F1 Entries/Rumours that never happenedFormula 1 

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Har1MAS1415

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Can include non-starters as technically they entered but never actually raced and tests that never went anywhere.

Largely inspired by the recent failure of Michael Andretti to buy Alfa Romeo/Sauber thus denying Colton Herta a potential 2022 F1 debut.

Colton's father Bryan Herta also tried unsuccessfully for a Minardi seat for 2003.
 
Prodrive entering in 2008, as a customer team. Was quite interesting to ponder when I first read about it in 2017.

In this case, the FIA granted them the spot in 2006 over Carlin, Direxiv, Pollock, Stoddart and Eddie Jordan, and it looked like they had the framework sorted out. They had a supply of Mercedes engines; by 2007, it was reckoned that they had a supply of McLaren chassis and there was even a bit of buzz that they would re-brand the team as Aston Martin at some point when they were actually racing.

Then the other teams pulled the carpet from under them by maintaining customer cars' disallowance under the 2008 version of the Concorde Agreement. Bit of a shame, to be honest - but then the number of UK-based F1 teams is still too damn high!
 
AbsoluteBarstool
Prodrive entering in 2008, as a customer team. Was quite interesting to ponder when I first read about it in 2017.

In this case, the FIA granted them the spot in 2006 over Carlin, Direxiv, Pollock, Stoddart and Eddie Jordan, and it looked like they had the framework sorted out. They had a supply of Mercedes engines; by 2007, it was reckoned that they had a supply of McLaren chassis and there was even a bit of buzz that they would re-brand the team as Aston Martin at some point when they were actually racing.

Then the other teams pulled the carpet from under them by maintaining customer cars' disallowance under the 2008 version of the Concorde Agreement. Bit of a shame, to be honest - but then the number of UK-based F1 teams is still too damn high!
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Yes, Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett were rumoured to be the intended drivers, I think Bruno Spengler was also a possibility.

Team Dubai and Direxiv intended to do likewise in 2006 and 2007. The latter intended to run Lewis Hamilton and Clivio Piccione.
 
Har1MAS1415
Yes, Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett were rumoured to be the intended drivers, I think Bruno Spengler was also a possibility.

Team Dubai and Direxiv intended to do likewise in 2006 and 2007. The latter intended to run Lewis Hamilton and Clivio Piccione.
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Reading into it, I'm surprised that Prodrive F1 never made it to the grid after their experience in running the BAR-Honda program, and then their attempt to buy the same program back from Honda. By extension, it's allowed Mercedes into the sport as a constructor and might have catalysed F1's awarding of entries to USF1, HRT, 1Malaysia and Manor. Weird times.
 
AbsoluteBarstool
Reading into it, I'm surprised that Prodrive F1 never made it to the grid after their experience in running the BAR-Honda program, and then their attempt to buy the same program back from Honda. By extension, it's allowed Mercedes into the sport as a constructor and might have catalysed F1's awarding of entries to USF1, HRT, 1Malaysia and Manor. Weird times.
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Yes, Prodrive also looked into possibly buying Renault at the end of 2009, Genii got there first.

USF1 would have run José Maria Lopez and James Rossiter though Adrian Valles was linked at one point. Naturally, a few American drivers were mentioned, including Danica Patrick, Scott Speed, JR Hildebrand and Jonathan Summerton.
 
1990s

DAMS (1995 with Erik Comas signed to drive) and DOME (1996) built complete cars, DOME even tested theirs, but never entered their own teams.

Lola built a car for 1995 (Allan McNish tested it) but declined to submit an entry until 1997 and we all know how that turned out.

Honda had two aborted efforts to enter F1; the effort in 1999 was closest and tested competitively but the death of technical director Harvey Postlethwaite saw Honda cancel its entry and focused on returning as a works engine supplier.

Edit: Lotus actually built a car for 1995 but, apart from the team closing down anyway, it had already failed the mandatory crash test.
 
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Liquid
1990s

DAMS (1995 with Erik Comas signed to drive) and DOME (1996) built complete cars, DOME even tested theirs, but never entered their own teams.

Lola built a car for 1995 (Allan McNish tested it) but declined to submit an entry until 1997 and we all know how that turned out.

Honda had two aborted efforts to enter F1; the effort in 1999 was closest and tested competitively but the death of technical director Harvey Postlethwaite saw Honda cancel its entry and focused on returning as a works engine supplier.

Edit: Lotus actually built a car for 1995 but, apart from the team closing down anyway, it had already failed the mandatory crash test.
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DAMS: Jan Lammers also tested the car and I think Emmanuel Collard was in the frame.

Dome: Marco Apicella did most of the testing. Shinji Nakano and Naoki Hattori also had runs in the car.

Honda: Jos Verstappen did most of the testing and Nicolas Minassian had a run.

Lotus would have retained Mika Salo and Alex Zanardi.

The Lola T97/30 was linked to a 1998 entry under Zoran Stefanovich who later tried to enter Stefan GP in the 2010 season with what would have been the 2010 Toyota. Kazuki Nakajima and Jacques Villeneuve were the intended drivers.
 
Lola really did have a T95/30 though. It looked terrible.

Lola_F1_Test_Car.jpg


au3EKSqDRLmOGQ4Y93lpCg
 
Liquid
Lola really did have a T95/30 though. It looked terrible.

Lola_F1_Test_Car.jpg


au3EKSqDRLmOGQ4Y93lpCg
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I know, I never disputed that, I just remembered the 97 car driven by Ricardo Rosset and Vincenzo Sospiri was acquired by Stefan GP for a possible 1998 entry.

Beatrice/Force/Haas-Lola had a THL3 chassis in the pipeline for the 1987 Season.
 
I don't actually mind that Lola, the low level engine cover makes it look quite different. But 1994/5/6 was a bad year for F1 designs in general. Teams rarely did get those high, pointy noses looking alright.

TWR and Dome's test cars from 1996:

vers_bridgestone_test_1996-1-1300-x-855-1210x642.jpg


40860482_1374650002666211_3730421989861490688_n.jpg
 
TheCracker
I don't actually mind that Lola, the low level engine cover makes it look quite different. But 1994/5/6 was a bad year for F1 designs in general. Teams rarely did get those high, pointy noses looking alright.

TWR and Dome's test cars from 1996:

View attachment 1097501

View attachment 1097502
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That's an Arrows turned into a Bridgestone test hack I believe.

If that's the Dome then I've never seen it in that livery.
 
They tested the Dome F105 at Aida in front of a huge crowd (as seen in the pic). It was tested several times, but only appeared in 7 Eleven livery at this event.

It is the Arrows FA17 from the previous season. Bridgestone also tested their '96 tyres preseason in a previous-season Liger (painted just white with a few Bridgestone decals and driven by Max's dad)
 
TheCracker
They tested the Dome F105 at Aida in front of a huge crowd (as seen in the pic). It was tested several times, but only appeared in 7 Eleven livery at this event.

It is the Arrows FA17 from the previous season. Bridgestone also tested their '96 tyres preseason in a previous-season Liger (painted just white with a few Bridgestone decals and driven by Max's dad)
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Damon Hill also tested the Bridgestone-liveried Ligier prior to his switch to Arrows.
 
Valentino Rossi was incredibly close to signing a race seat in F1 circa 2006/2007. With the simple obstacle of not wanting to driver for Sauber being one of the reason he ultimately declined for the 2007 season. He had done many tests for Ferrari and finished 9th out of 15 runners in an F1 test at Valencia ahead of the 2006 season.


And in 2009, Sebastian Loeb actually put pen to paper on a deal with Toro Rosso that would have seen him replace Algesuari (who himself had already replaced Bourdais halfway through the year) for the final race at Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately the FIA refused the super license. Even though Loeb had finished 8th out of 17 drivers in an official F1 test at Barcelona in 2008 providing some evidence to his potential pace.
 
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MagpieRacer
Valentino Rossi was incredibly close to signing a race seat in F1 circa 2006/2007. With the simple obstacle of not wanting to driver for Sauber being one of the reason he ultimately declined for the 2007 season. He had done many tests for Ferrari and finished 9th out of 15 runners in an F1 test at Valencia ahead of the 2006 season.
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You mean BMW? I can understand Rossi signing for Sauber when they were a Ferrari customer but not really when they had BMW or turned into BMW.
 
Liquid
You mean BMW? I can understand Rossi signing for Sauber when they were a Ferrari customer but not really when they had BMW or turned into BMW.
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All the interviews and things that came out afterwards were all pointing at a Sauber seat for either 2006 or 2007. Ferrari wanted to run 3 cars but weren't allowed. The Sauber stuff came straight from Di Montezemolo.

www.motorsport.com

Ferrari considered giving Valentino Rossi full-time Sauber drive

www.motorsport.com www.motorsport.com
 
Danica Patrick and the late Dan Wheldon were subject to numerous rumours, particularly ones linking them to BAR/Honda, for 2006 after their performances in the 2005 Indy 500.
 
Liquid
1990s

DAMS (1995 with Erik Comas signed to drive) and DOME (1996) built complete cars, DOME even tested theirs, but never entered their own teams.

Lola built a car for 1995 (Allan McNish tested it) but declined to submit an entry until 1997 and we all know how that turned out.

Honda had two aborted efforts to enter F1; the effort in 1999 was closest and tested competitively but the death of technical director Harvey Postlethwaite saw Honda cancel its entry and focused on returning as a works engine supplier.

Edit: Lotus actually built a car for 1995 but, apart from the team closing down anyway, it had already failed the mandatory crash test.
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I'm sure I have read/heard somewhere that Lola actually wanted to enter in 1998, but were pushed to start a year earlier by sponsors...
 
MasterCard forced them to enter a year early then withdrew funding when they saw how terrible the car was. Extremely unfair on the team.
 
I still can't fathom why MasterCard would do such a thing. Being a major financial institution, I would have thought they'd have a basic idea about the cost of an F1 program and the relationship between championship performance and commercial success.
 
AbsoluteBarstool
I still can't fathom why MasterCard would do such a thing. Being a major financial institution, I would have thought they'd have a basic idea about the cost of an F1 program and the relationship between championship performance and commercial success.
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Sponsors do a lot of weird things. I was on the coaching staff of a football club that was given a $50k per year sponsorship deal, provided they played at a certain ground. On top of this, the sponsor themselves would pay for all renovations to the home ground.
By the end of the season, the deal was cut off because of relationships in the board crossing historical boundaries of the club with this sponsor.
 
WiisardNic
I'm sure I have read/heard somewhere that Lola actually wanted to enter in 1998, but were pushed to start a year earlier by sponsors...
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Har1MAS1415
Lola did originally intend to enter in 1998 with their own V10 engine but MasterCard pressured them to enter in 1997.
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Liquid
MasterCard forced them to enter a year early then withdrew funding when they saw how terrible the car was. Extremely unfair on the team.
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AbsoluteBarstool
I still can't fathom why MasterCard would do such a thing. Being a major financial institution, I would have thought they'd have a basic idea about the cost of an F1 program and the relationship between championship performance and commercial success.
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The MasterCard Lola was featured on a The Race Bring Back V10s podcast episode. It's worth a listen if you're interested in that car, as it covers not only Lola's side but how MasterCard intended to fund it with a plan that was never going to work.
 
Ah yes, the "membership points" system. Huge own goal from MasterCard and it's unfortunate that they simply went to Jordan with convential sponsorship (on the airbox and nose of the 198, I believe) yet Lola disappeared and crumbled into ruin.
 
Jordan came close to a deal to run Mercedes engines badged as SMART for 2004 with Gary Paffett being one of the drivers as part of the deal.
 

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