Force india not using ferrari engines anymore.
Discussion
It is confirmed looks like they'll be after a deal with merc now.
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=44575
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=44575
Derek Smith said:
It would appear that it is not only the engines that are going. Mike Gascoyne, team principal Colin Koyles and Patrick Missling are all going as well. Are they tied to the Ferrari deal or are their other reasons? Anyone know the ins and outs?
Perhaps a certain Mr. Coughlin (who may have experience of McLaren engineering and a little knowledge of how to implement it into a car designed around Ferrari engineering), would make a good replacement...
Blimey thats a curious move. Reading up a bit on Mike Gascoyne he seems to be a very talented technical chap with some marked successes however he doesn't seem the easiest to deal with and comes with quite a price tag, so could be a dozen different reasons.
Interesting that Mallya is taking over as team principal. That could go in any direction.
Looks like some serious reshuffling regarding the money situation is going on
Interesting that Mallya is taking over as team principal. That could go in any direction.
Looks like some serious reshuffling regarding the money situation is going on
Fire99 said:
Blimey thats a curious move. Reading up a bit on Mike Gascoyne he seems to be a very talented technical chap with some marked successes however he doesn't seem the easiest to deal with and comes with quite a price tag, so could be a dozen different reasons.
Honda could do a lot worse than take Gascoyne on. He turned Jordan in to race winners, revived Benetton's fortunes after that period when Renault decided that they didn't know how to make engines for a couple of years (2001-2002) and then made Toyota's performances quite respectable before getting the boot.The major downside with Mike is that he doesn't appear to be able to stay at a team for more than two years before either leaving voluntarily or getting sacked.
Edited by Teppic on Saturday 8th November 00:08
.... and he was responsible for setting the design direction which ultimately ended up in two championships for Alonso at Renault. I rate him very highly, and Honda would be mad not to snap him up.... That would free up the guy they are using at the moment and let him get back to his day job as a quad bike designer....
Derek Smith said:
It would appear that it is not only the engines that are going. Mike Gascoyne, team principal Colin Koyles and Patrick Missling are all going as well. Are they tied to the Ferrari deal or are their other reasons? Anyone know the ins and outs?
They're in a contract with ferrari till end of next season,but have pulled out early for some reason dicktracy said:
.... and he was responsible for setting the design direction which ultimately ended up in two championships for Alonso at Renault. I rate him very highly, and Honda would be mad not to snap him up.... That would free up the guy they are using at the moment and let him get back to his day job as a quad bike designer....
...didn't that design direction involve a certain Mr Mark Smith as heading one of the design teams at Renault?I'd say this was inevitable - Mike's a maverick guy who likes to control the process - this worked well at Renault under Flav, but clearly not at Toyota where the process is to design by committee (and that committee is based in Japan).
Mallya's intention to become more involved could be interpreted by me as:-
He does want to micro-manage - not Mike's style or
He wants to buy more than just technology from McLaren or
He wants to force Mike out to make way for a star technical director (but who?...)
I don't know what it is about Mike Gascoyne which means that he doesn't stay around long, recently, it seems to be that as soon as he has been at a team long enough for his input to start to work he leaves, or is asked to leave. If he really is good wouldn't they want him to stay once he has been there for just that time to start to get some repayment of investment? I think he has created some very successful designs on a relatively limited budget, but what is it about him that means he gets moved on.
The Force India situation indicates to me that some sort of agreement has been reached on customer chassis as it appears that FI have the deal now which Prodrive were going for with McLaren, or have I misinterpreted things?
The Force India situation indicates to me that some sort of agreement has been reached on customer chassis as it appears that FI have the deal now which Prodrive were going for with McLaren, or have I misinterpreted things?
Fire99 said:
Blimey thats a curious move. Reading up a bit on Mike Gascoyne he seems to be a very talented technical chap
He is the man who in recent times has made an art form of designing a sh&te car, then designing a 'B' version, which is a shiney sliver less sh&te than the 'A' one. Not someone I'd want to spend hundreds of thousands employing, to be frank.10 Pence Short said:
Fire99 said:
Blimey thats a curious move. Reading up a bit on Mike Gascoyne he seems to be a very talented technical chap
He is the man who in recent times has made an art form of designing a sh&te car, then designing a 'B' version, which is a shiney sliver less sh&te than the 'A' one. Not someone I'd want to spend hundreds of thousands employing, to be frank.Gascoyne polarises opinion, in the same way Gary Anderson does; both straight talkers, strong technical base, but tell it as it is.
As I alluded to above, Gascoyne was responsible for putting in place the dual design teams at Renault that delivered the 2005 title for Alonso.
There's no coincidence why Gascoyne's best work took place under the management style adopted by Eddie Jordan and Flavio Briatore. As soon as I saw the way Mallya likes to work (some great anecdotes about him to tell, if I could) I knew it'd only be a matter of time before both Kolles and Gascoyne left.
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