Alex Shainder hits back at the media
MF1's voice continues to ring out, this time from the lips of the team's owner Alex Shnaider. Today Alex has added to his team's press release and poured scorn on the recent negative stories. We have also heard today that MF1 have been received far more positively in the F1 paddock in San Marino.
From today's Globe & Mail (Canada's national newspaper):
'Despite the constant rumours, I have not sold the team' Midland boss Alex Shnaider takes the media to task and tries to quell the nasty gossip about his outfit's future
After more than a year of being the favourite target of the Formula One media, frustrated Midland F1 owner Alex Shnaider has decided it's time to fight back.
Since he bought the Jordan outfit, the Russian-born Canadian businessman has endured almost constant speculation about financial crises, staff unrest and his desire to get out of the sport.
"I wonder what their motivation is for spreading this bull****, and why they never seem to grow tired of publishing the same lies, over and over again.
"The fact is, despite the constant rumours, I have not sold the team and it continues to operate at a healthy level," Shnaider said.
"It's lazy, irresponsible journalism, and in the end, the lies only serve to damage their own credibility. The media writing these rumours should go back and analyze everything they wrote about us last year and see whether anything they reported happened."
The Midland Group chairman seems to have a point. Since buying the financially troubled Jordan outfit in January, 2005, and admittedly struggling through its first year, the team made significant investments in a number of areas before the current season.
It built an all-new car for 2006 with Italian chassis designer Dallara, introduced a new colour scheme and logo, rebranded the team as MF1 and developed plans to upgrade the wind tunnel facility in Brackley, U.K.
"I will continue investing in the team for as long as I'm passionate about competing in the sport, and given that I've loved F1 since my childhood, I don't see that enthusiasm fading any time soon," Shnaider said.
"It frustrates me when people say we're not investing in the team, because we've been investing non-stop since we bought it."
While Shnaider promised the team a budget of $100-million annually, it is a modest amount in a sport where top teams shell out five times as much to go racing. But Shnaider also made it clear that he doesn't enjoy spending his own cash to keep the team going and he wants it financially independent as quickly as possible.
Part of Midland's early cash problems arose from the debt load they inherited from Eddie Jordan when it bought the Irishman's 14-year-old team. While the team has almost finished sorting out the financial mess, the intense loyalties and cutthroat politics in the F1 paddock continue to wreak havoc in the team garage.
"Certain people we brought to the team and certain people we inherited with the team were detrimental to MF1's development because they were following their own agendas instead of promoting the team's interests," Shnaider said.
"Unfortunately, I can infer from the latest round of rumours that some of these people are still pursuing those agendas."
With the constant negative press making the search for additional sponsors and partners more difficult, hitting the break-even point may be farther down the road than anticipated.
Things got so bad that the team took the unprecedented step of responding to the rumours last week with an official statement that attempted to quell the gossip.
It didn't work. A day after the statement hit the media, reports circulated that GP2 team owner Alfonso de Orleans Bourbon planned to sit down with Shnaider this weekend in Imola and discuss buying Midland.
"Yes, that one I find quite amusing, actually. I spoke to this Spanish gentleman once, at last year's Turkish Grand Prix, because he wanted to introduce to me to someone who was interested in buying steel," Shnaider said.
"But we never spoke about the sale of the team -- not once. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I was interested in buying a team, wouldn't it make sense for me to speak to the owners about it first, before going to the media?"
While he steadfastly denied the latest speculation of another possible buyer, Shnaider admitted that the team has received offers in the past, but they were all rejected.
It is thought that former F1 driver Eddie Irvine made an offer at last year's Monaco Grand Prix. Another rumoured suitor is former BAR-Honda owner Craig Pollock, who would not confirm whether he's spoken to Midland about a deal. "I guess funnier things have happened in life," he said when asked about buying the team.
Unfortunately for Shnaider, his willingness to discuss the team and its future may have been the starting point for much of the negative talk about the team.
Last year, when speculation began that he was unhappy with the way things were going, he made the rookie mistake of saying that the team would be sold if the right offer came along. The media latched on to it and have not let go, he insisted. "I made a comment to that effect last year and it keeps coming back to bite me, but I stand by what I said because it's common sense," he said.
"Even Ferrari could be sold tomorrow if someone would offer [parent company] Fiat enough money for it. The same is true for every team on the grid, without exception."