Reports out of Germany and re-posted on TSN in Canada indicate that three partnering investors have come forward with a financial package to save the Super Aguri team.  The question is, who are they?

The report in Auto Motor und Sport suggests the buyers are a British based company, a group of Middle Eastern investors and another group of German investors.  Could Dave Richards be behind the deal as well?  It’s well known that Richards desperately wants to have his own F1 team and while his dream of a ProDrive F1 team seems to be over, taking over the financially strapped Super Aguri team would work too.

Richards recently arranged for a Middle Eastern investment group to take over British marquee, Aston Martin.  Dave had a strong relationship with Aston Martin for several years having prepared DB9’s for Le Mans (through his company ProDrive).  Since the purchase, Richards enjoys a position on the board of Aston Martin.

Could Richards have convinced the new owners of Aston Martin to buy into F1 as well?

Parallel to the ProDrive/Aston Martin partnership,  Richards has also managed the Benetton and Honda F1 teams.  He knows the current landscape of F1 and is credited with turning the Honda program around. Interestingly, Super Aguri has a contract with Honda for engines so the previous relationship might be quite helpful in the short term.

In the long term, if the investor is Aston Martin, would they consider building their own F1 engine and entering the team under its own name?

It’s a discussion probably best held over a beer in the pub but in the funny old world of F1, the same people seem to keep popping up in the strangest places.

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After reading Max Mosley’s most recent interview on Formula1.com I have a real craving for waffles. I have no idea why. Maybe its because when an organization like the FIA fines one team 100 million dollars for stealing intellectual property, lets another IP thief off with a warning and then declares that the next team caught will get the boot, I think, “what a bunch of wafflers!”

McLaren is a racing team that builds a few very exclusive cars. They couldn’t afford to walk away from F1, or worse, get kicked out when they were found to be in possession of Ferrari data so they accepted the fine, ate some crow and were allowed to stay and play the game. When Renault were found to be in possession of McLaren data however, they got a mild slap on the wrist. Why? Because Renault is a car manufacturer that owns a racing team. One is vulnerable, the other is not.

Max can’t wield the heavy stick with the car manufacturers because he needs them to stay in the sport - now more than ever. F1 isn’t particularly healthy at present and he can’t afford to drive competitors away or simply kick them out of the sport. Under Mosley’s cost cutting formula, its now too expensive for new replacement teams to come into the top tier of racing - just ask Dave Richards who owns Prodrive - a very successful motosports company that was suppose to be starting in F1 this year but shelved the project over costs and instability in the rules.

Publicly, Max is talking tough but in the board room, he must be navigating a political minefield. McLaren was a convenient whipping boy and their case got the message out to the other teams about cheating. To the casual observer maybe it even looks like the FIA have their house it order.

I believe the opposite is true and it would only take a similar confrontation with Ferrari to prove how weak the FIA’s position is - despite the constant hyperbole in the press. Would the FIA threaten Ferrari with expulsion for any reason, real or imagined? No! At best the public would get a whitewash, a la the Renault incident and at worst, a pathetic excuse about how none of the rest of us really understand the sport or the rules.

A new season is almost upon us and I look forward to a feast that includes fairness, and competitive spirit, not waffles or sour grapes. Now pass the syrup, Max.

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