EXCLUSIVE: The truth about Midland F1 - Gary Anderson, Dallara and… Ferrari?
Former chief designer at Jordan Grand Prix, the emblematic face of the Irish team, and above all the father of Jordan's first contender, the 191 which helped the Silverstone based squad make a sensational entrance into the world of F1, Gary Anderson, is now deeply involved in plans with Midland F1. This new team commercially saw the light of day in early October, and their first car is expected to hit the tarmac in autumn of 2005.
Gary has expressed strong reservations about a possible role in Alex Shnaider's future line up, but now it is a sure thing that his talent and magical pencil will be the basis for the future Dallara F1.
“Gary convinced me to work on the Midland project, as he thought it was very smart, very well set up and backed by big players,” a source close to Alex Shnaider’s team revealed to us. “The contract between Dallara and Midland includes delivery of four cars that have undergone 4,000 hours of wind tunnel testing. The car will be ready to roll, at the latest, September 1, 2005. Gary is doing the design.”
The biggest question mark now is who will supply the engine to go into the car designed by the workshops of Giampaolo Dallara. Rumours surrounding the future of the Sauber/Ferrari partnership are getting more specific, and it will be in the best interest of Maranello team to join up with a new team. Midland just might be that partner.
“Regarding the engine, it’s not my decision of course, but I think that the rumours which have been making headlines lately are fairly close to the truth,” continued our source, referring to Midland's interest in Ferrari engines, which will stop powering the Sauber Petronas by 2006. Although the chassis will be designed in Italy, and perhaps the engines as well, the team will be based in Great Britain, the birthplace of auto sports.
Midland’s factories will be based in England and led by Colin Kolles (head of the F3 team) and Christian Geistdorfer (the former co-driver of Walter Rohrl, Rally champion) and in fact, Christian would not be the first rally co-driver to run an F1 team!
The overall structure will be supervised by Trevor Carlin, head of F3 Great Britain and World Series by Renault teams, who will bring his expertise and serve as the backbone of the Midland F1 project. So roll on Autumn 2006 and the first laps of the future Dallara/Ferrari?!
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