The name Spyker isn't exactly new to Formula One; the team, which was
previously Jordan and then Midland, carried the moniker Spyker MF1 since the
car maker took over Midland in 2006 and since the beginning of this year it's simply SpykerF1.
2007 is hoped to be a new beginning for the Dutch outfit. The Spyker F8-VII was
launched at Silverstone on February 5th, just over the road from headquarters,
and a fresh momentum and stability seemed to be in the air.
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The 2007 Spyker-Ferrari F8-VII. Photo by xpb.cc.
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The 2007 car sports a distinctive orange livery and presenting it was
memorable for Michiel Mol, director of the team. "This is an emotional
moment for me, it's very special," he said. "It's history in the making.
It's amazing to see what we have achieved over the past few months to
get this car together, and now today we unveil the first Formula One car
of Spyker."
On the technical side, the F8-VII is said to be a "solid base on which
to build" and some things that have been proven in the past, such as the
steering rack, have remained unchanged. The chassis is still high but
effectively has a zero keel as opposed to last year's twin keel. The
gearbox is a little longer and, naturally, the change to a Ferrari
engine has made the back of the car rather different.
"It's difficult to say at this time what the strengths will be," said
technical director James Key, seeing as the car has yet to hit the
track. "But I think there's a few things we can probably say with
confidence at this stage. It's a much more refined car than we had last
year. We've identified weaknesses with the M16 we had in 2006 and tried
to address them."
"So the quality of the product, if you like, is better. We've taken
weight out of the car so there's more flexibility with the set up and
weight distribution, which is fundamental to the tyres. Other strengths
certainly include the engine. We've got the Ferrari in there now and
we're very pleased with the way that's gone, the relationship with
Ferrari."
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Mike Gascoyne, Spyker F1 Team, Chief Technology Officer, Colin Kolles, Spyker F1 Team, Team Principal, Michiel Mol, Director of Formula One Racing, Spyker and Spyker F1 Team and Victor Muller, Chief Executive Officer of Spyker Cars N.V. and Spyker F1 Team. Photo by xpb.cc.
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For Mike Gascoyne, joining Spyker is something of a homecoming as before
he was technical director with Toyota and Renault, he worked with
Jordan. As Spyker's chief technical officer it's a bit different
from his previous team Toyota, a huge corporate presence compared to
Spyker's fledgling racing identity.
"I had a few months off and had a chance to think about what I wanted
to do in the future and, actually, it was a very easy decision when
these guys came round to see me and explained their vision of where they
wanted to go," Gascoyne said of his choice of Spyker. "Knowing the team
and how it's set up… I'm under no illusions about the work that needs
to be done and how to move forward and it was a very simple decision to
make. It's a great challenge for the future that gives me motivation to
take the team to the front."
"The design of the car was all very much under way, near enough complete," he added of when
he joined the team in November last year. "James (Key) has done a great
job with this car, with the resources that he had, the whole team has
done a fantastic job so really, compliments to all those guys. I'm
concentrating on the long-term future to build the company from a
technical point of view."
"The team has the resources now with the stable future that its got, so
we can really start to plan to be a more competitive team. It's clear
from the management that's what they've targeted James to achieve and
he's done a fantastic job, so hopefully later in the year we'll make it
more and more competitive."
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Christijan Albers, Adrian Sutil, Fairuz Fauzy, Adrian Valles, Markus Winkelhock and Giedo van der Garde. Photo by xpb.cc.
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Dutchman Christijan Albers joined the team as Midland MF1 in 2006 and
continues this season, along with German rookie Adrian Sutil. Spyker
has no less than four test drivers to its name: Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy,
Spaniard Adrian Valles, German Markus Winkelhock and (the still-debated
with Super Aguri) Dutchman Giedo van der Garde.
A Dutch team, Dutch sponsors; Albers must feel right at home… "I'm
really proud to be here, to be part of this," he said. "We are working
really hard and everybody is really motivated and I'm really eager to be
back in the car because it's been a long time! But I'm confident; I know
everybody is pushing really hard to get a quick car."
Sutil, of course, is equally eager to start his debut season. "It's a
dream of all racing drivers to be in this world and it was great news,"
he recalled of when Spyker informed he had the drive. "I was hoping to
get a test seat or something, a real opportunity to drive the whole
season, but I didn't expect to be a Grand Prix driver so quick! So now
I really know my opportunity is here and I will do everything to do a
really good job."
Managing director and team principal Colin Kolles is happy to see Spyker
moving onwards and upwards from its troubled past. "I'm definitely very
pleased because we've had quite difficult times," he said. "We had to
rescue a company and then we had to stabilize it and now I'm looking
forward to bringing it forward and making it a success. I think we have
a very motivated team and they are working day and night to make it
happen."
The F8-V11 designation is based on Spyker history. Car models were
previously named A, B and C and when CEO Victor Muller restructured
Spyker in 2000 he wanted to keep that tradition. The E line is due in
the near future so Muller decided it "makes sense for our Formula One
car, our latest model, to be the F line." The number eight refers to
the cylinders in the Ferrari engine and the VII to Spyker's aircraft
manufacturing history. Models were designated by Roman numerals and the
year they were launched.
