaMinardi.com Forum
Dutch media are saying that a Dutch team is closer than ever. Apparently Lost Boys owner Michiel Mol is offering Alex Schnaider 100 million Euros for the Midland team. I have to say, I'm excited. A line up with Robert and Christijan would be great for such a team.

Another Verstappen come back seems to be out of the question. Because Verstappen and Lost Boys had a bit of a fight two years ago. Although it seems like Jos and his management are trying to make friends with old sponsors again:

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[Edited on 21-8-06 by Stan]

Comments

  • Rekart
    I'd prefer an Albers-Verstappen lineup, and I actually don't think Doornbos-Albers would work very well, they don't like each other much, and Albers said specifically that Doornbos didn't help with development at all last season. Drivers don't need to be great friends, merely indifferent, but I don't think dislike helps anyone.
  • MCSF
    Verstappen is done in F1 - I watched him in the A1 at Laguna and he was not very impressive.
  • Dr_Spin
    He made an impression on the barrier and some other cars.

    ....and it was Dutch weather!

    No Laguna Seca this next A1GP season?
    What's the story?

    Spin
  • MCSF
    Besides the MCSF I think there were 5 other paying spectators.

    Shame for sure if it really works out that way.
  • Neil_s
    I can't really understand what Perridon is doing with the axe though.... i would like jos back in f1, yes, he will surely add some colour with his style of racing but one may ask whether this Dutch scenario is really possible.
  • viges
    No more Jos in F1 although he did have a storming drive in Durban in A1.

    He's that sort of driver, shit or glory.
  • forzaminardi
    if he makes another comeback in F1 even I will be a convert;)
  • Selespeed
    Is it coincidence?! A dutch 'consortium' is on the verge of buying Midland, and in the same week Jos and Trust bury the axe... Or is 'mister Scarf' (with axe) triggerd by the fact that former co-sponsor Muermans is touring the States with Stoddart...Hmmm interesting times; off-track that is.
  • vuurmuur
    I really don't get it why dutch companies would like to buy a team instead of sponsoring Albers with more money and getting him a seat at a better team. Or maybe they think they can sell the team in a few years time again with a bit of profit. I doubt the latter keeps teammembers motivated.
  • Fox_Mulder
    the 5th comeback of Jos? I'm for it :D
  • Minardus
    If he DOES make a comeback (which I don't think) then he should change his name to Lazarus :P
  • Lease
    This is fantastic news!

    Just imagine, Jos as driver, The Appalling Mr Perridontal as sponsor, Kolles as team manager, and Huub jeering in the background.

    That is simply a stupendous line-up of personalities.

    Between them, they are the biggest assemblage of whingers, whiners, meddlers, and no-talents that has ever been brought together in the sport in its histroy.

    Yuo know, I think this could be the Golgafrinchan experiment redone.
  • viges
    You're right, its beautiful.
  • vuurmuur
    If the team will be bought in the near future, and it is looking good, the team will be named SpykerF1. There is already an url created: www.spykerf1.com
  • SuperRoo
    Great, just rolls off the the tongue...
  • Jello_Biafra
    Spyker won't have much money either..
  • forzaminardi
    spyker are a lemans team, why would they be interested?
  • Minardus
    because....
    Further information is emerging about Spyker which helps to explain the interest in Formula 1. Spyker is a very small car company but it is growing fast. In 2005 it made a total of just 48 cars. That was three times the figure of 2004 and it is expected that the firm will make more than 100 this year. The company had sales of $6.8m in 2005, up from $5m in 2004. The company made a loss of $6.6m in 2004 but thar was reduced to just $3.7m last year. New money arrived from investors which enabled the development of new models and an increase in staff from 60 people in 2004 to 91 in 2005 and by the end of last year the firm had 27 dealers around the world. The company sells 40% of the cars in America, 27% in Europe but only 14% in both the Middle East and in China. Thus promoting sales in these regions (the classic F1 new markets) is a key goal for the company.

    Money has been pouring into Spyker from the Middle East with venture capital company MerchantBridge buying 15% of the shares in September 2005 and Mubadala Investments buying 17% later that year. MerchantBridge is interesting because one of its shareholders is Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdallah Al-Khalifa, a major player in the Bahrain royal family. Mubadala is owned by the Abu Dhabi government and also owns a five percent share of Ferrari.

    According to our sources in Holland, the plan now is for Spyker to issue more shares to fund the purchase of the Midland F1 team, with Michiel Mol's consortium M Management buying a percentage of these.

    Spyker chairman Victor Muller says that F1 is now a much more interesting business because of the recent financial settlements and the new rules in 2008 as there will be more money available to the teams from TV rights and the teams will be able to buy cars and engines.
    Source: grandprix.com
  • forzaminardi
    so the backbone of the dutch f1 team is a company that has an annual loss of 5$ million?
  • vuurmuur
    Yes, isn't it great? :P They only see it as a marketing thing, I'm not sure this is a good thing for the team.

    Another thing that I don't like about the new regulations is the fact that teams are allowed to buy a chassis from a topteam.That is not my idea of F1. With a bit of bad luck we only see 6 new cars every year.
  • Petroltorque
    I would'nt worry about the chassis stuff. I doubt any existing team is going to sell existing technology to another team with all the problems of increases manfacturing capacity and the need to prevent trade secrets getting to other competitors. Instead I see team like Midland and prodrive asking independent chassis builders to do their design work.
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