F1-Blog

Midland sale getting closer?

  It looks like the sale of the Midland F1 team is getting closer.

An announcement that part of the consortium to buy them is none other that Dutch sportscar manufacturer Spyker is involved in the purchase of the team.

A statement from their website said “Spyker Cars NV and the M-Consortium confirm that currently negotiations are taking place with the owner of Midland F1 with respect to a possible acquisition by Spyker of the Midland F1 team,”

This is good news for the team, not only will the Spyker brand get better recognition on the international market.

It may also be good news in another way, the company has a good relationship with the VW group, as that is where they source the engines for there cars from (Audi). Even the Spyker C8 double 12R which competed at the Le Mans 24 hours used an Audi engine.

Could this be another possibility for the VAG group to enter into the F1 circus?

Midland F1 Sold?

Well not quite, but if the rumors are true then the team could be in new Dutch hands for the Turkish GP.

Will Colin Kolles maintain control of the team if it is sold? or will the new management want to clean out the old and bring in someone new?

Then to that end there are the rumors that Gascoyne has been speaking to the MF1 team, will that be his new role?

It seems there may be exciting times ahead for the MF1 team, let's hope it turns out well for them.

Silverstone Test Day 1

I headed along to the Silverstone test today to get some shot's and video of the event and to see what I could learn if anything about the running. Most of the teams have deemed it a 'Tyre' test session so I was not expecting much.

What surprised me was the openness that Renault had with their pits. Unlike the other teams that covered the area up with boards every time a car came in or out. Renault did not really bother, having the pit garage open for anyone to see as some of the shot's show.

I could not really see anything glaringly obvious from the different teams running to show that perhaps they where trying new parts, however the Honda's did seem to be running at least one new engine (as Anthony Davidson stopped out on the track at one point, so that must be replaced or repaired)

There was a fair few stoppages today, unfortunately for the spectators, most of these happened on the closed side of the track, so details of the issues and pictures are missing (at least from my set).

MF1 slams back

Midland F1 has slammed back at the rumours about them being for sale saying that Colin Kolles will stay in charge,and they have the money to fund development to close the performance gap.

A statement from the team went as follows,

"Over the past week there have been a number of speculative rumours published in the media, none of which has any basis in fact," the Russian-licensed team said in a statement "to re-assure stakeholders".

"MF1 has adequate budget to take an active and competitive part in the championship this season and we are working hard to close the gap between ourselves and our competitors," the statement added.

"Midland Group, our parent organisation, has confirmed that the team is not for sale and there are no proposals that this should change."

Colin Kolles added "To my detractors and those speculating about my 'imminent departure', I regret to say that I have been and remain too busy focusing on the interests of the team to consider any alternatives to my current position."

Are MF1 on the market?

It looks like Alex Shnaider may be running short of time and/or money. Moral at the team has hit an all time low after three of their key personal left last week, with rumours of Colin Kolles wanting out as well.

It seems the key member that are left have held talks with Bernie, those talks would have probably been about the team's ability to fund itself for the 07/08 season. If Bernie decides that MF1 cannot fund itself then one of the other teams queuing up will take there place.

Strangely enough ex BAR head man Craig Pollock could be the savior. Pollock and Russian banking/vodka magnate Roustam Tariko have been said to be in talks about taking over at MF1. However Pollock could appear in another form with another team.