Nissan to join F1 in 2008?
Rumors are again mounting with suggestions that Nissan is considering entering Formula One with its own team. Rival Japanese automakers Honda and Toyota both have teams, and Korean competitor Hyundai recently announced their intentions to join in on the action as well. With the contemporary trend of automakers supporting full teams – as opposed to simply providing engines as was the practice in the past – Nissan is likely considering its own team and not just an engine contract with an existing one.
Of course Nissan's sister company Renault have a team of their own – a world champion team, actually. But while this shows the company's appreciation for F1, it's practically unheard of for an automaker to run two full competing teams. Other squads (Ferrari serving as the most prominent example) commonly supply engines to smaller teams, but Red Bull is the only company that runs two full teams.
One possible scenario would be for the Renault team to simply switch banners to Nissan. Given that the Renault F1 team has little to do with the French automaker, the move would be primarily a change of image, if CEO Carlos Ghosn sees fit.
A second possibility is being fueled by reports of Nissan talking with retired driver and former team owner Alain Prost, which would likely see Nissan buying out an existing team for the Frenchman to run.
The Nissan team is tipped to be hitting the grid as early as 2008, a full two years before Hyundai's and a mere two seasons away. If both Nissan and Renault were to both run teams, we wouldn't be surprised if Nissan served as the "farm team" for Renault, possibly using their engines re-badged as Nissans while providing them with extra testing data and some back-field support.
[Source: Motor Authority]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MTV Sucks 2:29PM (10/31/2006)
It would be nice to see Nissan's F1 future racing technology make its way to Nissan's street products.
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CorporateShill 3:16PM (10/31/2006)
Nissan would be better off spending that money on quality improvements to the cars that people buy today than toiling away as a middle-of-the-pack F1 team.
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D Man 3:09PM (10/31/2006)
I think Nissan would be great in F1. Nissan already makes great engines.
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felonious monk 4:04PM (10/31/2006)
Nissan's been missing from racing far too long.
As a joke, they could buy out Super Aguri. :D
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felonious monk 4:08PM (10/31/2006)
"Nissan would be better off spending that money on quality improvements to the cars that people buy today than toiling away as a middle-of-the-pack F1 team."
When was the last time you sat in a new Nissan? Build quality is very good these days. About as good as Audi or BMW. Don't believe me? go to a dealer and sit in a 2006 or 07. The plastics in the early 350z were pretty cheap looking, but Nissan have taken feedback seriously and made huge improvements. You don't see Ford, DC or GM doing that.
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Jaimie B 4:37PM (10/31/2006)
Reliablity on a manufacturer's road cars has absolutely nothing to do with F1 success.
Renault is proof of that.
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Schwag of Tulsa 6:18PM (10/31/2006)
Nissan in F1? Not a bad idea.
Managed by Prost? Very bad idea. Prost was a great driver, but not a great team manager.
Prodrive-Nissan would be my bet.
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fizzandpop 7:03PM (10/31/2006)
Glad to see Alan Prost still has that massive schnozz/beak/hooter/conk/nez.
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GT AE'06 8:12PM (10/31/2006)
#4.
What you wanted to say is:
as a joke they could buy 'Super Best Friends' ;)
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Dasboost 8:18PM (10/31/2006)
I was just thinking about this over the weekend. This could boost Nissan's image through the world. Given the other two major Japanese car manufacturer's are already in the game, i.e. honda, toyota. That's not to see they see consistent results like Renault or Ferrari. Still I think this will be good move.
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Greg 6:54AM (11/01/2006)
"Given that the Renault F1 team has little to do with the French automaker"
WTF
If chassis is built in England by former Benetton team, the engine -- basically the main reason for Renault's 2 World Campionships -- is 100% Renault and French.
About Nissan, it could be interesting to see them compete against their Japanese counterparts (even if most of Japanese people don't give a sh## about F1...), but Prost just seems a very bad idea.
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nagmashot 12:09AM (12/02/2006)
Renault owns Nissan (they hold over 44% of Nissan stocks and are after japanese stock laws the owner) the chief chairmen Gosh of Renault/Nissan sits in Paris...
Nissan in the F1?
Only if Renault gets out of the F1 and rebadge its F1 team as Nissan...
Nissan has zerro experience with F1 racing... they have not the money of Toyota and they have not the experience of Honda...
The only way I see Nissan in the F1 is as a engine supplier with rebadged Renault F1 engines.
Would be a stupid move of Gosh ..his Company already has the worldchampion F1 team and driver title 2005/2006...
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Bert 10:38PM (10/21/2007)
Renault the car manufacturer has nothing to do with Renault the F1 team. Nissan on the other hand has lots of experience and wins in the JGTC, LeMans, Indy, Rally and many other races. Nissan was very prominent with racing during the 90's and even before that. So in terms of racing heritage Nissan has a very rich one.
I think it would be better if Nissan were to start their own team and get helped out by Renault till they get a foothold on the competition. That way it wont look like Nissan is just buying out the team and relying on that team's success to ensure that they are successful in F1. Also I dont think the majority of Renault F1 supporters would encourage such a move. Nissan is capable - just needs a litle help from sister Renault in the right direction in F1 and they should be quite successful if not at least able to keep up with the rest.
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