As F1 potentially prepares to make space for new entries on the scene, David Dicker – businessman and founder of Rodin Cars – spoke to Racer about the now-shut down possibility of buying the Italian team AlphaTauri.
“Well, I did have some talks about buying AlphaTauri, but the price is commercially unviable as far as I could understand it. You’ve still got to look at these things in commercial terms. And the F1 guys are experts on the motorsport side, but on the business side, I’m not so sure.
“I’ve had a few people talk about this and that, but nothing tremendously concrete. I do have a couple of things that I might get a bit more info in the next week or two about some possibilities there. But the value proposition is weak.”
“I do have a project that I’m working on. It’s interesting and exciting, but I can’t talk about it quite yet, because I haven’t quite got it. But let me put it this way: I’m pretty pissed off about not getting into Formula 1, so I’m not just going to go away and sulk.”
Clearly annoyed with not getting granted an opportunity by the FIA to talk with FOM, Dicker admitted he should have the taken the chance to buy Sauber, Haas or later Williams, in 2020.
“That’s just the way that the way I am. I mean, you want to do things, and that’s what life’s about. You just try to do them. And if you can’t do it one way, then look for another way, or other ways, of doing things.
“Well, I would (buy a team) if I thought there was a viable route, but paying $800-900million for (AlphaTauri) would probably not be considered commercially viable. But you know, just got to see if there’s possibilities.
“I made a mistake when Williams was for sale, because I could have bought that pretty easily. And I didn’t read the strategic landscape correctly on that with the way we made the bid, which in hindsight, was obviously a mistake. But there it goes.
“I had a lot of talks with Williams about buying Williams – saw all the numbers and sat through presentations and made them an offer and everything – and I’ve had a few guys talking about other teams from time to time. Mostly Sauber and Haas, which have more or less been on and off the market for years, and could have probably been bought for much lower numbers that made a lot more sense. And like I said, I probably screwed that up.”
This is just the latest in a line of bad news for Dicker, who has seen Rodin’s application to enter the Pinnacle of Motorsport rejected by the FIA. It leaves Andretti as the only team who could potentially join the grid in the near future.
Photo credit: AlphaTauri F1
