Spyker F1

Former F1 team
Short_name = Spyker F1
Long_name = flagicon|Netherlands Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team

Base = flagicon|UK Silverstone, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
Principal = flagicon|Germany Colin Kolles
Director = flagicon|UK James Key
Drivers = flagicon|Germany Adrian Sutil
flagicon|NED Christijan Albers
flagicon|GER Markus Winkelhock
flagicon|Japan Sakon Yamamoto
Engine = Ferrari
Debut = 2007 Australian Grand Prix
Races = 17
Cons_champ = 0
Drivers_champ = 0
Wins = 0
Poles = 0
Fastest_laps = 0
Last race = 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix

Spyker F1 was a Formula One team that competed in the 2007 Formula One World Championship, and was created by Spyker Cars after their buyout of the short-lived Midland F1 team. The change to the Spyker name was accompanied by a switch in racing livery from the red and white previously used by Midland, to an orange and silver scheme—already seen on the Spyker Spyder GT2-R—orange being the national colour and the auto racing colour of the Netherlands. At the end of the 2007 season the team was sold and renamed "Force India Formula One".

Background

Although created in 2006, the team's roots can be traced back to the year F1|1991, 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, because no more teams could enter after 2008, with the maximum of 12 places already filled. [cite news
title =An F1 team up for sale again?
publisher =Manipe F1
url =http://www.manipef1.com/news/2006/index.php?id=928
date =2006-05-29
accessdate=2007-08-29]

On 9 September, 2006, it was revealed that the team was sold to Spyker Cars, a Dutch manufacturer of hand-built cars. [cite news
title =Midland sells MF1 Racing to Spyker
publisher =grandprix.com
url =http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns17434.html
date =2006-09-09
accessdate=2007-08-29] Spyker paid $106.6 million for the team. [cite news
title =Spyker buys Formula 1 team
publisher =DutchNews.nl
url =http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2006/09/spyker_buys_formula_1_team.php
date =2006-09-11
accessdate=2007-08-29] 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. [cite news
title =Herbert leaves Midland, future uncertain
publisher =grandprix-live.com
url =http://www.grandprix-live.com/article.php?title=Herbert_leaves_Midland,_future_uncertain
date =2006-09-29
accessdate=2006-09-29]

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. [cite news
title =Spyker MF1 unveils new livery
publisher =ITV plc
url =http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=37397
date =2006-09-19
accessdate=2007-08-29] 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 season

The previous team boss of Midland, Colin Kolles, remained as team principal into 2007. Michiel Mol became the new Director of F1 racing and member of the Spyker board, and Mike Gascoyne became the Chief Technology Officer from the end of the 2006 season. [cite news
title =Spyker man targets points
publisher =ITV
url =http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=37905
date =2006-11-06
accessdate=2007-01-18]

The team used customer Ferrari engines in 2007, replacing the Toyota units, which went to the Williams team. Although the team remained based in the UK, it chose to register under the Dutch motor racing authority and therefore run under the Dutch flag during 2007, reflecting its new ownership.

For the second race driver, Spyker signed one of their 2006 third drivers, Adrian Sutil, to drive for the team in 2007. [cite news| title =Sutil joins Albers at Spyker| publisher =Grandprix.com| url =http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns17887.html| date =2006-12-21| accessdate =2006-12-21] The official FIA entry list for 2007 was posted on various websites on December 4, 2006, and on the list the Spyker F1 Team 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. However, the car numbers were swapped inside the team as Albers wanted to drive a car with an odd number, hence Albers (and later Winkelhock and Yamamoto) raced with number 21 and Sutil 20. Spyker signed four test and reserve drivers for the 2007 season: Adrián Vallés, Mohamed Fairuz Fauzy, Giedo van der Garde and Markus Winkelhock. [cite news| title =Spyker announces four test drivers| publisher =F1Racing.net| url =http://www.f1racing.net/en/news/2007/02/01/spyker_announces_four_test_drivers/| date =2007-02-01| accessdate =2007-02-01]

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 entrant during the season was 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". [cite news| title =Spyker drops Albers| publisher =f1.gpupdate.net| url =http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2007/07/10/spyker-drops-albers/| date =2007-07-10| accessdate =2007-07-10] Despite former Red Bull Racing driver Christian Klien testing for the team on July 12 2007, [cite web|url=http://www.spykerf1.nl/?pag=89&newsid=428|title=www.spykerf1.nl/?pag=89&newsid=428 ] Albers' replacement for the 2007 European Grand Prix was Winkelhock. [cite news| title =Winkelhock name to return to F1| publisher =news.bbc.co.uk| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6904897.stm| date =2007-07-18| accessdate =2007-07-18]

During the 2007 European Grand Prix, Winkelhock became the only 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.

In August, 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. [cite news| title = New Spyker model fails crash test| publisher =bbc sport| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/teams/6960226.stm| date =2007-08-23| accessdate =2007-08-23] 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. [cite news| title =Revised Spyker passes crash test
publisher =autosport.com| url =http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/61891| date =2007-08-30| accessdate =2007-09-06]

On September 30 at the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix, the team scored its first championship point. Driver Sutil finished 9th on the track, but was promoted to 8th place and into the points scoring positions when stewards ruled post-race that Toro Rosso's Vitantonio Liuzzi had overtaken Sutil under a yellow flag on lap 55; Liuzzi was subsequently given a 25 second penalty that dropped his time below Sutil's.

On August 14, Spyker Cars announced that it might need to sell all or part of the team due to a potential split of the team from its parent company. [cite news| title =Spyker considers selling F1 team| publisher =autosport.com| url =http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/61529| date =2007-08-14| accessdate =2007-08-14] The team was sold to a consortium named "Orange India" led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and Dutch entrepreneur (and existing board member) Michiel Mol after approval by Spyker's shareholders. Mallya attended the Chinese Grand Prix as team owner. [cite news| title = Spyker takeover approved | publisher = F1 | url=http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/9/6895.html| date =2007-09-30| accessdate =2007-09-30] The team was renamed Force India for the 2008 season.cite news| title = FIA approve Spyker's Force India name change | Formula 1 Website | Formula 1 Website | publisher = Formula One Administration Ltd | url=http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/10/7036.html| date =2007-10-24| accessdate =2007-10-24]

Complete Formula One results

() (results in bold indicate pole position)