Ferguson points out that Cosworth cannot compete with the broader business connections of the manufacturers. "Maybe
Formula One has moved on," he ruminated. "Maybe it's not enough anymore to have the best product out there. The world has changed and it's not all about being competitive on the racetrack. More and more of it is about business-to-business relationships and because racing is our business, sometimes we can't compete on that front."
Ferguson holds out faint hope that one of F1's six manufacturers will realise it needs Cosworth. "Maybe one of these manufacturers who didn't do such a fantastic job this year will come along and knock on our door," he remarked. "Who knows? Our engine is homologated and will be re-homologated for the 19,000 rpm limit before March. We're trying to walk a fine dividing line between mothballing it completely and being able to bring the engine back out. We're trying to retain sufficient people and skills among our workforce to reinvent ourselves in Formula One if the opportunity arises."
Cosworth is second only to
Ferrari in both F1 wins and length of time competing in
F1. But Cosworth's record in worldwide motorsport is unmatched by any other company, Ferrari included. The company's amazing record of success includes 13 F1 world championships, 16 USAC/CART/Champ Car titles, 176 individual F1 wins, no fewer than 267 (and
counting) Champ Car victories, as well as ten Indy 500s, and hundreds of other wins in F3000, F2, Formula Atlantic, F3, Formula Junior, sportscars, touring cars, midgets and world rallying.
Founded in a tiny north London garage in September, 1958 by Keith Duckworth and Mike Costin, Cosworth has achieved more in its 48 years in business than any other high-performance engineering company in the world.
