[KRf1]

Unbelievable . They actually pulled out of f1 . So it paves the way for the return of Sauber with their "mysterious investors" . But what happens if someone buys Toyota f1 . Do they get the rights ?
Its also the end of Kobayashis dream run .
As Anachronix said , bring back the indipendant teams . Something like Benetton , Jordan etc should be good .
Also the new teams can grab up all these experienced employees from Toyota!

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by KRf1

Unbelievable . They actually pulled out of f1 . So it paves the way for the return of Sauber with their "mysterious investors" . But what happens if someone buys Toyota f1 . Do they get the rights ?
Its also the end of Kobayashis dream run .
As Anachronix said , bring back the indipendant teams . Something like Benetton , Jordan etc should be good .
Also the new teams can grab up all these experienced employees from Toyota!

Toyota have signed the Concorde agreement, if I'm not wrong. So if someone buys the outfit, then they get to race next year. BMW Sauber are at lower priority since they didn't sign the agreement.

Kobayashi might get to race under the new buyers but I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the new teams or existing ones lap him up. He clearly has the talent.

As for independent versus manfacturer teams go, I don't really mind. A healthy mix of the two works for me. After all, two of the best ever teams in history are Ferrari and McLaren. One's a manufacturer, the other is an independent team.

[racingmachine]

Originally Posted by suman

What the heck!! So all that talk about Toyota trying to sign on Kimi & Kimi "outpricing" himself was just hot air????

Indeed it was. Kimi himself claimed in an interview that there was and is nothing going on with Toyota, going further ahead and saying that "It is not cool to drive bad cars."

F1 : Raikkonen cool on Toyota claims - RAIKKONEN - F1-Live.com

[SilentEngine]

Didn't see this coming!
If they were leaving, why would they consider hiring Kimi and Kubica? Probably the F1 team was going on with their plans for next season, but the bosses in Japan decided to pull the plug.

Originally Posted by racingmachine

Indeed it was. Kimi himself claimed in an interview that there was and is nothing going on with Toyota, going further ahead and saying that "It is not cool to drive bad cars."

F1 : Raikkonen cool on Toyota claims - RAIKKONEN - F1-Live.com

Kimi is misquoted there. The comment about "driving bad cars" was not in relation to Toyota, it was about driving for not-so-good teams in WRC.

[srishiva]

Sad news for motorsport. They would save 550 million dollars quitting the sport. Thats a enormous amount of money indeed. Hope they can use the same money to build eco conscious cars and flowers to absorb pollution

[yogi1771]

Saw a ticker on NDTV 24*7 today morning that Renault are in a emergency meeting deciding to stay in F1 or not.

[KRRaj]

Originally Posted by yogi1771

Saw a ticker on NDTV 24*7 today morning that Renault are in a emergency meeting deciding to stay in F1 or not.

Yup. BBC has an article on that as well.

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula 1 | Renault considers Formula 1 exit

Also, Ferrari's take on this is interesting.

We want a different ending

They blame the political games rather than the economy for the manufacturers' pullout.

[McLaren Rulez]

Its rather disturbing to see so many out the door so quickly. I certainly didn't expect this.

[MaserQ]

One day they have tabled an offer for Kimi and the next they opt out of F1? Strange. Just goes to show that they are yet to attract top drivers, despite millions being spent over many years. Sad end to Toyota's F1 ambitions. Bad news for F1.

[KRRaj]

Originally Posted by MaserQ

One day they have tabled an offer for Kimi and the next they opt out of F1? Strange. Just goes to show that they are yet to attract top drivers, despite millions being spent over many years. Sad end to Toyota's F1 ambitions. Bad news for F1.

Even Renault seem to be having an emergency meeting today. They have also made a contract with Kubica and it would not be fair to Kubica if they desert him. He is a pretty good driver.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by KRRaj

Even Renault seem to be having an emergency meeting today. They have also made a contract with Kubica and it would not be fair to Kubica if they desert him. He is a pretty good driver.

Yep its unfair but a guy like Kubica can find another team easily. Its young drivers like Kobayashi and Grosjean who lose out in this game.

[Mpower]

Quite shocking, but for a new buyer to step in.....first question is how much work has been put into next year's car??

[gomzi]

Originally Posted by suman

What the heck!! So all that talk about Toyota trying to sign on Kimi & Kimi "outpricing" himself was just hot air????

Actually! That was one of the first thing I thought of when I read this news. I wonder what'll happen to Trulli and all the rest of the team now.

Originally Posted by motor spirit

IMO jap auto manf can never be passionate about automobiles as european manf. They will never ever make a 911,mustang or even a M series ,forget about ferrari or a lambo

While I appreciate that I've yet to see a Japanese supercar as evocatively styled as most Ferrari's and Lambo's, I have to disagree when you say they are not passionate about automobiles.

After all, they are the ones who have given us the GT-R (erstwhile Skyline GT-R) lineage, Lancer Evo's, 350Z and now 370Z, the super MX-5 to name a few.

[himanshukalia]

Toyota leaving F1 is very disappointing...hope Kamui Kobayashi gets a place in next season in some other team after his impressive performance in last two races

[sujaylahiri]

Honda, BMW, Toyota and maybe Renault leaving, what's happening to formula 1 these days? I have my own doubts about these "new" customer teams popping up in F1 next season. How many of them will be able to last the whole season remains a big mystery to me. So far we have very little information about their engineering and financial backgrounds. And btw the Lotus team of 2010 has absolutely nothing to do with the one from yesteryears, except for the name.

Originally Posted by motor spirit

IMO jap auto manf can never be passionate about automobiles as european manf. They will never ever make a 911,mustang or even a M series ,forget about ferrari or a lambo . They might have upper hand on reliabilty or quality issues, but they will always remain contemporary.

Woah woah woah. Let's not undermine some of the legendary road cars built by Japanese manufacturers, like the Honda NSX, Subaru Impreza, Mitsubishi Evolution, Nissan Skyline GT-R, Toyota Supra amongst others. They were in all rights as good as European ones, both in the design and engineering department.