Of the new teams that applied to join Formula 1, only USF1 didn’t make the starting grid (Hispania, Virgin and Malaysia’s Lotus Racing are the three rookie outfits currently racing), and the FIA has invited applications to take the entry left vacant by the collapse of the American Dream, and will announce the result by July.
Italian former GP2 team Durango has thrown their name into the hat. Durango dropped out of GP2 at the end of last year due to financial problems, which makes one wonder how they are going to survive in F1. But Durango’s founder and team boss Ivone Pinton said the team’s new investors preferred the glitz, glamour and profile of F1 compared to its feeder series.
“After all the wrong things happened last season we tried our best to look for new partners in our racing activity. It did not take too long to understand that the interest could be aroused just about Formula 1 and nothing else. So we pushed towards this direction and I can say that, to enter F1, we can now enjoy the backing of two very big international groups,” he said.
Prior to running in GP2, Durango competed in Formula 3000. Among the drivers who have raced under its banner are Formula 1 new boys Karun Chandhok and Lucas di Grassi. Why won’t the FIA let the very well prepared and ready to race Stefan GP stand in for USF1 is anyone’s guess.
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Like throwing money into a big pond….
Good Luck and God Speed.. remember that the 107% rule is coming in next year!
Our own Alex Yoong is the notorious b.i.g expert of the 107% rule during his time in the Minardi. In fact arguably this was the rule that made him famous.
You make it sound as if he did not qualify for most of the races that he competed in
Quote from the article:
“Why won’t the FIA let the very well prepared and ready to race Stefan GP stand in for USF1 is anyone’s guess.”
It’s not that simple. Due to timing issues, StefanGP ran the risk of seriously struggling just like HRT. To have ‘a car’ is not enough. A lot of other things need to happen which required sufficient preparation time.
FIA did the right thing of offering the space for 2011 and Stefan GP could bid for that. it doesn’t hurt F1 to have a backend team missing in 2010.
Stefan GP also didn’t win themselves any favours when they kept complaining via the media. F1 is a special elitist club and they cannot be expected to be welcomed after disrespecting FIA through the media. I’m not surprised if they are ‘unoffically banned’
Agreed..
Stefan GP are better than any rookies team. they already have the car as they bought Toyota F1 team, that’s why paul mention FIA didnt let the Stefan GP replace the USF1 in 2010 teams list
No they are not.
As I said in my post (read 1st paragraph after the quotes) Just having a car already designed is not enough to perform in F1.
StefanGP had ZERO test data, the team members have never worked together and they couldn’t even get tyres from Bridgestone. Except for having a car already designed (still unproven mind you) they were missing all the other crucial elements to prepare and they were already out of time.
The timing issue was in part due to USF1 and their denial that they were in trouble, so existing agreements with FIA etc were still in place. By the time it became official that they can’t make it, it was almost too late for StefanGP or anyone to properly prepare.
If you understand how much preparation, planning and time is required to just get the car to the test sessions, let alone Bahrain, you’ll understand how unrealistic it was for StefanGP to competently run this season. Best to prepare properly for next year.
Stefan didn’t look glamorous enough.