HRT 2012

[Petroltorque]

In response to the above post, it's always easier to acquire a team than create a start up. Start up costs are probably €50 million and you probably need another €30 million to run for a season. As if to prove the point no-one has attempted to tender for the vacant 2013 entry.
HRT have an entry, a race team and it would appear a 2013 car design. So in addition to purchase costs any buyer will have to cover the chassis build and running costs. As with any takeover I would expect a management clear out as well as a completely new driver lineup.

[element]

But given that the only real asset that HRT has is the licence to compete in F1, and surely if they fold the FIA would be willing to entertain bids for that licence afterwards for less than the £40million, why bid for them?

Secondly, could someone put a team together and design a car in time? Turning up in an even modified version of this years car next season would probably do a new team more harm than good...

As written before Alex Wurz (who is a close Pedro de la Rosa friend) is working with Antonio Mesquida (a spanish TV rights/media consultant) to make the team viable with, so far, undisclosed investment. Mesquida has twitted some interesting stuff, HRT related but not confirming this rumors, neither denying them, e.g.:

Budget of #HRT #F1 : 17,5 mm sponsorship, 15 mm owners spending and other 17,5 between FOM and drivers. Total 50 mm #transparency

What the current HRT structure has of value, apart from the F1 license, is that they have an almost finished 2013 F1 design, and also a small, but already formed team of designers, including personnel from the former Toyota F1 team, who has contributed to the 2013 design. The 2013 is supposed to have fixed many of the big issues of the current 2012 car... but we will ever see the car running?
Mesquida is no fool and he has already said that the team needs a budget of 50m €...

[McMrocks]

I doubt that we see HRT in 2013. According to AMuS the whole crew has left apart from the racing team. So who will develop the 2013 car to the end? Also the article tells that the money reaches only for the 2 races this year.

[Petroltorque]

Assuming that wurz/ Mesquida meet the asking price, that would mean that the Wurz/ Mesquida buyout is depending on Sponsorship and drivers to provide half the team' budget. Is that even feasible? One only receives €7.5 millions from FOM for twelth spot assuming that they sign the concorde Agreement in time.

[RicME85]

James Allen has tweeted this:

#f1 Colleagues in Spain telling me HRT HQ is closing, all staff have redundancy notices. Sounds like that's it for them. 11 teams in 2013?

Oh dear

[marcush.]

The rumour mill is not helping in this,that´s for sure.
I really think HRT is a damn good team given the money they had .But then 50mill€ is quite a bit of money on it´s own right ,no?
They gott a decent gearbox/ rearend they got a decent windtunnel contract running and the people are highly motivated to keep the team going I´m sure of this.
But you´d need to have a quite sizeable bag of cash to pour say 60-100mill into this without any hope to retrieve the money spent ever ...the times are over when just the grid slot was worth anything.
BMW ,Sauber all had to throw money after potential buyer to get the deal taking off .Why should someone spend a single cent on something like HRT..

[Harvey]

Do you think it could come about that someone will buy up the ashes of this team, including the entry slot, but having negotiated with Bernie/FIA that they won't be racing next year but WILL under the new regs in 2014? And with this negotiate the ability to test next year so as to actually come out fighting, instead of struggling?
Lets face it, if anyone manages to finance a purchase and campaign for 2013, they won't exactly be in any better shape than HRT have been in these past seasons.

[RB7ate9]

Perhaps Bernie and the FOM can buy HRT and their stuff and use the cars as a "goodwill tour" around the world to drum up excitement and publicity for F1?

"F1 Car lights up Paris"
"F1 car Wakes up the City that Never Sleeps"
"Mile High in an F1 Car in Denver"
"U.S. Congress Filibustered by Roaring F1 Car"
"They may take our lives, but they'll never take our speed: F1 in Edinburgh"
"Forbidden City meets Forbidden Speed"
"Base to Top, F1 car races Burj Khalifa" --> F1 car can time itself to see how fast it can travel the same length as the Burj Khalifa is tall ( 2,717 feet (828 m))

Sort of like how Pirelli used the Toyota 2010 car for testing.

[McMrocks]

they won't exactly be in any better shape than HRT have been in these past seasons.

that's the problem. I guess the development was slowed down due to the little money they had and which they need to drive the last race. So I think the next years car won't be more competitive than the 2012 car. And who wants to buy a team which is mainly on the last 2 positions. IMO the project is dead and nobody will buy the team. We can only hope for another new team, maybe Honda. But that is just speculation. The whole staff has left the team so there is no future. This is a pitty

Sort of like how Pirelli used the Toyota 2010 car for testing.

Maybe Pirelli should take the HRT to make their tests. But I doubt that a car which is 5 off pace represents a modern f1 car better than the 2010 Toyota

[RB7ate9]

Sort of like how Pirelli used the Toyota 2010 car for testing.

Maybe Pirelli should take the HRT to make their tests. But I doubt that a car which is 5 off pace represents a modern f1 car better than the 2010 Toyota

Who knows, maybe Pirelli may add updates of their own that'll add to the HRT pace .

Another crazy option is to use the HRT team as a GP2 trainer session. Imagine you have a GP2 race weekend at, say, Silverstone. The overall winner and runner-up there gets to drive the HRT cars through FP1-3, but not qualifying at the next race weekend (Germany). This'll expose them to higher levels of speed and development (but not too high), improve the level of performance and experience of GP2 drivers BEFORE entering Formula 1, and it'll be another incentive for GP2 drivers to win race weekends. As the HRT is already off pace and isn't competing, there isn't a need to update the car to 2013 regs.

[CHT]

Last rumors is that a Qatari option dropped soon, and most interested buyers are now a Chinese group. Another interesting rumor that could end up keeping a spanish team is that Ecclestone is trying to get Alejandro Agag (Addax GP2 owner) to buy the team, but he has already refused to pay the 40m Thesan wants. It seems Agag is more interested in developing a formula e team, but Agag, apart from being Bernie's friend, could have Santander's financial backing if he enters f1. I think Agag is being cautious about a f1 investment, and will only pull the trigger if has a firm Santander financial backing and acquiring the team does not cost him and arm and a leg (which is the current situation).

I really can't imagine a company like santander to associated themselves with team right at the back of the grid.

[CHT]

Without HRT the pressure will be on marussia and caterham to avoid the bottom spot

[McMrocks]

Sort of like how Pirelli used the Toyota 2010 car for testing.

Maybe Pirelli should take the HRT to make their tests. But I doubt that a car which is 5 off pace represents a modern f1 car better than the 2010 Toyota

Who knows, maybe Pirelli may add updates of their own that'll add to the HRT pace .

Another crazy option is to use the HRT team as a GP2 trainer session. Imagine you have a GP2 race weekend at, say, Silverstone. The overall winner and runner-up there gets to drive the HRT cars through FP1-3, but not qualifying at the next race weekend (Germany). This'll expose them to higher levels of speed and development (but not too high), improve the level of performance and experience of GP2 drivers BEFORE entering Formula 1, and it'll be another incentive for GP2 drivers to win race weekends. As the HRT is already off pace and isn't competing, there isn't a need to update the car to 2013 regs.

Maybe the GP2 drivers will wonder why the car has fewer downforce than their GP2 car.... .
And you forgot that not GP2 winners are the next f1 drivers instead pay drivers are the f1 drivers of the future.

Well, I heard HRT had 83 staff members. Now they have only 53. For comparison other teams have up to 350. I think this is a fact which shows why HRT is so slow. But I really hope that a investor is found by HRT. I love 24 cars in a race. They have a big affect on the race. (Look Malaysia or USA)

Does somebody know what happened to USF1?

[RB7ate9]

And you forgot that not GP2 winners are the next f1 drivers instead pay drivers are the f1 drivers of the future.

That's the answer! Have HRT be Rent-F1 for drivers with enough sponsorship backing to rent the entire HRT team! For a week! a weekend! Profit!

[element]

HRT staff has not ben fired yet, they've been sent home on vacations while the future is being decided and a collective firing procedure has been started (that requires negotiations etc...), but this can be ended at any time. The future of the staff will depend obviously in what the new owners (if there is any) want, but the truth is that HRT has not ended contract yet with any of his employees.