Hispania,Virgin and Team Lotus

[Stuartf12007]

They should either go to Auto GP or GP2 cos they just aint good enough for F1...and never will be.

[ioan]

They need some time and money, both not easy to get.
Did Minardi look better in the past? Nope, they were there to fill the last grid slots every 2nd week end.

And Lotus are doing OK for this being only their 2nd season in F1.

[heliocastroneves#3]

Yup... You could better complain about HRT and Virgin only.. Lotus has been improved a lot since last year, they're the real deal in the future from those 3 teams.

[jens]

Lotus has been underwhelming this season (well, certainly after Mike Gascoyne's pre-season hype), but it can't be said they are "not good enough for F1", being roughly at the level Minardi was. A bit behind the rest of the pack, but never embarrasing, that is. As for the claim that they "never will be" good enough for F1... I still think they have a fair amount of potential, also considering the sponsorship deals Fernandes has managed to put together during this season. Lotus reminds me Force India, who was a genuine red lantern of F1 in 07-08, but has managed to rise to midfield afterwards.

Virgin and HRT are a bit more iffy. Virgin has managed to reach a new deal with McLaren for 2012, but it doesn't look like either team has significant amount of money behind their F1 effort, which could stall their further progress. Well, at least Glock still believes in Virgin Racing and the restructuring gives some hope... at least in this sense that after the Wirth-era it can't get any worse, can it? :p :

[Robinho]

Lotus are getting there, although according to James Allen, in return for a chunk of Malaysia airlines, Tony Fernandes has given up the Team Lotus name to Proton/group Lotus, and will become Caterham F1. They have the money, the team and the drivers, they will drive forward, but the midfield are not a bunch of chancers, they are highly professional talented and established teams, and to just break into that area is an acheivement.

Virgin are definately moving on now and have some decent cash and facilities, although it might take a little longer.

HRT are a complete enigma wrapped in a riddle. They don't seem to have any money and have turned up 2 years in a row with a car that wasn't ready and doesn't seem to dveleop much, BUT, they have improved immensley since the start of the year.

Someone always has to come last, and therefore will look the worst. Look at Torro Rosso, they have been nowhere as Minardi and TR forever, and only the last couple of years were often near or at the back. Now there are 3 new teams behind them and they've closed the gap a little to the others and suddenly they are scoring points. I know they are a redbull B team, but its not like the newbies don't have a bunch of Renault, and Williams bits with Virgin to have McLaren parts soon too. They will move forwar, they may never make it to the front, but they are all still there and not dangerous. Someone has to finish last and if not them then Williams, Torro Rosso, Sauber and Force India would be looking like these 3 are now. I prefer to have some younger teams learning their trade at the back, somewhere for new mechanics, designers and drivers to learn F1 and maybe progress themselves where they may have never got a chance with the established boys with a full roster

[steveaki13]

I think all 3 of these teams are doing a better job than last year, and Lotus particuarly are one season away from leaping ahead of there rivals ahead.

HRT and Virgin are having good battles at the back, so for me its all fine.

Forti and Pacific were really silly cars to be allowed into finishing in Forti's case 9 laps back, so compared to those days these cars are doing fine.

[Stuartf12007]

No point in televising Quali 1 as its so predictable, Virgin,HRT and Lotus mayaswell flip a coin for positions and save tyres and fuel.

Every GP its

Lotus
Lotus
Virgin
Virgin
HRT
HRT
Boringgggggggggggggggg zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[Daniel]

They should either go to Auto GP or GP2 cos they just aint good enough for F1...and never will be.

Yeah that'll work! Because of course they'll keep what little sponsorship money they have and will dominate the lower classes for sure :dozey:

[steveaki13]

If there are 24 cars on the grid there will always be those who have to qualify 23rd and 24th regardless of how fast they are. Sure in an ideal world it would be great if Lotus, Virgin and HRT were just a couple of tenths off pole, but this is still only their second season in the sport. Virgin have joined a development programme with McLaren and by next seaon I would expect to see an improvement, but there will still be teams in this position.

Agree

I always have a soft spot for the smaller teams.

They are also hit by the fact realiability is so good now. In years past a couple of races a season would only have 6 or 8 finishers and points would be availiable for these teams. Getting them extra money TV coverage and general recognition, as it is the cars are too reliable these days. So the three little teams have no real chance this year.

Maybe Lotus can move into the 14th to 16th zone next season.

[52Paddy]

Let them get grounded and find their feet first! Besides, they're doing no harm. I'd much rather see three teams that are struggling in comparison to the more established teams, than a grid of 18 cars. There is still a spot available for a 13th team if one wishes to come along. If more applicants came in for 2012 or 2013, I'd love to see the return of pre-qualifying. Then there's no arguments.

[steveaki13]

Let them get grounded and find their feet first! Besides, they're doing no harm. I'd much rather see three teams that are struggling in comparison to the more established teams, than a grid of 18 cars. There is still a spot available for a 13th team if one wishes to come along. If more applicants came in for 2012 or 2013, I'd love to see the return of pre-qualifying. Then there's no arguments.

This for me as well

[Nikki Katz]

I'd like it if the teams were more competitive, but I'm enjoying having 24 cars on the grid rather than 18. There's always calls on the team at the back to stop wasting its time and money and just leave - would there be questions asked about Williams if it wasn't for these three?

Lotus/Caterham/1Malaysia may be able to bring themselves next year to roughly where Williams are this year. I doubt that the other two will improve too much though, they've done a reasonable job considering their budgets, but they simply don't have enough money now that chassis sharing etc have been banned and the budget caps weren't as much as expected.

Frankly I don't really understand the cap on the number of teams or why so many recent entries have been rejected, so long as there aren't more than 26 cars in the race and the police whichever qualifying rule they have at the time a bit better. But I'm probably on my own in that opinion.

[ioan]

There is still a spot available for a 13th team if one wishes to come along.

That's questionable.

[Malbec]

They should either go to Auto GP or GP2 cos they just aint good enough for F1...and never will be.

Never will be?

I think they're doing a good job, after all they qualify within 107% almost every race and they're all consolidating their sponsors and engineering resources. Thats pretty good going since there are always better teams around for sponsors to be drawn to.

Lotus right now is about as quick as Jordan/Midland/Spyker were for a good few seasons. Not bad for season 2 at all.

[52Paddy]

That's questionable.

How?

[52Paddy]

Frankly I don't really understand the cap on the number of teams or why so many recent entries have been rejected, so long as there aren't more than 26 cars in the race and the police whichever qualifying rule they have at the time a bit better. But I'm probably on my own in that opinion.

I'm with you on that one.

[555-04Q2]

They should either go to Auto GP or GP2 cos they just aint good enough for F1...and never will be.

Not fair on Lotus :( They are making steady progress, they will need another season or two though until they can start challenging for points finishes :)

As for the other two, yep, I agree :up:

[555-04Q2]

Frankly I don't really understand the cap on the number of teams or why so many recent entries have been rejected, so long as there aren't more than 26 cars in the race and the police whichever qualifying rule they have at the time a bit better. But I'm probably on my own in that opinion.

They should let teams enter 3 cars each. That way you can fill the grid with top cars and have a lot more potential race winners and fights for podium finishes. Image 3 Ferrari's, 3 Macca's and 3 Red Bulls fighting for a race win!

[Malbec]

Frankly I don't really understand the cap on the number of teams or why so many recent entries have been rejected, so long as there aren't more than 26 cars in the race and the police whichever qualifying rule they have at the time a bit better. But I'm probably on my own in that opinion.

I think the balance is just right at the moment.

We can't have just anyone turning up to the races in the hope they'll somehow make qualifying as they did back in the 80s'. Imagine how unprofessional the sport would appear if there were 20 teams trying to race of which 5-6 didn't even last a full season or qualify within 107% at all.

The FIA does check over the details over anyone applying so that they will be able to stay in the sport for a couple of years at least, even with that due diligence some fail that basic hurdle like USGP.

People who think HRT, Virgin and Lotus don't belong in F1 don't seem to realise how difficult it is simply to enter a car capable of qualifying within 107% or see that the sport does need a constant supply of new teams to replace the old ones that fall by the wayside.

[Malbec]

They should let teams enter 3 cars each. That way you can fill the grid with top cars and have a lot more potential race winners and fights for podium finishes. Image 3 Ferrari's, 3 Macca's and 3 Red Bulls fighting for a race win!

And make sure that noone in the midfield could ever score a point, good idea!

[52Paddy]

We can't have just anyone turning up to the races in the hope they'll somehow make qualifying as they did back in the 80s'. Imagine how unprofessional the sport would appear if there were 20 teams trying to race of which 5-6 didn't even last a full season or qualify within 107% at all.

The sport wouldn't appear unprofessional. The ailing teams would. The sport appears unprofessional in other areas already so opening the floodgates for new teams won't do any harm.

[steveaki13]

I am with those who would like to see more teams allowed to enter.

The way I would see it. If we had 16 teams entering, with 26 making the race, taking this season, if the new teams are not fast enough they get the chop before the race and if they are fast enough then the 26 are more competative as any cars i.e HRT's hopefully are not racing at 6 or 7 seconds off the pace.

More battling to get into the races means more development and the 26 cars in the race improve.

Rather than HRT seeing they are 7 seconds off the pace and thinking "Well we needn't improve as we race each week".

These teams I feel would force the level of new teams up.

[555-04Q2]

And make sure that noone in the midfield could ever score a point, good idea!

Like everything else in life, if they want a point, earn it, no matter what lies before you.

[52Paddy]

More battling to get into the races means more development and the 26 cars in the race improve.

These teams I feel would force the level of new teams up.

Good point. I never thought about it like that. Jordan had a shocker of a season in 1992 had failed to qualify a car on a few occasions. This embarrassment did spur on the team members to push for greater performance and eventually led to a comparatively decent 1993 season. The strive to get out of qualifying and into the race was, perhaps, more influential than the strive to get points when you're trundling around in the last few grid slots. I don't know - just a hunch.

[Dave B]

They should let teams enter 3 cars each. That way you can fill the grid with top cars and have a lot more potential race winners and fights for podium finishes. Image 3 Ferrari's, 3 Macca's and 3 Red Bulls fighting for a race win!

I can't imagine anything more dull. At Monza, partly thanks to Liuzzi's brainfart at the first corner, there were several teams from the lower midfield in with a genuine shot at some points - even Lotus looked like they were going to pick up a P10 at one stage. With the reliability as it is, your plan would see the top 9 dominated by the top 3 teams with just one points scoring opportunity for the likes of Renault, Force India or Sauber. :down:

[555-04Q2]

I can't imagine anything more dull. At Monza, partly thanks to Liuzzi's brainfart at the first corner, there were several teams from the lower midfield in with a genuine shot at some points - even Lotus looked like they were going to pick up a P10 at one stage. With the reliability as it is, your plan would see the top 9 dominated by the top 3 teams with just one points scoring opportunity for the likes of Renault, Force India or Sauber. :down:

Its attractive to me :)