03-Mar-10: FIA Release Entry List With 12 Teams Only

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Listen to this episode

It’s the 3rd March 2010 and this is F1 Minute.

Following the revelation yesterday that US F1 were closing down their bid to make it to the grid this year, Ken Anderson has finally spoken out. The co-owner of the team has said they are still keen on getting into F1. “We have applied to the FIA to hold our entry until 2011. It was supposed to be confidential, so I could not really comment on it. It seems to have leaked out though. We are waiting for a reply from the FIA and are working with them. In the mean time, there is nothing for the employees to do, so we have told them to stop working on the current car until we have a decision.” The FIA released the entry list with no US F1, and no Stefan GP either. There are just 12 teams this year.

Meanwhile, Campos have officially changed their name to Hispania Racing F1 Team, to be known as HRT F1. Not the best acronym they could have chosen, for various reasons.

That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.

Quotes Roundup – Week Ending 31st January

The very best from the mouths of those in the know.

New Drivers in F1

Race and test seats see some new names…

• “Three years ago when I returned from Europe I couldn’t imagine getting this opportunity again. I know how difficult it is to get into F1. Thank God the results and many other things came together. There are five new teams in F1 with more seats available.” Jose Maria Lopez
• “If you are trying to win a championship, to not allow your principal drivers the Friday session is not something we would contemplate. But it’s something that some other teams are looking at and it’s a great opportunity for Paul.” Martin Whitmarsh on Paul di Resta
• “This opportunity gives me even more positive energy to improve as a driver and achieve my future targets as my ultimate goal will be to become Formula 1 world champion one day.” Valtteri Bottas

Thoughts on Schumacher

Michael and more share some musings…

• “I’m hot. It’s just taking far too long to get going and we can’t wait for next week. I have no issues with the neck. I’ve done the GP2 test and lots of preparation in the winter, lots of check to make sure all is good.” Michael Schumacher
• “think there’s lots of analysis that show the peak of your physical condition is in your 30s. It depends on the sport and Michael is achieving the parameters he was achieving when he was younger, in terms of his training, endurance, stamina and strength. He’s already reaching the parameters he was achieving many years ago.” Ross Brawn
• “We can’t forget we wanted him to be Felipe Massa’s replacement last season. He will be one of our rivals, just like Mercedes, and Rosberg, McLaren, with two great drivers, and Red Bull. The title will be fought between ourselves and another three teams.” Stefano Domenicali

Testing Begins Soon

The teams start to ready their new cars…

• “Nico will start with the car. What we want to try and do is give both drivers a drive on the first day. The first day is about checking the car and inspecting all the pieces – and there will be several strip downs of critical parts.” Ross Brawn
• “Bahrain is a test, it’s not a first race for us. The cars are very advanced, we have a driver under contract and our intention is to be in Bahrain for the first race.” Daniel Eisen, Campos Meta
• “It is a very tight programme for everybody with the new car. We’ve only got four tests and we need to make the maximum amount of time prior to the first test. The performance of the car is the most important thing for all of us.” Ross Brawn

Quotes Roundup – Week Ending 27th December

The very best from the mouths of those in the know.

Schumacher’s Big Comeback

Michael Schumacher joins Mercedes for 2010…

• “Michael and I kept very close over the years and I saw from his disappointment over the summer, when he couldn’t drive a Ferrari, how much passion he still has for the sport. We’re incredibly excited now about the prospect of Michael being part of the team.” Ross Brawn
  
• “I never left the race track. I was tired of F1 by the end of 2006, but in three years of absence I got back all the energy that I am feeling right now. I played around with motorbikes and I feel ready for some serious stuff now.” Michael Schumacher
  
• “It is fantastic that Michael is returning to Formula 1 and will be my team-mate at Mercedes GP. It’s a great challenge for me to be up against one of the best drivers of all time. I’m sure that we will form a very strong partnership as he will have lost none of his speed. It is also great news for our sport and the fans.” Nico Rosberg
  

Ecclestone Picks His Favourite

Bernie sets his sights on a new champion…

• “There are several – Hamilton, Alonso… But I will say this now: Vettel will be the next world champion.” Bernie Ecclestone
  
• “His return is good for F1. Now this is obviously the main point of conversation, and the entire world is talking about it. But I think that once the engines start again and the season begins, there will certainly be more important things to focus on.” Sebastian Vettel on Schumacher
  
• “Don’t forget, next year we have four current or former world champions in the shape of Alonso, Hamilton, Button and Schumacher on the starting line. I can’t remember the last time that happened.” Bernie Ecclestone
  

New Team Updates

Confirmed and potential teams talk of the future…

• “A number of people have asked me why we’ve been relatively quiet over the past six months or so. My answer is twofold – one, while the F1 politics were sorting themselves out there was very little that we could do or say. We’re all in the entertainment business we call F1 and there seemed little or no point in adding to the situation from the perspective of a new team.” Peter Windsor
  
• “We have suffered from changes to the FIA rules since we became part of Formula 1, but despite difficulties we have never considered the option of giving up on the championship. Our project is solid as it has always been and we confirm we will be in Bahrain in March and of course Abu Dhabi in November.” Statement from Campos
  
• “We will offer teams, who are changing drivers during the season, or even young drivers themselves, the chance to test our car so they can gain experience. It will be purely a commercial operation.” Zoran Stefanovich, Stefan GP
  

27-Aug-09: Campos GP Will Struggle Without Budget Caps

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Listen to this episode

It’s the 27th August 2009 and this is F1 Minute.

Campos Grand Prix director Daniel Audetto has admitted that the team came close to pulling the plug following the budget cap regulations being overturned. Talking of all the various elements that had made F1 so appealing, Audetto said: “These all disappeared, and the only thing that did not disappear was the budget we already had. So we cannot now afford to go to the level of others…” He does believe the team can start small and build up, but worryingly wants to “show like we did with Super Aguri that we are professional.” Let’s not think about what happened to that team!

Elsewhere, Frank Williams has said that they would like to keep their hands on Rosberg if they can, although he knows he is probably on McLaren’s list as a potential Heikki replacement. Frank says: “He is single minded, chirpy, a little arrogant which is good – he is always very good with the promo people, never an objection, he is very good.”

That’s all for now, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.

04-Jul-09: Campos Sure Lack of Budget Caps No Problem

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Listen to this episode

Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 4th July 2009.

Yesterday we heard that Manor GP may be getting some extra sponsorship funding, and today, Campos Racing have confirmed that the lack of a budget cap may not affect them too much either.

FOTA are adamant that they can introduce regulations that will help the new teams remain within the sport, and Adrian Campos is hopeful that next year’s rules can be signed off very soon. He says: “The important thing is that everyone agrees everything. I think in the future we will be in a good situation, but the important thing for me is that we now have some rules.”

Meanwhile, as the Goodwood Festival of Speed continues in the UK, we find out that McLaren will be sending Heikki Kovalainen to Moscow later in the months for the City Racing event. A temporary street circuit will be built for the MP4-23 to navigate, and Heikki will be joined by representatives from Williams and Red Bull.

That’s all for now, I’ll be back tomorrow with more from F1 Minute.

2010 FIA Formula One World Championship – New Entries

When the FIA opened entries for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, it received applications from 15 potential new teams.

All of those entries underwent a stringent due diligence process to ensure that new teams have the required level of funding, resources, experience and technical expertise to compete at the highest level of motor sport. Three of those teams have been confirmed for 2010 and further due diligence is currently taking place on other potential entries.

Detailed below is information about each of the new teams that will compete in the Championship from next year.

Company Name: Campos Meta
Team Name: Campos Grand Prix
Country:  Spain
Team Principal: Adrián Campos Suñer

The Campos Racing team was launched in 1998 by ex-Formula One driver Adrián Campos.  Since that time it has competed in various championships from GP2 to Euro F3. It has won six driver championships, five team championships and currently holds the GP2 Series 2008 title.

Campos Racing is running the Campos Grand Prix team in conjunction with Meta Image, a Madrid-based sports agency which specializes in event management, sponsorship acquisition, PR and marketing.

The Grand Prix team’s headquarters are based in Madrid, which houses the marketing and administrative departments. The technical centre is based at Campos Racing’s current headquarters in Valencia, 25km from the Ricardo Tormo race track. This facility currently manages design and development for the Campos Racing F3, Mexico A1GP and Barwa International GP2 teams.

As part of its application to compete in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, Campos has agreed an engine supply deal with Cosworth and technical partnerships with Dallara Automobili and Xtrac.

Company Name: Manor Grand Prix Racing
Team Name: Manor F1 Team
Country: United Kingdom
Team Principal: John Alfred Booth

The Manor name came into racing in 1990 when former single-seater champion John Booth decided to establish his own team. Since that time, Manor’s record of success includes some 171 Race Wins and 19 Championship Titles in championships such as Formula Renault and Formula 3 Euroseries.

Manor is based in the UK across two sites, one in Sheffield and the other in Bicester. Its technical innovation is characterised by the fact that the race cars are designed, tested and refined entirely in the digital domain using the processes originally developed by Wirth Research Limited (WRL).

WRL is an engineering company, founded by Nick Wirth in 2003, which specialises in research, development and manufacturing in the high technology sector. WRL’s designs were successful in winning both the 2004 and 2005 lndy Racing League championships and it has recently produced race winning designs for Honda competing in the American Le Mans Series.

Wirth, who is the Technical Director of Manor Grand Prix Racing, started his career as an Aerodynamicist for the March F1 racing team. He was responsible for aerodynamic concepts as well as scheming and design of wind tunnel model components for the 1988 and 1989 Leyton House March F1 cars.

From 1993 to 1995, Wirth was Founder/Owner/Technical Director of the Simtek F1 team, which started in the 1994 F1 championship. Simtek Research provided the team with all of the engineering and design of the cars. Wirth went on to become Chief Designer for the Benetton F1 team from 1996 to 1999.

As part of its application to compete in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, Manor has agreed an engine supply deal with Cosworth.

Company Name: Team US F1
Team Name: Team US F1
Country: US
Team Principal: Ken Anderson

Team US F1 is a new racing operation but its directors have many years of motor sport experience and it has already attracted a host of investors.

US F1’s Team Principal Ken Anderson has been involved in motor sport for over 30 years. His experiences include designing and constructing multiple Indy 500 and IndyCar Series-winning race cars, operating as technical director for the Ligier and Onyx Formula One teams and creating the advanced Windshear Wind Tunnel.

Fellow team director Peter Windsor has worked in F1 for over 35 years as a journalist, team manager and consultant. He has worked as the team manager for the championship-winning Williams-Renault team, the manager for Ferrari’s F1 chassis and suspension departments and as a consultant for F1 drivers Nigel Mansell and Carlos Reutemann.

As part of its application to compete in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, US F1 has agreed an engine supply deal with Cosworth.

2010 FIA Formula One World Championship Entry List

Following the completion of the applications process for teams to compete in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, the following teams have been confirmed.

Team	Constructor
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari
Scuderia Toro Rosso	STR TBA
Red Bull Racing	Red Bull Racing TBA
AT&T Williams	Williams Toyota
Force India F1 Team	Force India Mercedes
Campos Grand Prix	Campos Cosworth
Manor Grand Prix	Manor Cosworth
Team US F1	Team US F1 Cosworth
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes*	McLaren Mercedes
BMW Sauber F1 Team*	BMW Sauber
Renault F1 Team*	Renault
Panasonic Toyota Racing*	Toyota
Brawn GP Formula One Team*	Brawn TBA

*These five teams have submitted conditional entries.The FIA has invited them to lift those conditions following further discussions to be concluded not later than close of business on Friday 19 June.

The maximum number of cars permitted to enter the 2010 Championship has been increased to 26, two being entered by each competitor. Pending completion of the discussions referred to above, further due diligence is currently taking place on other potential entries.

12-Jun-09: FIA Announce 2010 Entry List

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Listen to this episode

This is F1 Minute for the 12th June.

The long awaited deadline for the 2010 entry list was reached today, and we got another deadline.
Firstly, the list. The three new teams who have made the cut are Campos Grand Prix, Manor Grand Prix, and Team USF1 – all of whom have signed up with Cosworth as their engine supplier.

Then we have all the current teams signed up, with Ferrari, Toro Rosso and Red Bull as unconditional entries, whilst the remaining FOTA teams have a note next to them. It reads: “These five teams have submitted conditional entries. The FIA has invited them to lift those conditions following further discussions to be concluded not later than close of business on Friday 19th June.” That would be the other deadline. Several more new teams are still on standby in case those discussions do not go well.

Ferrari and the two Red Bull teams are not happy that they have been entered unconditionally, which is down to pre-existing contracts with the governing body.

That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.