Prodrive to take frugal approach to F1

"Everybody wants to know the state of our factory and the number of our staff," Prodrive chairman and former BAR and Benetton team boss David Richards told the official Formula One Web site. "But I can tell you that we are taking a very slow process to this.

"If my strategy works, as I am confident it will, then we will partner one of the leading teams and our test programme and our whole build-up will not really commence until the end of the 2007 season."

Formula One's rules are changing from the start of 2008, allowing teams to buy cars from others and run them with far fewer staff.

Prodrive secured the final two slots on the F1 starting grid after being chosen, along with the current 11 teams, from 22 applicants in April.

They plan to become effectively a second team for a manufacturer, as yet unknown, already competing in the sport.

Honda, Toyota, Renault and Ferrari already supply other teams with engines, leaving BMW and McLaren-Mercedes without partners at present.

"Certain people have to be in place during the course of the year, but it will be a small build-up," said Richards, who felt it made little sense to have a car running before December 2007.

"My experience in the past of building organisations has taught me that there is a tendency to rush off and employ people quickly and build things that you subsequently find unnecessary and people that you don't really need.

"I'm going to be very frugal about that...I'm running a business and the business at the end of the day must work. It must be profitable and successful."

Richards said Prodrive had looked into the option of building a team from scratch with a new manufacturer to the sport and had talked to two potential partners. However, he had ultimately ruled it out.

"I want to do this for another three years," he said. "I want to establish the team properly, I want to see it get off the ground - and then I want to stand back.

"We have seen how long it took for Honda and Toyota, and I am not a patient person. I'd rather have a short cut."