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The MotoGP model that proves F1 B-teams' worth

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Formula 1 Analysis

The MotoGP model that proves F1 B-teams' worth

By:

Jake Boxall-Legge

Apr 18, 2019, 9:41 AM

F1's relationship with customer cars has been contradictory through history, and the development of the current form of B-teams has led to scorn inside and outside the paddock. But a glance at MotoGP shows how they can key to F1's future

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The jury was always out on customer cars in Formula 1. Though a huge part of the category's formative years, in which private entrants frequently bought up machinery from the likes of Lotus and March, 21st-century variants were looked upon with greater disdain.

Some weren't particularly happy that the Super Aguri team could get away with buying up previous-spec Hondas, or that Toro Rosso could use the same car as sister squad Red Bull. The resulting opposition nipped a potential Prodrive entry in the bud, the title-winning touring car and rallying company having agreed a deal with McLaren to buy its cars for 2008.

Jake Boxall-Legge

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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.