1Malaysia F1 Team – Is That Necessary?
September 16th, 2009 by James | This article was viewed 13,097 times.
Once again, a drastic move by Najib, Malaysia’s Prime Minister, he successfully placed a Malaysian team in Formula 1, the most expensive sport in the world. The team is named 1Malaysia and I have a feeling that they are up to no good.
What is 1Malaysia?
1Malaysia is actually a government made concept to unite Malaysians of different ethnicities and religions to achieve a better future. But from my little research on the 1Malaysia website, it seems that 1Malaysia is actually a marketing tool to market Malaysia and Najib himself. There is little about uniting Malaysians in that website.
Is 1Malaysia F1 Team Necessary?
No, I don’t think it is necessary. As you can see, Malaysia’s enrollment in Formula 1 is not merely for the sport, other aims such as the marketing of Proton, Naza and Air Asia is also included as well. These few aims have less than nothing to do with the actual concept of 1Malaysia.
The following is the reason why I feel that 1Malaysia F1 team is not needed.
Failed Marketing Strategy for Proton and Naza
I searched on the internet and found the famous and honest condemnation of Jeremy Clarkson on Malaysian cars…
What I don’t like about these Malaysian cars is you get a sense they were designed not by one man who wanted to make a great car, but by a corporation who simply like to make money – Jeremy Clarkson
To curb the marketability of Proton and Naza after such statement (for a sane person) would be to improve the value of every cent spent on their cars. However, as history repeats itself, Malaysian Government spent more money on marketing piles of rubbish.
Jeremy Clarkson’s influence to the motor industry is superior. If Najib thinks that throwing a Malaysian team into Formula 1 would help Proton and Naza increase their sales despite Jeremy’s statement, I reckon he should do more research before deciding on a wrong decision … again.
At the present, selling Proton and Naza cars around the world is like trading sand with gold.
The Government’s Hoax
We all know these governments’ ploy. For every cent spent, there’s a dollar passed under the table. Nuff said.
Malaysia is not ready for a Formula 1 team
Malaysia does not have the man power to run a team, even with the technology Lotus can offer. In current circumstances, I think Malaysia will end up being only financially involved in the team while all the technology is owned by some other corporation.
“The team will be using Cosworth engines with gearboxes provided by Xtrac and aerodynamics developed by FondTech.” – F1.gpupdate.net
If you look quite carefully, 1Malaysia is a F1 team running on other people’s engines, aerodynamics and gearboxes, and marketing a different car brand called Proton and Naza. It’s like selling homemade burgers at McDonalds.
The Bluffs
My view upon the establishment of a Malaysian Formula 1 team did not improve at all with these quotes I read about the team.
“This is the Malaysian team. The car was designed at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC), manufactured at the SIC, tested at the SIC and the car is Malaysian-made. Even the pit-stop team consists of Malaysians” – Najib (The Star)
This is what Malaysia’s respected PM, Najib said. Read the next quote…
“1Malaysia F1 Team, based at the factory of RTN in Norfolk, England” – F1.gpupdate.net
Compared and see how contradicting they are. First he said the F1 car will be Malaysian-made in SIC, GPupdate’s claimed that the team is based at a factory in England.
If I’m the shareholder of the team I would not want my car to be manufactured in England then send all the way to Malaysia to be tested. Somebody must have bullcrapped here.
Lies, lies and more lies…
Asked on the budget and the total investment by the Government, Najib said: “The Malaysian government’s investment is through Proton.” – The Star
Right, so now Proton has enough money to fund an F1 team after losing market shares to Perodua? Governments are literally begging Malaysian citizens to buy Proton cars, how would they have the money to fund the team? More like tax payers’ money is poured into some political farce again.
In a Nutshell
There is no doubt that the participants in the 1Malaysia F1 team will benefit technologically and financially from the sport, Malaysia will of course benefit as a whole as well.
However this does not change the fact that Malaysia do not need to participate in Formula 1. There are better and cheaper ways to improve Proton and Naza’s marketability. Let passionate people build Proton’s car. Do that and Proton and Naza would both prosper, with or without the Formula 1 team.
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14 Responses to “1Malaysia F1 Team – Is That Necessary?”
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September 17th, 2009 at 2:09 am
i’m wondering why did you like to listen to jeremy clarkson..
it just you listen to a stupid guy who knows how to kill autocompany…
September 17th, 2009 at 5:31 am
Just curious what are your thoughts on the new 1malaysia f1 team compared to Force India?
Till then,
Jean
September 17th, 2009 at 9:29 am
@Acis,
I don’t always agree with Jeremy Clarkson on every decision he made about cars. But what he said about Malaysian cars is full of truth and facts.
It is a fact that our Malaysian car is crap. We all knew it but who complained? Nobody … Until Jeremy Clarkson’s straight but very honest condemnation.
I am not important, I have long decided not to buy a Proton car, long before Jeremy Clarkson gave his comments. The new buyers are the one’s who Proton and Naza should pay attention to.
@Used Tires,
Very good question!
Well, in terms of Government involvement in the team, I can’t comment much as I do not know anything about the government in India.
However, as you can see, in their second year in F1, Force India leap frogged so many teams already. Now they are at the front fighting for race wins.
The difference between Force India and 1Malaysia is that Force India was owned by many other teams before Vijay Mallya bought the company. Race winning team Jordan owned it before, then Midland and Spyker also owned the team for awhile before selling it to Vijay Mallya.
The car is already prebuilt and the information (assets) of the cars, tracks and everything collected throughout the years in F1 is invaluable. Unlike 1Malaysia who had just started from scratch.
I am pretty sure Vijay Mallya, the boss of Force India, has enough experience and leadership capabilities to bring Force India into fame.
September 22nd, 2009 at 12:58 am
woooo ! Malaysia Boleh ! :)
September 22nd, 2009 at 9:00 pm
dont listen to jeremy clarkson. how can you compare a high class car such as bmw with proton car?i hate top gear very much because of their bias view. I.m favouring fifth gear rather than top gear.
September 22nd, 2009 at 9:04 pm
@Redza,
Instead of asking “How can you compare high class BMW car with Proton”, I think you should ask “How can Proton make their car as high class as BMW”.
I personally think that is a better question to ask.
As bias as Top Gear may be, they still speak the truth and have no mercy for cars without standards.
September 24th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
1st year – 1 Malaysia F1 Racing Team
2nd year – Last 1 Malaysia F1 Racing Team
3rd year – Malaysian Government F1 Racing Team
4th year – Malaysian Citizen F1 Racing Team
5th year – China Cheely F1 Racing Team
September 25th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Honestly, the first time I heard of it, I felt it’s just like a gimmick.
Not really necessary.
September 26th, 2009 at 12:21 am
1M is an utter complete waste of tax payers money; with or without Mr Clarkson’s opinion’s in the first place.
October 9th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Thanks for the feedback James. Hopefully the Malaysian F1 team does well, because it would be nice to see a Lotus do well again in F1 =D
Till then,
Jean
October 25th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Well you can always give feedback to them Stating about this issue and how they can improve.
Well Its all part of marketing strategy which all other companies do.It will take a number of years to make a strong brand image which is part of their strategy.Iwouldn’t say that what Najib did is wrong and its was not only his decision but rather a number of people in the organisation.
Put yourself in their shoes and tell me how would you improve cheaper ways to improve Proton and Naza’s marketability?
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:02 pm
With no ill intentions, how long/ what good can a marketing strategy work if the quality of the cars remain below par? Improve on it’s quality, the core of its problems and you wont need to rely on gimmicks like these. =)
April 1st, 2010 at 5:19 am
when all is said n done it is still a waste of taxpayer`s money….n like u said i firmly believe for every sen spent there`s a ringgit passed under the table
April 22nd, 2010 at 8:27 am
I agree that this sounds like a big waste of tax money. If they’re not going to improve the cars they manufacture, there is more appropriate ways to go about marketing. They are simply marketing to the wrong people.