Hamilton Sr. to buy F1 team?

There are still plenty of rumors swirling around the future of Renault with the Prodrive and Lopez bids apparently not the only ones under discussion. According to French sources there has also been interest from Addax, the GP2 which is owned by Alejandro Agag, the well-connected Spaniard who has been a little too close to Flavio Briatore for comfort in the past. He is also the son-in-law of former Spanish Prime Minister (1996-2004) José María Aznar. There has even been talk of Craig Pollock making a comeback. The Scot, who ran BAR for some years, is often rumored to be thinking about a return to the sport but seems to be happy enough doing business in other spheres and has not been seen in the paddock for some time.

The latest rumor, however, is more interesting as it suggests that one of those sniffing around Renault is none other than Anthony Hamilton, father of you-know-who. Long gone are the days when drivers were able to start their own teams – as happened a lot in the 1960s – of those original teams only McLaren remains today but Brabham and Eagle both won races and the former championships as well. There were also the likes of Amon, Hill, Fittipaldi and Prost, which were less successful and even the likes of Merzario and Rebaque. In the modern era Jacques Villeneuve (it is said) and Gerhard Berger also owned shares in teams but the Austrian bailed out when he was asked to put in money. Over in America driver ownership is fairly normal with the likes of Michael Andretti, Bobby Rahal, Chip Ganassi, Roger Penske, Adrian Fernandez and, more recently Gil de Ferran going down that route in open wheelers and in stock cars great traditions with the Petty Family, Richard Childress, Dale Earnhardt and, most recently, Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart. Nothing is impossible is there is ambition and money.

Given the amount of cash that racing stars have been able to generate in recent years the idea is not ridiculous, particularly now as the price of F1 teams is currently low. Drivers are rarely the right people to run F1 teams (as history relates) but this does not mean that their relatives cannot give it a go. Nor for that matter does a team owned by a driver have to employ that driver. In America we have seen Dale Earnhardt Inc for many years NOT employing Dale Earnhardt Sr, and more recently even Dale Jr jumped ship… Joe Saward Prix blog