To: Jeroen Krautmier (
[email protected])
From: Ronan Griffin (
[email protected])
Hi Jeroen,
Don't worry about the Reynard guys not being familiar with F1 aerodynamics, we'll get them up to speed. And there's plenty of other areas they could input into in the meantime – mechanical grip, suspension, weight distribution, braking etc. I'll find something constructive for them to do.
On the sponsorship front, I'm afraid I can't tell you a whole lot about O' Connell as a businessman. Decent driver by all accounts, but I don't know much about his business. I know a bit about Bank of Ireland, I'm a little surprised to see that they were in negotiations with Jordan F1, they're generally considered a fairly conservative bank, although they are in rude health financially and have purchased an insurance company in the UK this past year. So they certainly have money.
I tried making a few 'discreet' enquiries with a few mates I still have in Jordan, but Eddie kept his discussions with O' Connell and BoI very secret, so I couldn't get anything. One thing I do find peculiar is that O' Connell and BoI aren't in it for title sponsorship, but are looking for a share in the team. The only F1 team that could possibly be valued at $2bn, as $200m for 10% would imply, is Ferrari and that would owe more to their road car division than the F1 end of things. Perhaps if you asked them to clarify how much is being paid for sponsorship and how much for the share in the team it might make things more clear. We should also ask him if Bank of Ireland would need to take their investment in us to an AGM, or if it could be cleared by management, since they are a PLC with shareholders. Other than that though, it seems good, I checked with my remaining contacts in the States (that year wasn't a waste after all) and O' Connell's certainly put his money where his mouth is with Franchitti, although obviously the amount of money is considerably less than here.
As for 555, I have to agree with you that I don't see too much coming out of South America, Senna's death really knocked the stuffing out of racing passion down there.
That I'm aware of at the moment.
Gil de Ferran – I think you're right about him not being too easily pryed from America.
Ricardo Rossett – Drove for Footwork last season. Nice fella and a committed driver by all accounts but his performances were hardly stellar.
Juan Pablo Montoya - Columbian bloke who came 5th in British F3 last season. I reckon he will be a better driver than anyone like Zonta or Rossett, but he's extremely raw, somewhat over-aggressive and I don't see him in an F1 car before 2000.
Esteban Tuero – Split his time between Italian F3 and F3000 last season. Talented, but he's only about 16, so not a runner for a few years, unless he ends up being F1's youngest driver.
I'd also be reluctant to kick Niko or Alex V if they perform well for us, and to be frank, I'd like to think the pay-driver era is ending in F1 as a whole. We could come back with a committment to test some South American drivers and only take one if they're good enough and see what they say? Or perhaps look to sign Montoya or Tuero to a long term testing/development contract?
Regards,
Ronan.
