Hispania Racing Team (former Campos) News

[dr-baker]

Management reshuffle, forcing Adrian Campos out/sideways, with there still a chance they may make Bahrain, but definately not any pre-season testing:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81569

[mario]

Management reshuffle, forcing Adrian Campos out/sideways, with there still a chance they may make Bahrain, but definately not any pre-season testing:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81569

Ah, I see that you've beaten me to that article. So, it seems that Campos Meta will survive, but in a heavily restructured form, and with no confirmation of what will happen to Campos himself.
So, I guess that the news of the team being bought out by another party was heading in the right direction, I suppose. Now, the major question is can they make it to Bahrein in time? As was mentioned in the article, at best they are going to only get a shakedown run in (given that Dallara is making the car now that the team has a more secure financial position) and at worst they might even have to miss the opening race.
On the up side, however, it does seem that the restructuring has brought in a number of experienced senior staff - in particular Kolles and Willis - and the rumoured drivers (Chandhok and Baguette) have shown promise in lower series and would be a sensible addition. So, I'll admit that my prediction that Campos would be the first team to collapse this year seems to be wrong after all - even if they are now Carabante's team instead.

[thehemogoblin]

Let's see--

A chassis manufacturer's first foray into the big leagues since a bad failure many years ago, without any testing before the first race... MasterCard Lola, anyone?

[Nuppiz]

Let's see--

A chassis manufacturer's first foray into the big leagues since a bad failure many years ago, without any testing before the first race... MasterCard Lola, anyone?

I wouldn't call Dallara's previous entry with Scuderia Italia a bad failure, they did score two podiums after all. Instead, Lola failed twice during the 90's, first with Scuderia Italia in 1993 with their wretched T93/30 and then with their own entry.

[DemocalypseNow]

Let's see--

A chassis manufacturer's first foray into the big leagues since a bad failure many years ago, without any testing before the first race... MasterCard Lola, anyone?

I wouldn't call Dallara's previous entry with Scuderia Italia a bad failure, they did score two podiums after all. Instead, Lola failed twice during the 90's, first with Scuderia Italia in 1993 with their wretched T93/30 and then with their own entry.

But that was because of the drivers and not the car, DeCrasheris and JJ Letho are epic

[ADx_Wales]

Forgive me if this question popped up in here or elsewhere...

Despite the stillborn state of USF1 leaving Anderson and Windsor with a lot to answer for, does this mean the US motorsport world has done itself no favours by distancing itself further from F1 than the 2005 debacle did?

Does anyone in this forum actually WANT an F1 team from America to be in F1?

I would like to see it being done, I would also like to see some positivity for once in the US perspective of F1, outside of the US population in this forum.

[thehemogoblin]

Forgive me if this question popped up in here or elsewhere...

Despite the stillborn state of USF1 leaving Anderson and Windsor with a lot to answer for, does this mean the US motorsport world has done itself no favours by distancing itself further from F1 than the 2005 debacle did?

Does anyone in this forum actually WANT an F1 team from America to be in F1?

I would like to see it being done, I would also like to see some positivity for once in the US perspective of F1, outside of the US population in this forum.

The only way that an American F1 team would matter is if one of the big three manufacturers (Chrysler, GM, Ford) put together a factory effort and put their own name on it (not Jaguar, not Saab, not Hummer-- it's got to be Dodge, Chevrolet, or Ford on the side). It has to be easily and instantaneously recognizable by the average fan, so that enough attention will be caught by it to pique people's interest in F1 and the team.

Other than that, it will be a disaster, because nobody really gives a flying poo.

[CarlosFerreira]

Forgive me if this question popped up in here or elsewhere...

Despite the stillborn state of USF1 leaving Anderson and Windsor with a lot to answer for, does this mean the US motorsport world has done itself no favours by distancing itself further from F1 than the 2005 debacle did?

Does anyone in this forum actually WANT an F1 team from America to be in F1?

I would like to see it being done, I would also like to see some positivity for once in the US perspective of F1, outside of the US population in this forum.

The only way that an American F1 team would matter is if one of the big three manufacturers (Chrysler, GM, Ford) put together a factory effort and put their own name on it (not Jaguar, not Saab, not Hummer-- it's got to be Dodge, Chevrolet, or Ford on the side). It has to be easily and instantaneously recognizable by the average fan, so that enough attention will be caught by it to pique people's interest in F1 and the team.

Other than that, it will be a disaster, because nobody really gives a flying poo.

I'm stepping further, and saying it'd have to be a Dodge or a Chevy; the Ford brand is arguably too prevalent in Europe already.

[thehemogoblin]

Forgive me if this question popped up in here or elsewhere...

Despite the stillborn state of USF1 leaving Anderson and Windsor with a lot to answer for, does this mean the US motorsport world has done itself no favours by distancing itself further from F1 than the 2005 debacle did?

Does anyone in this forum actually WANT an F1 team from America to be in F1?

I would like to see it being done, I would also like to see some positivity for once in the US perspective of F1, outside of the US population in this forum.

The only way that an American F1 team would matter is if one of the big three manufacturers (Chrysler, GM, Ford) put together a factory effort and put their own name on it (not Jaguar, not Saab, not Hummer-- it's got to be Dodge, Chevrolet, or Ford on the side). It has to be easily and instantaneously recognizable by the average fan, so that enough attention will be caught by it to pique people's interest in F1 and the team.

Other than that, it will be a disaster, because nobody really gives a flying poo.

I'm stepping further, and saying it'd have to be a Dodge or a Chevy; the Ford brand is arguably too prevalent in Europe already.

The prevalence of the brand in Europe is irrelevant. It's all whether or not the brand is homegrown and prevalent in America. Remember, by and large, Americans tend to view the world in a vacuum, only looking out when there's something of theirs involved. (e.g. the World Cup, the Olympics, the Open Championship, etc.)

[shinji]

So is that confirmed? Adrian Campos is out and it's now essentially Dallara?

How Stefan GP are still on the sidelines with their seeming preparedness is bewildering.

[Valrys]

Forgive me if this question popped up in here or elsewhere...

Despite the stillborn state of USF1 leaving Anderson and Windsor with a lot to answer for, does this mean the US motorsport world has done itself no favours by distancing itself further from F1 than the 2005 debacle did?

Does anyone in this forum actually WANT an F1 team from America to be in F1?

I would like to see it being done, I would also like to see some positivity for once in the US perspective of F1, outside of the US population in this forum.

Personally, as a non-US'er, I really wanted USF1 to succeed, and I hope an American F1 team does enter the sport, and be relatively successful at some point

So is that confirmed? Adrian Campos is out and it's now essentially Dallara?

How Stefan GP are still on the sidelines with their seeming preparedness is bewildering.

Not quite confirmed, but strongly suspected. And Stefan GP's preparedness? They have a couple of Toyotas that they may or may not have fully paid for, 1 driver, and uncertain financing. While the F1Rejects fan part of me wants StefanGP on the grid, the rational side of me suspects they're not much of a better punt than USF1 or Campos

[shinji]

So is that confirmed? Adrian Campos is out and it's now essentially Dallara?

How Stefan GP are still on the sidelines with their seeming preparedness is bewildering.

Not quite confirmed, but strongly suspected. And Stefan GP's preparedness? They have a couple of Toyotas that they may or may not have fully paid for, 1 driver, and uncertain financing. While the F1Rejects fan part of me wants StefanGP on the grid, the rational side of me suspects they're not much of a better punt than USF1 or Campos

'Seeming preparedness'; they may well be a mess, but they certainly look to be a lot more prepared than USF1, which doesn't appear to exist anymore, considering they actually have a driver, car and engine waiting, paid for or not paid for that's better than nothing.

[CarlosFerreira]

The prevalence of the brand in Europe is irrelevant. It's all whether or not the brand is homegrown and prevalent in America. Remember, by and large, Americans tend to view the world in a vacuum, only looking out when there's something of theirs involved. (e.g. the World Cup, the Olympics, the Open Championship, etc.)

Bowing to your opinion; I'm sure you know better.

[thehemogoblin]

The prevalence of the brand in Europe is irrelevant. It's all whether or not the brand is homegrown and prevalent in America. Remember, by and large, Americans tend to view the world in a vacuum, only looking out when there's something of theirs involved. (e.g. the World Cup, the Olympics, the Open Championship, etc.)

Bowing to your opinion; I'm sure you know better.

Scott Speed had less of a following in America than Juan Pablo Montoya, for the simple reason that we knew who he was. We couldn't have cared less that there was an American in F1, because he didn't do it the American way.

[Phoenix]

Let's see--

A chassis manufacturer's first foray into the big leagues since a bad failure many years ago, without any testing before the first race... MasterCard Lola, anyone?

I wouldn't call Dallara's previous entry with Scuderia Italia a bad failure, they did score two podiums after all. Instead, Lola failed twice during the 90's, first with Scuderia Italia in 1993 with their wretched T93/30 and then with their own entry.

But that was because of the drivers and not the car, DeCrasheris and JJ Letho are epic

Dallara was indeed not bad-if the actual scoring system was back in their days, they would have scored quite a haul of points.

[karsten]

Dallara made great cars and had good results... i don't understand all the people bashing them or having so little faith in their efforts..

[Faustus]

So is that confirmed? Adrian Campos is out and it's now essentially Dallara?

How Stefan GP are still on the sidelines with their seeming preparedness is bewildering.

Not quite confirmed, but strongly suspected. And Stefan GP's preparedness? They have a couple of Toyotas that they may or may not have fully paid for, 1 driver, and uncertain financing. While the F1Rejects fan part of me wants StefanGP on the grid, the rational side of me suspects they're not much of a better punt than USF1 or Campos

'Seeming preparedness'; they may well be a mess, but they certainly look to be a lot more prepared than USF1, which doesn't appear to exist anymore, considering they actually have a driver, car and engine waiting, paid for or not paid for that's better than nothing.

They SAY they have a driver, car and engine but it sounds highly unlikely. And as for 'despatching' containers full of gear to Bahrain, I remain to be convinced as to their contents.

[thehemogoblin]

Dallara made great cars and had good results... i don't understand all the people bashing them or having so little faith in their efforts..

Eh, so did Beatrice-Lola. And that was what I was referencing.

[karsten]

i was mostly referring to the general attitude of forum's people that take for certain that dallara's chassys is going to be bad

[elho]

Carabante takes over Campos team

By Pablo Elizalde Friday, February 19th 2010, 17:53 GMT

The Campos Meta team has confirmed that Jose Ramon Carabante has taken full control of the Spanish outfit, with former Midland and Spyker boss Colin Kolles being appointed as team principal instead of team founder Adrian Campos.

After weeks of speculation about the future of the team, the team said on Friday that a deal had been reached with Campos so Carabante, who was already a shareholder in the team, becomes the new majority owner.

Carabante said he has secured a deal that will see the team competing in the 2010 championship.

"I would like to thank Bernie Ecclestone, who worked tremendously to support our efforts to keep the team viable," said Carabante.

"The whole rescue operation has been a race against time with the goal of always having the team run two competitive cars at the first Grand Prix of the F1 season in Bahrain.

"We have a lot of hard work still ahead of us but we are excited about making our F1 debut and looking forward to a competitive season."

Carabante said the team's base will remain in Spain and that Kolles will also act as managing director to ensure the team is fully operational and ready to make its Bahrain debut next month.

"I could not resist this tremendous challenge and am very excited to join forces in this new team," said Kolles.

"Over the next ten days we will review the entire operation, find the extra funding to ensure the team will make the first race in Bahrain, announce the line-up for 2010 in due time and make the operation viable under Jose Ramon Carabante's new ownership."

The team has a contract with Brazilian Bruno Senna, with rumours having linked Jose Maria Lopez with the second seat, despite the Argentinean having a contract with the US F1 squad.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81606

[Valrys]

They've changed management, but I don't hear anything about extra funding..............

And I reckon Campos would have been a better bet than Kolles

[Fitch]

SpeedTV.com has basically a similar article here
http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/ ... es-campos/

Some VERY Interesting excerpts from it...plus My comments....

Kolles said: “We will have two cars in Bahrain. I don’t know how we will have them, and I don’t care, but we will have two cars on the grid.

Looks to me like Dallara did stop work on the car.

”If this is going to be achieved, I think this is one of the most amazing things, I tell you. They had nothing. They had one empty workshop with nothing inside."

this quote actually made me a bit angry. I'll explain later.

Kolles stressed that drivers will have to bring funding:
“It’s very clear that we need budget to rescue the team... And that’s it. In Jordan [in 2005] we also had to start with pay drivers, and then it developed. After four years you have full professional drivers. When the team is performing and the team is efficient, that is on a second page.”

Actually this WHOLE deal has irked me enough to consider not watching F1 anymore. Bernie has been preaching, since the 4 new teams were announced, that 2 of them wouldn't make it to the season. When it was unclear which 2 teams people began speculating, well with 4 teams there are only so many choices. So when it became clear that Campos would NEVER make it to the grid PERIOD, and that USF1 were a bit behind on their production. He began exerting pressure that it would be those 2 teams.

So now, here we are, season opener is a few weeks away, and we have USF1 who probably will have to miss a race or 2, which effectively kills their entry. Then we have Campos, who according to Kolles DOESN'T EXIST! It was a team on paper with an empty shop. So of all the things that Bernard in all his wisdom has done, is to formulate a takeover of a non-existent team thats actual appearance is suspect. As opposed to finding some way to work with a team who simply is behind and needs to miss a race or 2.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, he simply engineered a takeover, he HASN'T saved anything. Kolles and Co. still have to come up with the budget to run.

Why didn't they just let Campos die like it should have, and simply allowed USF1 to miss a couple of races, like the Concorde Agreement says it can, contrary to what the FIA are saying, and helped them secure a second driver. Plus given StefanGP Campos spot.

Oh yeah thats right....Because USF1 is based in the US..and Everybody bathplug HATES EVERYTHING WE DO!!!

[Valrys]

Oh yeah thats right....Because USF1 is based in the US..and Everybody bathplug HATES EVERYTHING WE DO!!!

Meh, I wanted USF1 to be on the grid.......

I might get myself some USF1 merchandise printed up and do cartwheels infront of the TV cameras

[Yannick]

And then there were twelve.

As F1Rejects reportedly are on good terms with Adrian Campos, maybe the webmaster or the site author can contact the man himself for an exclusive interview on his view of things?

To be honest, I'm not a particular fan of Kolles since he didn't exactly achieve much during his tenure with the successors of Jordan Grand Prix. Yes, after the money troubles, the team needed a new general manager, but wouldn't it have been better to leave Campos in command of the pit wall? At least, the approach of Adrian Campos would have been a fresh one as opposed to Kolles' known backmarker strategies.

Here's hoping that Kolles has learnt from his previous F1 experiences and does a better job this time around.

Congrats to Dallara for finding somebody to run their cars in the F1 World Championship.

[Popi_Larrauri]

I think there are many things in the same bowl, and we lack, seriously, of all the details to bring serious conclusions.

But, for $ 0.00 we can speculate plenty, so here it my intellectual space travel:

0) I do like USF1 at the grid, as a matter of fact, I would like to see 28 cars on the entry list, with, without DNQ, DNPQ or DNEPPQ it would be excellent to me, doesn't matter procedence unless its Nazi Germany and has the svastika painted over it.

now...

1) Campos its leaving because he is selling the team. Carabante may have or not a proper reason, but since its the owner he may have the desire of asking Campos to get down the train there's not too much that can be done.

2) If Kolles its better than Campos it's debatable. But, in general, it's not good to switch horses during the race, specially in the last straight. the reason should be a serious disagreement in terms of management, the general idea that Campos blew it, or an imposition from outside stakeholders unhappy with Campos.

3) We may pour in that category to: Dallara, Ecclestone (it's a stakeholder after all, legally or by own force), Cosworth, Hurley (who in the end would provide money, but I don't get it how he should be unhappy with him after his it's supposed to have found a "better placed" team than the one he left).

4) In any case, if Campos (we can't know for sure) it's kicked from his own team, Kolles would have stated that they still have to build up from nothing or almost nothing in terms of management, sponsors and chassis develpment therefore:

4.1) What does this maneuver means in the end? Which decision Campos didn't want that Carabante wants to do that will attract the money that, finally, could cover the expenses over Dallara, the development of the chassis, the rest of the equipment and the delay implied?)

4.2) If it's not up to Carabante, lets suppose its Bernie, why? It's because he really wants Campos Meta for reaching Bahrein? Because he made no other thing than bashing the team reputation since september-october, and if he is of "so much" help that can save entire teams merging water and oil, then why he didn't shut up and worked in silence in order to give them a hand instead of hinting corporations that investing in Campos was a high risk operation?


5) I got more, but suddenly at lot of work have fallen over my desktop

[Valrys]

If Kolles is telling the truth about the state the Campos team was in before he was brought it........it's worrying, and it begs the question of what they've been doing the past 9 months?

Going by staff, equipment, premises, and components manufactured in-house, USF1 has Campos beat by a country mile it would seem. The only thing that has maybe potentially saved Campos is the deal with Dallara....

[Nessafox]

the deal with dallara is the only thing what got them in in the first place


more: i read on belgian motorsport journalist's Peter Baert's website pitstop.tv that Baguette is in talk with campos...
now money was allways the problem with belgian drivers, i'm wondering where on earth he would get the money from...
(i hope from some kind of bread company )
the site only says he 'would' be in talk with this team, so saying it's only a rumour (though if they post news - which they rarely do - they usually have their sources)
but i think it's worth mentioning.

[Fitch]

If Kolles is telling the truth about the state the Campos team was in before he was brought it........it's worrying, and it begs the question of what they've been doing the past 9 months?

Going by staff, equipment, premises, and components manufactured in-house, USF1 has Campos beat by a country mile it would seem.

Exactly.......and more importantly,as I asked before, why is Bernie so keen on saving a team that didn't exist in the first place? There is something going on here. Why else has Bernie been so adamant that these 2 teams wouldn't make it, AND espousing the greatness of StefanGP only to step in and do the one thign that would prevent StefanGP from possibly getting an entry?

Something just doesn't add up in all of this mess.

[thehemogoblin]

If Kolles is telling the truth about the state the Campos team was in before he was brought it........it's worrying, and it begs the question of what they've been doing the past 9 months?

Going by staff, equipment, premises, and components manufactured in-house, USF1 has Campos beat by a country mile it would seem.

Exactly.......and more importantly,as I asked before, why is Bernie so keen on saving a team that didn't exist in the first place? There is something going on here. Why else has Bernie been so adamant that these 2 teams wouldn't make it, AND espousing the greatness of StefanGP only to step in and do the one thign that would prevent StefanGP from possibly getting an entry?

Something just doesn't add up in all of this mess.

Bernie was using StefanGP as a pawn to put a fire underneath Campos's backside.

[LionZoo]

If Kolles is telling the truth about the state the Campos team was in before he was brought it........it's worrying, and it begs the question of what they've been doing the past 9 months?

Going by staff, equipment, premises, and components manufactured in-house, USF1 has Campos beat by a country mile it would seem.

Exactly.......and more importantly,as I asked before, why is Bernie so keen on saving a team that didn't exist in the first place? There is something going on here. Why else has Bernie been so adamant that these 2 teams wouldn't make it, AND espousing the greatness of StefanGP only to step in and do the one thign that would prevent StefanGP from possibly getting an entry?

Something just doesn't add up in all of this mess.

I think the deal with Dallara has basically saved Campos. Campos has nothing except a car. Even though their infrastructure is weak, that is something that can be rectified in a month if you really really really work at it. (I would know since my current job is to set up a new engineering office for a company...) At the very least, the team might be a bit of an embarrassment, but at least the cars will circulate around a track in a rejectful manner thus allowing Bernie to fulfill his contractual obligations.

USF1 on the otherhand, doesn't seem to have a car. That is not something that can be fixed in a month. Therefore, StefanGP can step in with their car and Bernie still gets his 26 cars. Regardless, this USF1-Campos-StefanGP soap opera is going to keep us all entertained right up to Bahrain. It makes normal seasons where it's just about winter testing look downright boring.

[fjackdaw]

If there are 26 cars, and we get some more rejects to talk about, then it's all cool.

[Waris]

I don't care what you lot say, but this is the best off-season we've had in years!

[Popi_Larrauri]

I don't care what you lot say, but this is the best off-season we've had in years!

If it's just were chassis to watch it would be amazing. But less than a month to go and still the 3 stooges haven't show anything but a nosecone.

[Phoenix]

If it's just were chassis to watch it would be amazing. But less than a month to go and still the 3 stooges haven't show anything but a nosecone.

Well, Campos has shown a recreation of the chassis.

[Waris]

I don't care what you lot say, but this is the best off-season we've had in years!

If it's just were chassis to watch it would be amazing. But less than a month to go and still the 3 stooges haven't show anything but a nosecone.

USF1 have in fact shown a nosecone, but I wish they would've shown more.

[Waris]

If it's just were chassis to watch it would be amazing. But less than a month to go and still the 3 stooges haven't show anything but a nosecone.

Well, Campos has shown a recreation of the chassis.

Where?! Linkplox? Also, sorry for double post.

[fjackdaw]

Ceefax are reporting Karun Chandock for the second race seat.

[SDHammer]

Ceefax are reporting Karun Chandock for the second race seat.

So are Autosport

[Dom]

Ceefax are reporting Karun Chandock for the second race seat.

So are Autosport

And the BBC. Maybe we should start calling Campos 'REAL Force India'...

[SDHammer]

According to Autosport Campos (or whatever they are gonna be called) have taken delivery of their Cosworth engines.