Vijay Mallya buys Spyker F1 team!

[kerbhopper 0]

Vijay Mallya has bought the Spyker F1 team! Wow! way to go. this will do India proud and I am sure Mallyas flamboyance will make for the lack of on track performance and get exposure for this struggling team. The question who will be the drivers? My bet is that Karun Chandhok will be involved in some way (test driver/ driver?) Hope that happens. Karun needs a good break

[Daytona 0]

Is this news confirmed? Read it on the ACI website. But if this were true this is another great acquistion by India Inc. The buyout of Corus,  a possibly buyout of Jaguar and Land Rover and now an F1 team! There is no stopping Indian businesses from going out and buying anything. Cheers to that

[Zavo 0]

Lol...

Yea yea Daytona. its true.. thats all that keeps scrolling on the news channel "BREAKING NEWS" bar on tv.

Funny... I thought hed go the Toyota route.. but he says hes bought into the team in his "PERSONAL CAPACITY".. whatever that is..

 

[cavallino 0]

According to grandprix.com (what at least I regard as a very reputable F-1 website), the deal is done and dusted.

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns19566.html

 

However the article brings up a very good point of Spykers Arab owners frowning upon a liquor baron being in control and using his brands to sponsor the team. So it could be that Mallyas involvement with the team could be as short as that of the current owners unless Mallya can rope in some other big name sponsors.

 

I think TATA could be one of them if they can be convinced to back someone like Karthikeyan or Chandok for the team. Mallya (if he is indeed the new owner) probably wont hang on to Adrian Sutil for long as he could very well be snapped up by Renault who will be looking to replace Fisichella. That is pure speculation on my part but it would be a shame if it were to happen as a little stability in an F-1 team never hurts. Especially when it comes to hanging on to a talent like Sutil.

[RacingForIndia 0]

With the recent updates to the car the team seems to be performing well, atleast in dry conditions.

Heres hoping that either KC or NR get to drive in F1 next year.

[Silent Thunder 0]

But how will he be able to manage the towering losses of a back-bench F1 team? There is no way he's gonna get any profits other than upholding the nation's pride..

[Zavo 0]

To quote a popular Hindi Song..GOL MAAL HAI BHAI SAB GOL MAAL HAI!!!lol!!!

[Howie 0]

Accountancy aside..This is a fab moment for India. From my view, Mallya has to have a couple of aces up his sleeve to match his bravado of buying a F-1 team(again, WOW). From what I've seen of that man, he's not likely to dump a potful of money into a losing venture unless he can get double back. On the flip side, this is an unusual area to diversify(laugh).

    My friends (and me included) have vastly appreciated his move, and to help him in our own small way, we have decided to increase consumption of his products.

[RacingForIndia 0]

Spyker has a great driver in Sutil and one of the best technical chiefs in Mike Cascoyne. If Mallya can pump in the cash, and manage to get sponsors for the team from India, theres no guessing how far he will go.

Reading his recent interviews, he sounded quietly confident of pulling out a coup next year.

Lets wait and watch.

[325i 1]

Heard that Sutil maybe poached by another team and his contract bought out from Spyker. that will leave two empty seats. one should go to an Indian driver

[sgiitk 0]

I guess he is looking at the publicity. He cannot advertise his stuff on the Box in India, since C2H5OH is a dirty word. This way he can get F1 viewers to see Kingfisher (and his other brands)  for the entire race. So this in addition to the ego trip it may make sound business sense.

[P_One 0]

howie has a point. as staunch indians, and big f1 fans, i propose a toast. also, let us help dear mallya out as much as we can. moral of the story: drink more reeb. 

[Howie 0]

All I can say is, Mallya's drivers better not be left swigging when the race starts, even if they are sponsored by the liquor baron on India.

I guess, I'm more glad this big step has been taken by Vijay mallya of United Breweries. It would have been really hard to stomach a Manikchand F-1 team...lol(pun intended).