DECEMBER 7, 2006

A confident David Richards

David Richards was much in evidence at the Motorsport Forum in Monte Carlo and is very confident that he is now well on his way to having his F1 team up and running next year. Although he will not go into details, Richards says that he has two offers on the table from car companies that want to take advantage of the new 2008 rules and introduce platform engineering in F1, building a design but branding two teams differently. Honda and Red Bull are already planning to go down that route and it may be that eventually Ferrari and Spyker reach the conclusion that they would be better off if they worked more closely together. Williams and Toyota are certainly collaborating on projects for the future. This means that the options available to Richards are somewhat limited with the obvious choices being Renault, McLaren and BMW. While the teams may argue that supplying two teams makes it more difficult for them to concentrate on winning, the top management of car companies look at the problem differently as they get a better return on investment with four cars.

Richards is also keen to point out that his plans for a new factory have been approved and that these include the right to run cars on the runways at the site on the former Honiley Airfield at Wroxall in Warwickshire, although he accepts that this will have to be used sparingly to avoid opposition. It is nonetheless an advantage as shakedown tests will be possible without the team having to be transported to a track.