As it appears that airspace in the UK might be closing down again soon and perhaps even a new volcano may erupt and cause even greater disturbance than the first did, I thought I’d share some positives to my recent experience with being stranded in the UK.

Now what the hell do I do?

1. You can talk to just about anybody about F1 - In the U.S. I consume racing news throughout all my waking hours and can only discuss on this blog and via email with friends who have an interest. Unfortunately for my wife from time to time I must vent my opinions and she is nice enough to listen (or least make an attempt at pretending she’s listening). But in Europe I could bring up complex questions related to rules, drivers, or Bernie’s plans for the future to any random dude on the street and they’d have an opinion and time to talk about it. You can’t beat that with a stick!

2. Racing is on TV - Not just on some random motorsports channel but its on regular TV. Sky News covers the results from Practice and Qualifying and shows race highlights. Sky Sports, well they cover more. Can you imagine CNN reporting race results? Even NASCAR doesn’t get coverage unless Cousin Carl hits the fence at Talledega and nearly kills himself and a fan or two. They cover more than just race results too. I couldn’t sleep one night so I flipped through the channels to find a documentary about Aston Martin’s most recent attempt at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I almost forgot I was stranded for an hour while I was completely sucked into this show.

3. Top Gear – That’s almost all I need to say. It’s on an it’s on all the time.

4. Top Gear – Yup, I’m putting it on twice.

5. Merchandise in Department Stores - SpeedGear is a great shop. Online and at the track they are the go to spot in the states for getting your Non-NASCAR motorsports stuff. Love ‘em! But, they’re pretty much it. So one of the days I was stranded I went shopping thinking I’d get something for my family back home that was feeling the effects of my absence just as much as I was. When you go shopping somewhere else you realize quickly that the world is a very small place. I wanted something uniquely London without going to the extremes of a shirt with Big Ben on it or that said, “My Husband Got Stuck in London and All I Got was this Lousy T Shirt”. This is a taller order than I thought. The shelves and racks of a department store are interchangeable pretty much no matter where you are (in the developed world as least). But what did I come across much to my suprise? The motorsports section on the SportsWear floor! Yup, right there they had kids-sized McLaren Fire Suits, Ferrari Helmet Key Chains, Aston Martin Racing hats. It was like standing in the middle of an inappropriate teen age race fan’s dream, except I was competely clothed and not surrounding by random people from my past.

Word came out of Tokyo on November 4th that confirmed what many were expected.  Toyota will be withdrawing from Formula 1 competition.  The Toyota news release cited “… the current severe economic realities” as the reason for their exit from the pinnacle of open wheel motorsports.

Photo Credit: Sumisso

As far as the Japanese automakers future the release also reads, “In motor sports, it will not only race in various categories, but will also actively contribute to further development of motor sports by supporting grassroots races and planning events in which it is easy for people to participate.”  I found this quote very interesting.  To me it basically says that they’re pulling out of the most high profile and expensive form of motorsport world wide but we’re going to stay involved in other series and at the very bottom of the motorsports food chain, grassroots racing.  What an excellent kick to the Formula 1 snobs out there!

The world’s largest automaker is saying it’s going to focus on other series (i.e. NASCAR, Grand Am, NHRA, etc.) and what I consider the heart and soul of motorsports, johnny weekend racer.  They would rather spend their diminishing racing budgets in those places then at the “pinnacle” of motorsport.  That is saying a lot and I think it’s saying exactly the right thing.

Formula 1 is awesome, there is no question about that.  But is it about selling cars?  In the end to an automaker motorsports are about 3 things; marketing to your consumer, beating your competitors, and developing new technologies that can be used in passenger cars in the future.  So, lets break this down.

Marketing:

Are Toyota drivers really in the F1 demographic?  Yes, but it’s more likely Lexus drivers.

Does F1 get much attention in the US?  Not nearly as much as the tin tops.

Beat your competitors:

Was Toyota beating their competitors?  This year they finished 5th in the points having bested BMW Sauber, William – Toyota (not much help), Renault,  Force Inda – Mercedes, and Torro Rosso – Ferrari.  Renault is a competitor in some markets but not one I believe Toyota fears and BMW is a competitor of note for Lexus.  Ok, so a little help here but is spending as much as an estimated $445 Million a year to run a Formula 1 team?  Hello NO!  Hop up a Camry or an IS F10 and go at it with BWM in ALMS GT2.  That would save you, oh I don’t know about $444.5 Million!

 Were they even racing against competitors?  For argument sake lets say they won the constructor’s championship this season.  In addition to the teams above who would they have beaten?  Mercedes, Renault, and Ferrari.  If they were called Panasonic Lexus Racing instead of Toyota I could see Mercedes, but they just aren’t competing with these guys for car sales.

Developing New Technologies

Were new technologies culled from their 8 seasons in F1?  I dunno.  Probably, but couldn’t you do the same thing in ALMS?  If you were running in GT2 you’d even have a chassis that was similar to a production car.  Hell, if it was Koni Challenge you could actual make money by selling race ready cars to teams.  Imagine that?  Whatever they learned must not have been worth the extra cost.

Thanks for humoring me as I ran through that.  I never like to see any OEM pull out of any racing series, but if they truly focus more on grass roots racing (ala Mazda) then I think this is great news for the motorsports community.  If a company the size of Toyota put its might behind a plan to build a ladder system similar to what Mazda has done this could open up doors to many wanna be drivers that never existed before.  You have to appreciate that.

Now, I know I referred to “Formula 1 snobs” earlier in the post.  I want F1 to do well, but I really want them to just get over themselves.  Yep, they race in some of the coolest places in the world (less and less now) and they have some of the premier manufacturers participating, that is all true.  But, the races are high speed parades, the budgets are out of control, and now that Toyota has withdrawn only 1 of the Top 10 automakers (by 2008 production) participated in the series, Fiat (Ferrari).

Seriously?  How can you be the premiere series if the 9 biggest auto makers don’t participate?  Major changes need to be made to preserve the good name and future of F1.  I hope they do it and soon.

You can read Toyota’s full press release here: 

http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota-to-withdraw-from-f1-112039.aspx?ncid=12036