BMW today announced that it will be withdrawing from F1 at the end of this current season. The announcement follows Honda's withdrawal from the sport eight months ago, while several other teams - notably Renault and Toyota - are also thought to be considering their futures in the sport. There is inevitable speculation that the downturn is to blame, that the sport has become too expensive, and that political and governance problems in F1 are of grave concern to these global corporations that have reputations to uphold. This blog has addressed these issues in the past and, so, a more pertinent question to ask at this point is: what will F1 look like next year?
The first F1 race I ever attended was the non-championship International Trophy at Silverstone in 1978 (yes, I really am that old). Run in torrential rain, there were only five finishers, the race being won by Keke Rosberg (father of current F1 driver Nico). Today's BMW withdrawal led me to think about the entries for the event back then - there were no big factory teams racing: Ferrari stayed away (it was a non-championship race and, unlike today, the team was much more conformist back then) and outfits like Lotus and Brabham (which was running under the stewardship of one B. Ecclestone) could hardly be called 'big'. Here is what the entry list looked like:
Theodore Racing - Theodore-Cosworth; Copersucar Fittipaldi - Fittipaldi-Cosworth; Melchester Racing - McLaren-Cosworth; BS Fabrications - McLaren-Cosworth; Durex Team Surtees - Surtees-Cosworth; Villiger Kiel Team Shadow - Shadow-Cosworth; Olympus Hesketh - Hesketh-Cosworth; Team Tyrrell - Tyrrell-Cosworth; John Player Team Lotus - Lotus-Cosworth; Tissot Ensign - Ensign-Cosworth; Marlboro Team McLaren - McLaren-Cosworth; Parmalat Brabham - Brabham-Cosworth; Automobiles Martini - Martini-Cosworth; ATS Wheels Racing - ATS-Cosworth; Merzario Racing - Merzario-Cosworth
Some interesting teams and some interesting sponsors (of special note, the London Rubber Company). Given the entries we know have been posted for next season's F1 World Championship, is the sport now returning to a set of contestants like those that we saw back in the 1970s? Would this be to the detriment of F1, causing irreparable damage to one of the world's most valuable sporting properties? Or would it actually make the sport stronger, more egalitarian and more accessible? Could it return the sport back to the enthusiasts and the public?
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