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timbo wrote:

ESPImperium wrote:The Audi drivers have all got the same contract seemingly, €9m a year with a €9m bonus per car for a overall win per car and €3m per WEC race. Hence why they go all out to win Le Mans do Audi. Even Audis Test Driver is paid better than some F1 drivers.

Hmm, I dunno, they can have cream of crop for that much money, why they race with ones they do?

maybe they think they have the cream of the crop?
Kristensen never drove F1 and he's won 9 times in 17 starts, McNish wasn't a big success in F1 now he's won 3 LeMans

langwadt wrote:maybe they think they have the cream of the crop?
Kristensen never drove F1 and he's won 9 times in 17 starts, McNish wasn't a big success in F1 now he's won 3 LeMans

But they are not the only ones driving.

according to Sportauto mag Toyotas budget in 2013 was 30Mill€ and Audi had 90Mill€ at their disposal.......In that light 9 mill salaries per driver seem completely unrealistic....
I know one of peugeots wksdrivers and seriously I dont have the impression he got anything like 900k per year ....but I could be naive..I´d be happy for him if it panned out this favourably but I fear it is more like 15 or 20 % of that number...

timbo wrote:

langwadt wrote:maybe they think they have the cream of the crop?
Kristensen never drove F1 and he's won 9 times in 17 starts, McNish wasn't a big success in F1 now he's won 3 LeMans

But they are not the only ones driving.

you are right, and looking at something like this:

http://skiddmark.com/2012/06/the-horse- ... -rankings/

9M€ seems way off for anything but the very best

Audits are not run by team Audi but by team Joest. So there is a Joest budget somewhere which you have to add to the Audi budget. Drivers will not come out of the Audi budget methinks. The total for Audi is north of 90m.

WhiteBlue wrote:Audits are not run by team Audi but by team Joest. So there is a Joest budget somewhere which you have to add to the Audi budget. Drivers will not come out of the Audi budget methinks. The total for Audi is north of 90m.

but wouldn't Joest be paid by Audi?

Seem to remember with Bentley that is said that at the drivers were on "personal service contracts with Audi" and
on loan to drive the Bentley

WhiteBlue wrote:Audits are not run by team Audi but by team Joest. So there is a Joest budget somewhere which you have to add to the Audi budget. Drivers will not come out of the Audi budget methinks. The total for Audi is north of 90m.

Joest is running the show on behalf of Audi .It´s not like they are an audi customer .so if anything they also have to pay for Reinholds retainer -i think he is not active in anything of todays works?
The sole reason why Audi is using team Joest as their Raceteam is simply works counsil in Industry denying anyone to work
more than 10 hours per day ,restrictions on sunday work etc etc .Porsche has already admitted this will be a huge obstacle to them blowing up their headcount massively for the lmp project .

Joest was hugely afillated toPorsche and only got an Audi contract after Porsche decided not to do sportcar racing anymore.
Funny enough Joest won for Porsche in LeMans with a borrowed TWR chassis from Porsche AG asking cheekily if he could retain it if they won .Porsche was sure it was not competitive and agreed .Now Joest has this famous car sitting in Waldmichelbach ,the car in Stutgart Museum is a replica....and btw the very same chassis was fielded in LeMans also one year later against the wish of Porsche....and won again...

marcush. wrote:according to Sportauto mag Toyotas budget in 2013 was 30Mill€ and Audi had 90Mill€ at their disposal.......In that light 9 mill salaries per driver seem completely unrealistic....
I know one of peugeots wksdrivers and seriously I dont have the impression he got anything like 900k per year ....but I could be naive..I´d be happy for him if it panned out this favourably but I fear it is more like 15 or 20 % of that number...

90 M€ for Audi, now that's a more realistic number, why ESP's 1400 M€ for Porsche over five years sounds even more fanciful.

WhiteBlue wrote: ...

WhiteBlue wrote:Audits are not run by team Audi but by team Joest. So there is a Joest budget somewhere which you have to add to the Audi budget. Drivers will not come out of the Audi budget methinks. The total for Audi is north of 90m.

I don't think so, I actually trust the specialized press in this particular case.

Surely we can settle this by looking at the company accounts? Otherwise this is just hearsay.

Does anyone have access to a companies database in Germany? Search for Joest and get their annual accounts. Also see if there are parent/subsidiary companies, or if Joest is a director or any other companies.

At last rumors got official blessing from LdM.

official site wrote:In looking back at the year that’s coming to an end, Montezemolo mentioned the important achievements in the GT Championships. “Once again this year, we have had great results in the world of GT racing. I wish to congratulate Amato Ferrari and his AF Corse team: Ferrari winning a championship with a Ferrari is a nice happenstance. I think everyone at Corse Cliente, the drivers and especially the new World Champion, Gimmi Bruni.

Continued development in the GT world and the technology transfer to road cars has always been an integral part of our activity. We have won with the 458 GTE, but I also quite like the idea of racing at Le Mans in the highest category: who knows, maybe one day we can return and win, say thanks and come home. Maybe we should give it some serious consideration.

Also F1T reported on that and what are your opinions guys?

I think this series is really much more about engine and its development and also if they figure out new wind-tunnel and CFD, track correlation successful, they could make it happed?

But decision of official joining the series is probably depend how Ferrari power unit will be competitive in F1 for next 2 years. If they failed could abandon the plans for LMP. Like they did in history (if my memory serve well) after 1976 season already. At that time onward they fully concentrate on F1 racing only. Especially this will be very good marketing stuff, because F1 becoming year to year even more funny, misdirected, almost joke from F1 like it has in past etc. Ferrari need technical enthusiast and adrenalin fame around it. That make them so much special and it make so different from rest of the industry.

Also new rules promise and could play role into that decision. Let say budget cap rules could also alow for Ferrari open the budget for paralel LMP programe. I dont expect that salary cap cut will be more than 100 mil € per season, so in theory Ferrari (FIAT) could had plenty to play with. If i talk about estimated figures just about 300 mil € each year for the LMP project in enough to establish very good development base. So after 2015 could this LMP project even more became reality.

Also new F1 power unit rules could obviously easily help in that decision. Just idea if Ferrari plan to extend and keep they plans for further FF 4×4 serial model development. I think like AUDI did with quattro and hybrid technology. Audi sees fully LMP as great marketing opportunity and use rules in their advantage. Ferrari could do same with their FF or overall road car production...

I think that the budget cap in F1 is indeed a reason to shift some of the development to a LMP1 team, that would make a lot of sense. But Ferrari must be very sure that a petrol engine can win over a diesel engine.

knabbel wrote:I think that the budget cap in F1 is indeed a reason to shift some of the development to a LMP1 team, that would make a lot of sense. But Ferrari must be very sure that a petrol engine can win over a diesel engine.

Wouldnt an LMP1 project mean they could develop their new F1 engine even more if they wanna use that in Le Mans ?

Come resource restriction, it could also be a way to spend the excess amount on "development for LMP1" where the R&D money and resource is not restricted yet, methinks. The developments, may be, being transferred on to their F1 project.

Just another tactic to get more advantages from FiA and more money from Bernie. Luca talks a lot but does little...

Sadly I have to agree with Sombrero. I wonder if this is his way of firing a warning shot regarding the budget cap. It's a pity if Ferrari continues to avoid the prototype class at Le Mans, as it would be a great thing to see the Scuderia back in with a factory effort. It would also be of more benefit to their road car R&D than anything F1 does.