F1 - Are the New Teams Welcome?

This is the subject of the Sidepodcast Thursday Thought so I'll post something on it here.

Surely no-one would not welcome new blood in F1. Without the three new teams we'd have less action to watch and some great drivers would be without a seat. No Karun Chandhok!

Arguably HRT as a team made little contribution, as much as anything because they didn't "join in". Get a third party to build you a car then not develop it during the season - not a great plan. And pulling in pay drivers to cover the bills isn't going to make you popular with the fans. I do wonder if they'll make the grid in Bahrain.

Virgin make a good showing. There's a good tech story (all CFD design) and worthwhile drivers. Its a shame they ended up last, because they were way better than HRT when they managed to finish. What WAS DiGrassi thinking of with an off on the way to the grid in Japan? Next year, with Marussia money and a year's experience of developing a car they may be challenging for the odd point.

Lotus really deserved to break out of the bottom 3. Mike Gascoyne is a good designer and they hired experienced drivers. I hope they make a real job of it next year, they seem to be at least as committed a team as the STRs of this world.

Overall, without the new teams we'd have had a much less interesting year and the future, with fewer opportunities for new drivers to get into the sport, would be looking shaky. Next year I'd like to see more interest in Q1 - this year it was all about who would get 18th place on the grid.