Ford’s asking price for Jag

The future of Formula One hangs in the balance following multi-million pound demands by Jaguar Racing. The team, run by American motor giants Ford, have slapped a £30million price tag on Jaguar in a bid to recoup some of their cash poured into the F1 project. But, with the rules stating there have to be 20 cars on the grid for a Grand Prix race, a buyer needs to be found or the big teams will have to run three cars to make up the numbers. But Revved Up can exclusively reveal the real asking price, which will shock the F1 paddock and shed some light on why the team has struggled to find a buyer. Red Bull are poised to pounce for the 'Big Cat' team, but if the asking price overstretches their budget they will have little left towards developing the car beyond its middle grid position. The attraction of buying an existing team is that you dodge the £25million fee paid to ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone to secure your place on the grid. Teams eventually get the payment back from Ecclestone, as long as they stay in the sport for a number of years, with it being refunded in installments. Red Bull have wanted to form their own F1 team for some years and are the big teams' main hope of filling up the grid for next year so they do not have to field another car. The third cars would not be able to gain points for the team, but would ensure the grid stays at 20 cars. People.co.uk