By Parminio
October 19 2004

McLaren-Mercedes is supposed to supply engines and technical support to the new team in a fashion similar to what Ferrari have done with Sauber over the last few years. Ferrari's relationship with Sauber seems to have worked out well. One wonders however if McLaren is ready for such a relationship. Given the problems that McLaren-Mercedes have had over the last several years, what advantage does it give team Dubai F1? Can McLaren get it together by 2006? What will the regulations be then?

These are all very key questions. With the Formula 1 grid primed to lose 3 teams next season due to Ford pulling the plug on Jaguar and Cosworth engineering, the futures of Jordan, Minardi and Jaguar are in serious doubt. Bernie Eccelstone doesn't seem to care if all three teams vanish from Formula 1.

It was thought that anyone wishing to enter F1 would be better off purchasing one of the existing teams, but team Dubai has decided to build a team from scratch. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum has the money to do just that. Construction on a wind tunnel, technical facilities and test facilities is due to begin the first part of next year. The team will be based in England, but will test and do development in Dubai itself.

Although an exciting development given the bad news lately, the big issue is what will Formula 1 do until then? There are to date no buyers for Jaguar or Cosworth, which means that Jordan and Minardi are going to have to struggle to find an engine deal unless someone pics up Cosworth Engineering at the very least and continues the engine production. It doesn't seem very likely.

McLaren-Mercedes will also be under the gun to supply far more powerful and reliable engines than they've had recently. Given the recent performance of Mercedes engines, one wonders why Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum didn't approach Honda or Toyota.

It's a mixed up situation as we head to the last Grand Prix of 2004 this weekend at Brazil. It's a wait and see game until Australia 2005 to see if Jordan, Minardi and Jaguar find a solution to continue on. If they don't, it will be 2006 before we see a half way full grid again.