The inside story of F1 2010's lost teams, #1: Prodrive

Before the 2010 season, the FIA sought to add to the Formula 1 grid's depleting numbers, in which many teams tried and failed to get an entry. In this first instalment of a new mini-series, we look at Prodrive's attempt to make the grid…

Jake Boxall-Legge Aug 20, 2020, 8:54 PM

Upd: Aug 21, 2020, 1:45 AM

Motorsport.com's Prime content

The best content from Motorsport.com Prime, our subscription service. Subscribe here to get access to all the features.

Thanks to the financial broadside levelled on Formula 1 by the coronavirus pandemic, the current cast of teams could be forgiven for getting a little hot under the collar when it comes to perusing balance sheets. With the spectre of the last global financial crash from just over a decade ago still looming, F1 will have to pull out all the lessons it learned from the last recession to keep everyone afloat.

Last time, the global financial crisis almost changed the face of F1 altogether. Manufacturers Honda, Toyota and BMW all withdrew, while the Honda-backed Super Aguri squad had also hit the wall mid-2008 as money proved scarce. To fill the gaping void, and cover the threat of 2010's field consisting of just 16 cars, then-FIA president Max Mosley unveiled a new tender process to welcome new teams into F1, with a Resource Restriction Agreement: a promise of a £40 million – initially as low as £30million – budget cap to sweeten the pot.

Share Or Save This Story

Author Jake Boxall-Legge

Jake Boxall-Legge Autosport’s Technical Editor. Having studied Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the University of Hertfordshire, West Country-born Jake's original ambition was to design racing cars. During a year between studies in which he accidentally rekindled a love of writing, he took up a Master's in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes. Halfway through his master's year, he was offered a place on the Autosport Academy, conducting occasional freelance duties before becoming the press officer for Formula 2 and GP3 in 2018. Autosport offered him a return to the fold later that year to serve as its Technical Editor. His voice appears on a number of videos and podcasts, and can often be found writing about terrible Formula 1 cars in excruciating detail. In his spare time, Jake enjoys baking and blames his failure to make it past the Great British Bake-Off interviews on his tenuous grasp on choux pastry. His dream is to open a brunch cafe - and his willingness to make outrageous puns in inappropriate situations has earned him the contempt of his colleagues.