Stefan GP Entry Rejected

Carroller16

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8544246.stm

New team Stefan GP have Formula 1 entry rejected
Formula 1 hopefuls Stefan GP have had their bid to race in 2010 rejected.

The Serbian team had hoped to race in place of another new team, US F1, who have withdrawn after failing to fulfil its obligations for the new season.

Governing body the FIA said in a statement: "It is not possible for a replacement team to be entered for the championship at this late stage."

The decision means 12 teams will be on the grid when the season starts in Bahrain on 14 March.

projectmayhem

Not surprising tbh

vincenzolorenzo

Yeah thats disappointing news alright. I didn't think they would get the slot but it would have been nice if they did

Frank Bullitt

This might have something to do with the FIAs strategy, they want to get back to the north American market so waiting a year for USF1 to get going might be a good idea.

Cookie_Monster

:mad:

bad decision IMO, no reason not to have 13 teams on the grid despite the lateness. If the FIA had acted sooner on USF1 we might still have had 13 teams

Mr Lightweight

It's a damn shame. Would have been great to have Nakajima and Villeneuve on the grid, especially in what would probably have been a pretty good car

amacachi

Mr Lightweight wrote: »

It's a damn shame. Would have been great to have Nakajima and Villeneuve on the grid, especially in what would probably have been a pretty good car

Don't think they're that much of a loss in terms of quality or the drivers, Nakajima really failed to impress I though.
It's obvious that it was purely politics that kept them out though, which is disappointing.

dsmythy

12 teams is still more than we've had for a while. 24 cars on track is good enough for me.

Amnesiac_ie

Stefan GP never stood a hope. Buying a second hand F1 car does not make you an F1 team. Railing against the FIA before you've even won an entry is not very clever. It will be dangerous enough in Bahrain with the two HRTs on track never having had as much as a shakedown. I hope the three new teams do survive the 2010 season and that the FIA vet any potential new teams for 2011 a little more closely.

frostie500

Amnesiac_ie wrote: »

Stefan GP never stood a hope. Buying a second hand F1 car does not make you an F1 team. Railing against the FIA before you've even won an entry is not very clever. It will be dangerous enough in Bahrain with the two HRTs on track never having had as much as a shakedown. I hope the three new teams do survive the 2010 season and that the FIA vet any potential new teams for 2011 a little more closely.

I agree. It's all well and good fans saying that with USF1 gone we should just put Stefan onto the grid. The chances are that they would have been relatively competitive due to having a Toyota chassis and engine but they would have been a team with no experience of designing a car-and building it, seeing as all the work was done in Colonge. What would they be able to achieve next year or the year after with so little experience?

My problem is that the FIA did not act early enough with the fiasco that was developing in the States and come to some sort of decision about the USF1 entry in January. They could have made a decision that USF1 didn't race this year(similar to Toyota prior to their entry) and the governing body and the team could have saved face and been in a position to make an entry next year or else opened the tendering process at the start of the year for next season.

As it is if the FIA do look to let another team into F1 for next season the decision won't be made until the Summer in all likelihood and the new team will have even less time than Virgin, Lotus and Hispania to get a car onto the grid and be competitive. I think they should leave the grid set at 24 for now and if a team decides to enter F1 in future they should be vetted in a similar manner to Stewart GP etc. when they entered the series, and not in the haphazard manner of 'we need more teams' that facilitated this fiasco

Oblomov

13 teams.. 12 or 14 but never 13. When was the last time a number thirteen car took part?

frostie500

Oblomov wrote: »

13 teams.. 12 or 14 but never 13. When was the last time a number thirteen car took part?

It's very rare that a team takes number 13 due to superstitious reasons, the team that finishes seventh in the previous years constructors championship will usually take numbers 14 and 15 instead of 13 and 14.