The Return of the Grandees
One of the great paradoxes of Formula 1 is that because of the introduction of so-called cost cutting measures designed to keep teams from ‘buying success’ through massive spending on research, the rules are in actuality creating an environment where only the richest teams can compete.
In its infancy, F1 was ruled by ‘Grandee’ teams like Alfa Romeo and Maserati who were also car manufacturers. These grandees were initially the only ones who had the resources to build race cars but within a decade they were facing strong competition from small, specialty companies who would build a few race cars and compete for prize money. Enzo Ferrari scornfully called these teams, ‘Garagistas.’
From the early sixties until the turn of the century, ‘Garagistas’ like Cooper, Lotus, Tyrrell, and McLaren (before the Mercedes partnership) were the kings of F1, staying one step ahead of the Grandees by adapting new technology into their cars. Because the technology was cheap and available, nearly anyone could participate and be successful. So successful that Ferrari, the longest competing ‘Grandee’ of them all, failed to win a World Championship for 21 years before the pendulum started to swing back.
The reemergence of the grandees like Honda, Renault, BMW, Toyota Mercedes (via McLaren) and Ferrari at the top of the sport has coincided directly with the introduction of the cost cutting rules that dictate the type of engine, transmission, tires and electronics that can be used in F1.
This standardization has created the perfect environment for the grandees to compete in. Because there are so few areas where teams can introduce new innovations (something the Garagistas excelled at) the manufacturers have found an advantage in exploiting small performance gains found only by exhaustively refining their static designs. This process can cost millions of dollars per tenth of a second of performance – millions the independents don’t have.
For those fans that admire the drive and passion of the independent teams of F1, these are dark days in the shadow of the Grandees. The last best hope for survival of the Garagistas doesn’t lie in cost-cutting but in throwing out the design rules altogether.
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Tags: Alfa Romeo, BMW, Cooper, cost cutting, F1, Ferrari, Formula 1, Garagistas, Grandees, Honda, Lotus, Maseratti, McLaren, Renault, Toyota, Tyrrell
February 18th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I’ve been an F1 fan for a relatively short time, only a few years, so I have only known the world of Honda, BMW and Toyota. I imagine that the only people able to compete with the giant car manufacturers are the giant billionaires like Mallya.
February 18th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Christine,
You’re right, only billionaires can hope to compete these days - whether it’s Mallya or Dietrich Mateschitz who owns Red Bull. I wrote this piece as a response to the stories circulating about financial troubles for Super Aguri. It seems more and more likely that the independent teams are going to become extinct. As a long time fan of the sport and a student of grand prix history, I will miss the entrepreneurial spirit the garagistas brought to F1.