Where Are the New 2010 F1 Teams?

February 11, 2010 · Posted in Formula 1 

With the exception of Virgin Racing, the other three new teams; USF1, Campos Meta and Lotus F1 have yet to launch their challengers for the 2010 Formula 1 season. Lotus F1 has been seen on the track at Silverstone and has announced a launch date for this Friday.

Sources (?) have said that the Campos Meta team is behind on payments to Italian chassis constructor Dallara. Supposedly, the situation has progressed to the stage where Dallara may sell the F1 project. And there is a team ready to pick up the spoils; Stefan GP out of Serbia. Stefan GP also has a deal with Toyota who pulled out of F1 at the end of last season. Kazuki Nakajima has already been named as one of the drivers should the team take the place of Campos Meta. However, a slot on the grid is not guaranteed for Stefan GP has much controversy surrounding their technical chief, Mike Coughlan. Coughlan was involved in the huge industrial-espionage affair that saw Coughlan in possession of confidential Ferrari F1 technical documents in 2007.

There is not much news to report from the USF1 team other than that they are planning on being on the grid in Bahrain.

There has been a bit of confusion as to what exactly the rules are as far as the teams attending all of the races. Bernie Ecclestone has been quoted as saying that teams may miss up to three races during the season. The FIA has quickly clarified this matter.

“Following recent reports on the interpretation of clauses in the Concorde Agreement concerning the concept of a Team’s ‘participation’ in the FIA Formula One World Championship, the FIA wishes to make the following clarification:

“From a sporting and regulatory point of view, each team that has registered for the Championship is obliged to take part in every event of the season.

“Any failure to take part, even for just one Championship event, would constitute an infringement both of the Concorde Agreement and the FIA Regulations.”

That statement seems to sum things up fairly clearly. Meanwhile, the rest of the teams are continuing testing in Jerez, Spain.

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