F1-Blog

It looks like the F1 rumor mill is grinding again. The current hot topic is whether ProDrive will be branded as Aston on the grid in 2008.

David Richards is said to be working with Egyptian investment banks to fund the purchase of the prestige British marque from Ford (funnily it’s one of the only profitable parts of Ford at the moment).

If purchased they would brand the F1 cars with the Marque. This would be good news for the team, not only would they gain instant credibility, but it would also increase their desirability to sponsors.

Another thought on the deal may be that Richards would have to sell his entry in the 2008 championship to someone else to fund the takeover. I doubt that though, as ProDrive have been involved with Aston in it’s LeMan’s program so know the sports division of the company well.

There is one other rumor that is doing the rounds that may be to do with this one. We know that the ProDrive team would use ‘customer’ chassis and engine components for their entry into F1. It seems that Ron Dennis (McLaren) is looking to buy ProDrive. If that is the case, perhaps Richards will fund the Aston purchase with the sale of ProDrive. Perhaps part of that deal would involve Richards involvement in the team, and the branding of it as Aston Martin.

This may all be coming about as it’s widely known that Mercedes would like to fully own McLaren, and perhaps Ron Dennis is not ready to leave F1 just yet.