Craig Pollock possible F1 return

Yes, you read it well. Strap your seatbelts on guys, because I have been keeping an eye on mr Pollock shadow businesses for some time, and I'm about to spill so much tea you'll need a raft to avoid drowning.
https://racingnews365.com/revealed-details-on-a-surprising-new-f1-team
https://racingnews365.com/the-five-prospective-f1-teams-and-what-challenges-they-face

synopsis: "Details on a potential new F1 team have been revealed

The new entrant is a Swiss based project headed by Craig Pollock who founded the British American Racing F1 team

The main aim behind the project is the team being a Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team with a 50/50 gender ratio among the staff and the drivers.

Rumours in Jeddah linked Pollock to Saudi Arabian figures, said to be keen on having a F1 team officially represent the Kingdom at world championship level as opposed to being ‘merely’ a promoter and global partner to the sport, and do so in conjunction with an operation that has EDI at its core."

So a team based on Equality. Interesting, because mr Pollock has founded and is director of a shadow company that is nominated under an alias in his linkedIn (https://ch.linkedin.com/in/craig-pollock-538a9412), "Stealth mode".
The actual name of that company? Formula Equal Holdings limited.
https://companycheck.co.uk/company/11190291/FORMULA-EQUAL-HOLDINGS-LIMITED/companies-house-data
Directors of Formula Equal? Craig Pollock, Margaret Donnelly and Arnon Woolfson.
Craig and Arnon are also very interestingly part of a "foundry", called Monaco Foundry (Craig joined around june 2021 according to his linkedIn): https://www.monacofoundry.com/our-team
what do they do? in their own words: "Forging trust between Startup Founders and Investors".
Moreover, same three directors of Formula Equal, have founded another shadow company in August 2021:
https://companycheck.co.uk/company/13584160/H2-ICE-LIMITED/companies-house-data
Quite curiously, Craig is using different aliases/names and addresses for the two companies.

So it's quite clear mr Pollock has been working behind the scenes for at least five years to try and make a new bid for a F1 return, of course again with his own team. His last attempts? You might remember the PURE project (2011-2015) on hybrid engines, and then some unknown, very hidden project called Exotic Hybrid inc (based in the US, 2015-2018).
Aside from BAR, mr Pollock was also linked in 2002 in the potential buyout of Orange Arrows team, then in 2003 he co-owned PK racing (in CART series), then between 2006-2008 he set up the shadow company Baram (yes, you read it right), with which he aimed to re-enter F1 as a new team in 2008 (he was never granted the entry).
Quite interestingly, Baram company was definitely dismissed when he parted (financial only) ways with JV.

Never made the Saudis possible connection, but makes sense, since Russian investors are out of the games right now, and everyone knows that to enter F1 as a team you need: 1. $$$$$, 2. lots of influence (which the Saudis have plenty in F1 now).
Smart move, cannot lie. On paper it seems like one of his usual bizarre shady projects that is gonna probably flounder in the end, but with the Saudis connection... who knows.

I am sorry but to say that we dislike him.

Profoundly.

Monte Cristo wrote:I am sorry but to say that we dislike him.

Profoundly.

Hm, I guess only Jacques and Craig only know what exactly went (or went not...) down between them when they "split".
Point here is... that Pollock never really let go of the idea of a possible come back (it's been 15 years more or less, so I'm gonna have to cut him some slack for being resilient, at least), and should he really manage to somehow snatch an entry on the grid by siding with the Saudis (fourth time is the charm, after all, or is it fifth?), well, that would be the funniest shit to happen to the clown circus that F1 is slowly turning into.
It's always the same scheme, with mr Pollock. First it was the dual livery, now it's the double drivers line-up (1 male, 1 female). History repeats itself, I wonder if Adrian Reynard and Rick Gorne are available for a revival...

Oh by the way, I forgot to add a funny detail about mr Arnon Woolfson, who is one of the three appointed directors of Pollock's shadow company Formula Equal:

https://twitter.com/EntreprnrsClub/status/1528051371047534593?s=20
"Arnon has a world-class 20-year track record in music, marketing and entertainment, focused on creating strategies for brands, artists and labels."
Hmm... so an appointed director in a shadow company that is collecting money and investors for a F1 project, that is "known" -not really- for working in the music industry. What an interesting choice, makes one wonder how he got in touch with Mr Pollock...?

Well, look who is in Mr Woolfson's top 8 contacts here: why yes, it's mr Jacques Villeneuve himself (well, his official myspace page back from when his CD Private Paradise came out is, to be more precise).
https://myspace.com/arnonw

So bottom line? Arnon and Craig (and well, Jacques) had been knowing one another since Pollock (and Jacques) produced JV's album back in 2007-08 (under the company name of Newtown music/Villeneuve music ltd).

Monte Cristo wrote:I am sorry but to say that we dislike him.

Profoundly.

Just as we approach April's fool day. That can't be for real. Think I'm going to dig into the possible launching of "Private Paradise - The Sequel", too.

JVtea wrote:

Monte Cristo wrote:I am sorry but to say that we dislike him.

Profoundly.

Hm, I guess only Jacques and Craig only know what exactly went (or went not...) down between them when they "split".

Sure, and I will stick with what Jacques said, in many details, and repeatedly.

These are dark times, and I will certainly not revisit them today.

But thanks for the info, and I am surprised by the amount of it that you are bringing!

On a more serious note, there is quite a lot of digging in your thing, there, JVtea. It wouldn't surprise me a bit that the Saudis got to enter Formula 1. Top level sports have been in their visor for a few years now, as they presented the World Cup, launched a Pro Gof Tour, and there has been stories of something in the works with tennis, too, lately, if I remember correctly. And that has to be just the tip of the iceberg I am sure.

Linking Pollock to this is easy too as it seems like he's always been this way, i.e. being the "faire-valoir" of powers behind him and spending their money like there is no tomorrow. One can only remember the colossal failure of BAR, after stating that he wanted and was expecting to win races right from the get go. Well the car didn't really allow for that, sorry Craig...

I have to wonder, though, now, how old is Pollock? He's got to be right up there, isn't he?

Simon wrote:Just as we approach April's fool day. That can't be for real. Think I'm going to dig into the possible launching of "Private Paradise - The Sequel", too.

Simon wrote:Just as we approach April's fool day. That can't be for real. Think I'm going to dig into the possible launching of "Private Paradise - The Sequel", too.

I was kind of expecting the other two mosqueteers to show up as well (Reynard and Gorne, and that would take a whole another chapter in itself)

And yes, Pollock aside, this whole concept of a F1 "team" seems all bundled up with a nice bow on top to appeal to a certain kind of audience (Saudis) and to give them the chance to bring their own F1 team on the grid (which from what I understood is something they've been pushing for a while).

Simon wrote:On a more serious note, there is quite a lot of digging in your thing, there, JVtea. It wouldn't surprise me a bit that the Saudis got to enter Formula 1. Top level sports have been in their visor for a few years now, as they presented the World Cup, launched a Pro Gof Tour, and there has been stories of something in the works with tennis, too, lately, if I remember correctly. And that has to be just the tip of the iceberg I am sure.

Linking Pollock to this is easy  too as it seems like he's always been this way, i.e. being the "faire-valoir" of powers behind him and spending their money like there is no tomorrow. One can only remember the colossal failure of BAR, after stating that he wanted and was expecting to win races right from the get go. Well the car didn't really allow for that, sorry Craig...

I have to wonder, though, now, how old is Pollock? He's got to be right up there, isn't he?

100% spot on Simon. Pollock is exactly that, and I bet he's revelling at the prospect of having another endless pit of $$$ to spend where he likes the most -and that is the F1 inner circle, where he always wanted to belong to.
BAR itself was not a colossal failure, let's be honest. The problem was to let Pollock and the other two musqueteers run it as directors. But to cut Pollock some slack, being an entrepreneur, he's always been keen to charm people with $$$ to invest in his projects, no matter what they might have been.
Sorry to tell you Simon, I know that Pollock is not very much loved here, but the one who bragged about BAR winning races from the get go was actually Adrian Reynard (see below):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czoETqBsfLM

Edit: sorry, forgot to answer that Craig was born in 1956, so he's 67.

Monte Cristo wrote:

JVtea wrote:

Monte Cristo wrote:I am sorry but to say that we dislike him.

Profoundly.

Hm, I guess only Jacques and Craig only know what exactly went (or went not...) down between them when they "split".

Sure, and I will stick with what Jacques said, in many details, and repeatedly.

These are dark times, and I will certainly not revisit them today.

But thanks for the info, and I am surprised by the amount of it that you are bringing!

One day we'll revise them together, Monte. Info on mr Pollock was not that easy to find, let me tell you, given the number of alias he likes to use for his er... various "business" associations...

I think I am just too old to get back to this subject...

We actually wrote a book about it.

No going back for me.

Didn't exactly remember that it was Reynard but my recollection is that it was during a press conference, which Pollock was a part of and sitting at the table. See your point about it not being Pollock pronouncing the words but a Team statement remains one, here. And I ain't got much more on Pollock than others here would. But I can certainly recognize the good from the bad when I see it.

Hadn't it been for Honda saving their sorry asses and buying them back, BAR would've finished in the ditch, thanks in part to the tobacco advertising bans that were coming in effect a couple of years later.

Simon wrote:Didn't exactly remember that it was Reynard but my recollection is that it was during a press conference, which Pollock was a part of and sitting at the table. See your point about it not being Pollock pronouncing the words but a Team statement remains one, here. And I ain't got much more on Pollock than others here would. But I can certainly recognize the good from the bad when I see it.

Hadn't it been for Honda saving their sorry asses and buying them back, BAR would've finished in the ditch, thanks in part to the tobacco advertising bans that were coming in effect a couple of years later.

Eh, that's why I said the major mistake was to let the three musqueteers run in charge. Each had their own wrong doings in the end, so it was an association born under the worst star ever, but I guess, as they say, birds of a feather... (still valid now with Pollock and the Saudis...)

Monte Cristo wrote:I think I am just too old to get back to this subject...

We actually wrote a book about it.

No going back for me.

Thank you Monte. Didn't Pollock and JV parted ways in 2008 though? I think Craig was still his manager in 2004, during his sabbatical, and afterwards, when he went to do the Renault stint, and then the Sauber years (2005-06)?

As I Saïd, i do not wish to talk about Pollock.

Feel free to do as you wish of course.

Monte Cristo wrote:As I Saïd, i do not wish to talk about Pollock.

Feel free to do as you wish of course.

Sorry Monte. Of course you can feel free to ignore this topic if it brings back bad memories for you.

But it's not much about what is being said here, in a small forum, right now. If Saudis in general manage to make their move and enter a F1 team on the grid, well, I'm not sure it's gonna be good news for everyone in general that love this sport, to be honest...

Just intox the Saudis that Formula 1 is going all electric as of 2027. They will run for the hills and never mention Formula 1 again.

JVtea wrote:

Monte Cristo wrote:As I Saïd, i do not wish to talk about Pollock.

Feel free to do as you wish of course.

Sorry Monte. Of course you can feel free to ignore this topic if it brings back bad memories for you.

But it's not much about what is being said here, in a small forum, right now. If Saudis in general manage to make their move and enter a F1 team on the grid, well, I'm not sure it's gonna be good news for everyone in general that love this sport, to be honest...

No worries.

ok so back on topic, I forgot to add something yesterday in the chaos of data I posted
on Pollock's linkedIn, until not much long ago, the shadow company that is now known as Formula Equal was being listed under the fake name "stealth mode"
Well, interestingly, right after the breaking news of this "surprise" F1 team coming out of the blue of couple days ago, the linkedIn status has changed.
Steath mode is now gone, and Formula Equal appears in its place, with the link to a site still in construction...
https://www.weareequal.com/

All this to say, something is definitely being cooked here. It can't be "coincidental" that the news of a surprise F1 team get released, and Formula Equal suddenly appears to exist. The call is coming from inside the house, as they say... someone let purposefully the info out to the media... someone from inside the company.

Man you are really invested in all of this!

Monte Cristo wrote:Man you are really invested in all of this!

Monte so we didn't lose you from the thread!
I'm just putting all the info I found in one place, but I think for now there won't be much else, really (so you can celebrate and forget about all this ). The only way everyone will find out if they will add a new F1 team to the grid or not (be Andretti or someone else) it's gonna be when the higher ups will make an official announcement, in a few months, I guess...

JVtea wrote:

Monte Cristo wrote:Man you are really invested in all of this!

Monte so we didn't lose you from the thread!

As a moderator on this forum, I do have to read everything.