2014 / 2015 Silly Season. Drivers Market.

[Kewee]

The commentary on Sky Sport tonight during first qualifying suggests McLaren are still unsure how much sponsorship Alonso will be bringing to the team. They're unable to make a decision on Button due to budget restraints until they know Alonso's sponsorship figures.

 

[Bill Boddy]

OK, the 2006 Black Book, Ferrari's budgets for 2000 through 2006 in millions of US dollars:

2000 $239.60 (1st)
2001 $284.35 (1st)
2002 $302.40 (1st)
2003 $295.75 (1st)
2004 $293.80 (2nd)
2005 $287.90 (3rd)
2006 $319.90 (5th)

The numbers in the brackets are their ranking for the year.

 

[The Pits]

From Atlas F1 Magazine http://atlasf1.autosport.com/2002/aut/preview/faq.html

The budgets are published by Eurobusiness Magazine, which is owned by Bernie Ecclestone. Unfortunately these don't go as far back as 1990. All figures below are estimates, and appear in million US dollar


Team 2002 2001 2000
Ferrari 302.4 284.4 239.6
McLaren 287.8 274.6 224.8
Renault 255.8 181.0 92.3
Toyota 238.4 - -
BAR 235.4 194.5 191.0
Williams 230.0 193.0 143.1
Jaguar 211.8 177.4 168.2
Jordan 190.0 172.9 103.6
Sauber 104.4 82.7 71.8
Minardi 83.5 47.0 55.2
Arrows 50.0 73.7 43.5

 

[Bill Boddy]

Does the sponsorship that Alnso brings make him a pay driver? With the difference, of course, that it the higher it is then the better it is for Button.

 

[Bill Boddy]

Did Eurobusiness Magazine get the stats from the Black Book, was it the other way round or did they both get them from some common source The Pits?

 

[The Pits]

I dont know Bill Boddy my assumption would be that the black book would be the common source. As the numbers come out the same, they appear to be reliable, and way less than 700m

 

[Kewee]

I can only refer back to F1 that quoted the figures of 500 million, in fact from memory 520 million for McLaren and over 700 million for Ferrari with the belief Ferrari were spending significantly more that that. It's worth noting that much of the top teams spending remained hidden during the period I'm referring to so it's impossible to put an exact figure on spending though that may explain the huge difference in the figures being quoted.

 

[The Pits]

It's worth noting that much of the top teams spending remained hidden during the period I'm referring to so it's impossible to put an exact figure on spending

Indeed.

 

[Greenlantern101]

 

[Kewee]

I'll try to find the magazine that quoted the figures

 

[Il_leone]

You know the figures can miscued to reflect what is actually pure Formula 1 spend for that team - I've heard it was somewhere near $500m at one point that Toyota and Ferrari were spending like mad

 

[Il_leone]

a great article about Button

http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2014/11/16654.html

He mentions he is not asking for big money to get paid to drive unless some underachievers down the pitlane
- so really Mclaren/ Ron could offer something insulting like $1m or would Ron even consider what he did with Coulthard and Hakkinen offer them both $2m plus $1m a win - an offer which Damon Hill thought was insulting and turned down amazingly


He wants to feel he can contribute to them - by hell he's proven he's got a better attitude and application in the situation he finds himself than Kimi Raikkonen with his

 

[Incubus]

I'm not sure how relevant it is but McLaren's long term test driver has just retired. Could Magunssen slip into that role for a season or two if Button is retained.

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That's precisely the thought that came to me as well. It would make perfect sense, both for the team and himself. Alonso playing a similar role in 2002 didn't hurt his career one bit.

 

[Il_leone]

Incubus F1Yorkshire Then what about Vandoorn's career or have they decided he needs another season in Gp2

I am not sure if Honda want a Japanese driver on Mclaren's books as part of their deal
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The stumbling block seems to be Mclaren don 't want to pay $10m plus for Button as Magnussen would only be $1m well maybe $2m you'd think but that money could be spent on the R&D section and the Honda engine

The counter argument to that is K Mag has not shown consistent race against Button on Sunday
and it is much harder to get a young guy to develop with a new engine partner as well as a daunting teammate to face up to who will be less welcoming or approachable

 

[Mephistopheles]

I thought Honda were paying Alonso's wonga...

 

[cider_and_toast]

Having discussed the Japanese driver question a while back, the general feeling is that Honda don't usually demand a Japanese driver in their first team but do usually get one into the second squad. Expect to see them expand their supply of engines in 2016 and a Japanese driver come with the package.

 

[gethinceri]

Maybe, just maybe, Jenson would take less money in salary.
Maybe Alonso's apparent approval of Jenson could sway the decision.

 

[Incubus]

If the mid-eightes are anything to go by Honda DID request a japanese driver in the second Williams-Honda, something that Frank would have none of. Then they decided to supply Lotus, who were far more willing to accept Honda's demands and Satoru Nakajima was dully given the journeyman role alongside Senna.

Eric Bouiller has made it clear Alonso had been negotiating purely with McLaren and not with Honda. Ron Dennis has always made it clear his philosophy was always to get the best available drivers in his team. As far as I know he has never accepted the pressure from any engine manufacturer to impose their own driver(s) on him, although plenty have tried.

In view of the above it's quite possible that Honda will in a year or two supply other teams so they can put a japenese driver on the grid.

 

[cider_and_toast]

Senna was a major factor in the Lotus Honda tie up. Nakajima was the perfect number two and Lotus were more than happy to have him.

 

[Incubus]

Indeedy, which is also why when Senna and Honda arrived to McLaren the following year it was Williams rather than Lotus they dropped (despite the former having been far more successful with their engine).