SPYKER F1

'Spyker F1' is a Formula One team created in September 2006 by Spyker Cars, after the buyout of short lived outfit Midland F1. The change to the Spyker name, meant that the team switched racing livery from the red and white previously used by the Midland concern, to an orange and silver scheme—already seen on the Spyker Spyder GT2-R—orange being the Dutch national color.

Contents

Background

The Buyout of Midland F1

2007 and onwards

Complete Formula One results

References

External links

Background

Although created in 2006, the team's roots can be traced back to the year , when it was founded as Jordan Grand Prix. The Silverstone-based squad and facilities were bought by the Midland group in 2005 and re-named Midland F1 in 2006, before being sold to Spyker Cars towards the end of the 2006 season.

The Buyout of Midland F1

Rumours had been floating about in the paddock throughout the mid-season about the possible sale of the team, less than two years after Alex Shnaider originally bought it from Eddie Jordan. Reports suggested a price tag of $128m, and that Shnaider was seriously considering the possibility of the sale. Formula One teams had become more valuable, due to the fact that no more teams could enter after 2008, with the maximum of 12 places already filled.^[1]
On 9 September, 2006, it was revealed that the team was sold to Spyker Cars, a Dutch manufacturer of hand-built cars.^[2] Spyker paid $106.6 million for the team.^[3] On September 10 ITV commentators said that both Shnaider and former consultant Johnny Herbert were no longer involved in the team since the announcement of the sale.^[4]
Former Midland drivers Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro were retained for the remainder of the 2006 season, with it being announced at Spyker's debut race in China, that Albers, a Dutchman - has also been signed to drive in 2007. As part of the deal, the cars had a revised livery for the final three races of 2006.^[5] The name of the team also changed to 'Spyker MF1 Racing', as FIA regulations preclude a change of a team's name during a season but do allow for a sponsor name to be added to the front.

2007 and onwards

It was announced in China that the previous team boss of Midland, Colin Kolles, would remain as team principal into 2007. Michiel Mol is to become the new Director of F1 racing and member of the Spyker board, and Mike Gascoyne will become the Chief Technology Officer from the end of the 2006 season.^[6]

The team is running customer Ferrari engines in 2007, replacing the Toyota units, which have gone to the Williams team. The team is also using the Dutch flag from 2007 instead of the Russian flag, since Spyker is based in the Netherlands.
For the second race driver, Spyker signed one of their 2006 third drivers, Adrian Sutil, to drive for the team in 2007.^[7] The news was announced on December 21 2006.
Also, the official FIA entry list for 2007 was posted on various websites on December 4, 2006, and on the list the Spyker F1 Team (Ferrari) was assigned car numbers 20 and 21, but only Christijan Albers' name was made official on the entry list, with the second seat, and car number 21 left TBA, since Sutil had not been confirmed at the time.
Spyker F1 has already announced their signing of eight sponsorship deals, mainly from Dutch companies. LeasePlan signed a three year deal on October 5,^[8] followed by RotoZip on October 25, Philoderm on October 31, Trust on November 8,^[9] and Quick on November 22. McGregor signed on December 20, Medion^[10] and Exact Software^[11] signed on January 17 2007. With these they completed GR8 Industries wish to have eight new sponsors for 2007.
On February 1, Spyker signed four test and reserve drivers for the 2007 season: Adrián Vallés, Mohamed Fairuz Fauzy, Giedo van der Garde and Markus Winkelhock.^[12]
In March, Spyker announced a sponsor deal with Etihad Airways and Aldar Properties, two companies from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The official name of the team will be Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team.
On July 10, Albers was released from his Spyker contract, due to a lack of sponsorship money, which would have compromised the team's development programme. Mol described it as "one of the toughest decisions of my career".^[13] Despite former Red Bull Racing driver Christian Klien testing for the team on July 12 2007,^[14] Albers' replacement for the 2007 European Grand Prix was Winkelhock.^[15]
During the 2007 European Grand Prix, Winkelhock became the first driver to lead a Grand Prix in a Spyker, due to the team's clever tyre selection. However, Winkelhock did not keep his race drive as this went to Japanese former Super Aguri driver Sakon Yamamoto.
On August 14, Spyker Cars announced that it may have to sell all or part of the team due to a potential split of the team from its parent company.^[16]
On August 23, the new B-Spec Spyker model, which the team hoped to use at the 2007 Turkish Grand Prix, failed the crucial rear crash test which is set by the FIA. All cars must pass these tests to be allowed to race.^[17] However, A few days later it was confirmed that the car had passed the crash test in time to compete in the Italian Grand Prix.^[18]
On September 3 Indian businessman Dr Vijay Mallya and Dutch entrepreneur Michiel Mol. Mallya - Chairman and CEO of Toyota sponsors Kingfisher Airlines - and Mol - Spyker’s Formula One Director, stated the Spyker board has accepted their offer and will sign off within a month to become the new owners of the Spyker Formula One team.^[19]

Complete Formula One results

() (results in bold indicate 'pole position')

Year	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Points	WCC
2007	Spyker F8-VII	Ferrari V8			AUS	MAL	BHR	ESP	MON	CAN	USA	FRA	GBR	EUR	HUN	TUR	ITA	BEL	JPN	CHN	BRA
				Adrian Sutil	17	Ret	15	13	Ret	Ret	14	17	Ret	Ret	17	21	19
				Christijan Albers	Ret	Ret	14	14	19	Ret	15	Ret	15
				Markus Winkelhock										Ret
				Sakon Yamamoto											Ret	20	20

References

1. An F1 team up for sale again?
2. Midland sells MF1 Racing to Spyker
3. Spyker buys Formula 1 team
4. Herbert leaves Midland, future uncertain
5. Spyker MF1 unveils new livery
6. Spyker man targets points
7. Sutil joins Albers at Spyker
8. Why Spyker has backing from Leaseplan
9. Trust joins Spyker
10. Another computer firm heads into F1
11. Exact joins Spyker
12. Spyker announces four test drivers
13. Spyker drops Albers
14. www.spykerf1.nl/?pag=89&newsid=428
15. Winkelhock name to return to F1
16. Spyker considers selling F1 team
17. New Spyker model fails crash test
18. Revised Spyker passes crash test
19. Mallya and Mol set for Spyker takeover

External links

★ Spyker F1 Team Official Website

★ Official Spyker F1 Fansite

★ Spyker F1 Fansite