Lola 'evaluating return' to F1 in 2010.

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British racing car manufacturer Lola is considering re-entering Formula 1 next year after confirming that it has committed to a full technical, operational and financial evaulation of the project.

The Huntingdon-based company has a long history of building F1 cars and last appeared with a short-lived and unsuccessful works team at the start of the 1997 season.

However, in the wake of the FIA announcing last month its plans for teams to be able to compete in F1 under a £30 million budget cap, Lola executive chairman Martin Birrane now believes the time is right to consider a return.

"The announcement that teams may opt for a prudent, financially responsible 'cost-capped' regime from 2010 has resulted in us deciding to fully evaluate the opportunity to develop a car to compete in the FIA Formula One World Championship," he said.
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Discuss! I hope they do come back, but then again I want to see 20 teams each field 5 cars..
 
Could well be that we have the maximum allowable grid for the first time in years. USGPE is definately in, Hyundai is a probable, Prodrive are allegedly still considering and now Lola are in the same boat. There's only six slots left on the grid under the Concorde Agrement, but someone needs to buy Toro Rosso for 2010.
 
Lotus hasn't been in F1 in ages now, could they make a comeback? They were good back then, and lightweight good handling cars is their thing. But Lotus is a small company and I doubt they have the money to enter an expensive sport like F1 again. We will see.
 
PJ-FFL
Lotus hasn't been in F1 in ages now, could they make a comeback? They were good back then, and lightweight good handling cars is their thing. But Lotus is a small company and I doubt they have the money to enter an expensive sport like F1 again. We will see.
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Uh... Lola is looking at entering F1 again, not Lotus :P

Definitely interesting. Who would have thought Bernie actually may have been right in his 26 car prediction.

26 cars is going to call for a point restructure. Also this most wins point system is going to be even less effective given more cars on the grid.
 
Do you race?
Could well be that we have the maximum allowable grid for the first time in years. USGPE is definitely in, Hyundai is a probable, Prodrive are allegedly still considering and now Lola are in the same boat. There's only six slots left on the grid under the Concorde Agreement, but someone needs to buy Toro Rosso for 2010.
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There's kind of a race between Lola and Prodrive to get that "final spot". Whoever commits first will most likely get the spot. unless one of them buys Toro Rosso...
 
J-PaP
Uh... Lola is looking at entering F1 again, not Lotus :P

Definitely interesting. Who would have thought Bernie actually may have been right in his 26 car prediction.

26 cars is going to call for a point restructure. Also this most wins point system is going to be even less effective given more cars on the grid.
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I wasn't talking about lola at all
 
Any truth to the rumors I'm hearing that Renault are to pull out at the end of the year? I know ING is bailing out.
 
PJ-FFL: What does your post have to do with the thread then?

Hyst: I have read about it but it was all just rumours and speculation. Alonso's contract ends this year and probably Piquet's as well. Though you would think if they had any doubts about running in 2010 why would they bother developing a kers unit.

Anyhow back to Lola discussion :)
 
mPWRD
There's kind of a race between Lola and Prodrive to get that "final spot". Whoever commits first will most likely get the spot. unless one of them buys Toro Rosso...
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That's assuming both are serious enough about fielding entries. Depending on the situation, it may well be cheaper to purchase Toro Rosso, and I think it may be that whoever doesn't purchase the team will have to fied their own entry to te grid from scratch.
J-Pap
PJ-FFL: What does your post have to do with the thread then?
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I think he's speculating that because Lola are interested in rejoining Formula One, Lotus may do so as well, even though we've heard nothing from them to suggest they're interested. Bear in mind this is the man who said that because Hamilton may leave McLaren, Alonso is likely to move from Renault to Ferrari. I'm still trying to wok out the logic of that.
Hyst
Any truth to the rumors I'm hearing that Renault are to pull out at the end of the year? I know ING is bailing out.
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No, there's no truth. In fact, I don't think there are rumours at all. The discussion of Renault's potential withdrawal came up in the thread on Flavio Briatore lambasting Jenson Button and Brawn, which had something to do with my suggestion that Briatore only ever describes Formula One as doing well when he's doing well, and the implication is that he thinks the sport will collapse if Renault withdraws. I haven't heard a single word on the subject of Renault leaving other than in that thread.
 
Well, when Raikkonen leaves this year i think, Ferrari is going to have to, if Alonso leaves renault, take him, or probably go for a rookie like Bruno Senna who was supposed to be at Brawn GP this year but they took Barrichello instead, and Bruno is available, so we will see. And if Lewis leaves McLaren, Alonso might dive back into their pool for 2010.
 
PJ-FFL
Well, when Raikkonen leaves this year i think, Ferrari is going to have to, if Alonso leaves renault, take him, or probably go for a rookie like Bruno Senna who was supposed to be at Brawn GP this year but they took Barrichello instead, and Bruno is available, so we will see. And if Lewis leaves McLaren, Alonso might dive back into their pool for 2010.
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But there's nothing to suggest Raikkonen on the way out. Only tabloid newspapers from Spain who desperately want to see Alonso in a Ferrari.

Why are we even discussing this? This thread is about Lola and their possible return to F1, not your picks for the silly season based on suppositon, hypoerbole and assumption.
 
Hyst
Does anyone agree with my hopes that Heikki Kovalainen will be replaced by Gary Paffet next year?
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He had a better showing in China, so we should see. As far as Paffett, he was involved with the Prodrive F1 team talks, so he might get a seat with them if they go through with that.

Going back to the topic of Lola, they have a lot of experience building bodies and chassis for lower Formulas, but where would they source things like engines? Ferrari? Maybe if they bought STR...
 
Lola-STR would actually be an interesting combination... they would get a halfway decent chassis and a great engine to start their campaign with.
 
Could we do just a single thread for all the potential new entries? There's now also talk of Prodrive re-entering... Sureboss already has this thread up for discussions on the full grid...
 
I'd agree with that. Especially as it was me that broke the news in that thread!
 
Looks like it may well be an Aston Martin Prodrive team:

http://msn.planetf1.com/story/0,18954,3213_5226908,00.html

Aston Martin, headed by former BAR team boss Dave Richards, could be persuaded to enter F1 next season in the wake of F1's proposed budget cap.

According to The Times, 'As many as eight candidates are vying for three places on the grid' next season and, hot on the heels of news that Lola are eyeing a return to the sport, the newspaper reports that Richards, chairman of Aston Martin, 'is waiting for Max Mosley, president of the FIA, motor sport's world governing body, to push through next week radical financial reforms that will cap the annual budgets of teams at £30 million. If Mosley gets his way for the start of a cut-price Formula One - and the president is most persuasive - Richards will push the button to enter a new team next season.'
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Dijital Majik
Looks like it may well be an Aston Martin Prodrive team:

http://msn.planetf1.com/story/0,18954,3213_5226908,00.html
Aston Martin, headed by former BAR team boss Dave Richards, could be persuaded to enter F1 next season in the wake of F1's proposed budget cap.

According to The Times, 'As many as eight candidates are vying for three places on the grid' next season and, hot on the heels of news that Lola are eyeing a return to the sport, the newspaper reports that Richards, chairman of Aston Martin, 'is waiting for Max Mosley, president of the FIA, motor sport's world governing body, to push through next week radical financial reforms that will cap the annual budgets of teams at £30 million. If Mosley gets his way for the start of a cut-price Formula One - and the president is most persuasive - Richards will push the button to enter a new team next season.'
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If that is the case. I'm wondering if they'll get AMP Energy Drinks as one of the team sponsors.:D
 
Possibly the most overrated livery ever. Baby blue and orange, yeah that looks good. If Prodrive get in let's go vintage and bring back British Racing Green :sly:.
 
Metalic Black with some acid yellow stripes and the words "Prodrive Racing" written on the shark fin and side of the car in acid yellow.
 
I think you'll find the livery is largely dictated by the sponsors. Renault ran yellow, white, orange and blue because those are the colours of ING. Force India are decked out in orange, green and white as they're Indian. The Red Bulls are silver and mauve because those colours appear on Red Bull cans. The only real exceptions are Ferrari, who have always been red, and Brawn, who showed up in Melbourne without spnsorsand so could run team colours. Prodrive won't run metallic black and acid yellow unless they get a sponsor whose colours are metallic black and acid yellow. And it's highly unlikely they'll be self-sponsored; the name Prodive will certainly appear, but the engine cowling and sidepods are of the highest value when it comes to roping in sponsors. You can't just fill that space with a team name (and before you mention Brawn, think for a moment: what else are they going to put on the cowling?). And if they did resort to self-sponsorship, they'd run Prodive's colours, which are a white background with black name and a blue line underneath the name.

Although if I were designing a livery for a new team, I'd make the car look like raw carbon fibre with sponsor decals over the top.
 
Um, Do you race?
The carbon fibre on an F1 car isn't the neat weave that we get on supercars. It is practical and is just fibres going everywhere. It is not styled like the carbon fibre we are used to.
 
Hyst
Possibly the most overrated livery ever. Baby blue and orange, yeah that looks good. If Prodrive get in let's go vintage and bring back British Racing Green :sly:.
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It's iconic because nobody else does it, and since they did it, nobody else can. Like Mazda's orange-and-green livery... or the Johnnie Walker black with gold stripes (my favorite F1 livery... ever)... you do it in a memorable way and nobody else will be able to do anything similar.
 
senamic
Um, Do you race?
The carbon fibre on an F1 car isn't the neat weave that we get on supercars. It is practical and is just fibres going everywhere. It is not styled like the carbon fibre we are used to.
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I know. But if Honda can superimpose the mage of the planet over their cars - it would have to be one of the most painstaking liveries to apply - I don't see what would stop someone from creating a livery designed to look like neat carbon fibre, though I do admit it would look difficult to apply.

Failing that, I'd go with a matte black finish.
 

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