By Huw Alban
February 24 2006

Yesterday ITV F1 quoted Renault’s engineering director Pat Symonds, accusing Midland F1 Racing of being ‘soulless’ and unworthy of support. Unsurprisingly there have been mixed views expressed by fans of the team and the sport that visit this site. “I see nothing in them that has any passion…so I see no reason to say, ‘Good luck to the little guys’.

“As a team, they do nothing to enhance Formula 1.”

This is what Renault’s engineering director Pat Symonds had to say about Midland F1 Racing in an article published in this months F1 Racing magazine. Unfortunately I do not buy F1 racing magazine, and quite frankly I now have one more reason for continuing to ignore it on the shelves of my local newsagent.

These quotes first come out on the ITV F1 website yesterday (UK) teatime and I have to say I was stunned when I first read them. Amazement turned to anger quite frankly, and this was not the best frame of mind with which to write so today I’ve pondered my response.

Since ITV published these limited quotes, more has emerged about the full interview itself. “The interview involved Eddie Jordan, Murray Walker, Pat Symonds, Jodie Schecter and Mansell,” go-jordan posted on the forum today after buying the magazine and reading the article.

“The only one with words of encouragement for Midland out of the whole lot was (from) Eddie which says a lot for the man especially after the abuse Kolles threw at him last year.

“This is a view from a man who is deeply involved in F1, who has dealt with the Midland management and knows what they are really like. This is a view not only held by PS (Pat Symonds) but a lot of the F1 community. They knew how much passion the Jordan team had, how much Eddie had, and how much the fans had. To see such cold, characterless people such as Kolles and (Alex) Shnaider run the team makes them sad to see.”

The forum here at MidlandF1Online has been quite active in response to these quotes. “A brave man with a brave act, attacking the little ones. How close are the top teams to their fans....,” was a combination of responses CAdani.

Message board contributor gailen, and undeniable Midland F1 fan had this to say, “The Midland F1 team is a dedicated group of guys who went through a bad year in 2005 with a totally uncompetitive car, yet they still managed to get a thoroughly deserved point at Spa.

“I KNOW that Midland are dedicated to this sport, they love it and they want to do well. Mr Symonds can only think about winning - lets face it, if he doesn’t he’s probably out of a job!!!

“Just because Midland don’t go around shouting about how well they are doing, how this works and how that works, does NOT mean they aren’t dedicated!

“Symonds works for a top team - they get all the publicity. Midland haven’t even raced yet, but people like Symonds are queuing up to knock them already!”

Mindful of Renault’s recent claims that they may withdraw from the sport itself, site owner and publisher BigPip said, “I think Symonds has seen the test times and is afraid that a team that has been able to spend time and money designing an efficient car may be a challenge to his championship. (I'm realistic here of course) but he's afraid of Midland's potential and the fact that his team owners are not committed to racing in F1.”

BBF agrees, “…when Renault decides to fold as an F1 outfit he had better start making friends not enemies on the grid...”

Former Jordan fan and frequent contributor to the JordanFansOnline forum here on SportNetwork, MikeR, saw Pat’s words in a different and quite frankly refreshing light.

“The contrast between Jordan and Midland is very marked,” MikeR says on the MF1O forum. “One was known for its Rock'n'Roll attitude and irreverent approach to the pretentiousness of some in F1.

“The other has yet to define itself, but is suffering from very bad (or non-existent) PR last year. Condemning Symonds for seeing Midland as many others in and about F1 see them is futile. Perhaps in a strange way this might do some good, by persuading Midland that they do need to work harder on defining an image for the team. This is not to forget or ignore the help and co-operation Midland are giving to Huw and BigPip here. It is simply to say that there is a need to define a character for the team if possible.”

What do I think?

I’m tempted to leave this story right here to be honest. The selection of fan comments above speak for themselves. To them Midland F1 add value to the sport because, whatever the reason, they’ve chosen to follow and support the team – no matter what happens. To them they see a team that wants to succeed and is working hard to develop a car that’ll do just that. Even though the team hasn’t even turned a wheel in competition yet, there is a growing group of passionate fans out there and I know that the team read their words of encouragement and support in our forum. They’re not interested in how you define an ‘independent’ team, and even less so as to whether Midland F1 should be classed as such.

I’ve not met the management at Midland so I do not consider myself qualified to talk about them. I have, however, spoken with senior people in the team and in Midland Group and my views are based around those experiences. I have no ex-Jordan gripe with Midland but, as I’ve stated before, I have made a conscious decision to see how Midland F1 develop as a team in 2006.

So, what do I think? Midland F1 are not Jordan Grand Prix, and neither should they be or even try to be. The Rock’n’roll yellow cars are gone – but not forgotten. What has emerged is a new team, with a new focus, and in my view a quiet determination. It is my view that this team does want to succeed, but is choosing to go about in their own way. I feel that it is this that is causing the disquiet in the F1 camp. Look back at teams like Stewart, Jaguar, the early days of BAR and even more recently Red Bull. They slotted straight away into the F1 paddock and almost became ‘part of the furniture’ immediately. They sported popular famous names at the top or in the driver line up and this helped their acceptance into the F1 family.

To a certain extent Midland have made a token gesture to this effect with Johnny Herbert, but the management figures are not the flamboyant, jokey, and emotional figures that Flavio Briatore, Christian Horner, and Ron Dennis are. Why the establishment, the media, and the rest of the F1 pack should pan them for this is beyond me. Might it be that they are indeed afraid that this approach could actually bear results, and without the huge budgets of teams like Ferrari and McLaren? Quite honestly I welcome a different approach to going racing, and this is definitely one of the things that makes Midland F1 Racing attractive to me as a fan of the sport.

Whether it is the right approach remains to be seen of course, and all of us here on the site are eagerly waiting to see how Midland F1 fare at the first race of the season. The critics will be quick to say “I told you so” if Bahrain proves problematic for the team, but even if it is I will sit here in Northamptonshire quietly confident that this team will simply become even more determined than before.

On that note I’d like to encourage fans to continue to voice their views on the team on this site’s forum. Based on the interest shown in this site and the team on which it is based, you certainly can’t argue that the team’s fans aren’t passionate!