USGPE, Campos GP, Manor and possibly Qadbak Sauber

f1racing — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:16:23 +0000

4 new teams to enter F1 in 2010!

We are not just a small new team; we have the possibilities to be a very substantial team.

The dramatic reduction is costs of Formula One next year has sparked a huge amount of interest amongst ex teams that could previously not afford to continue running an F1 Team against the manufacturers. The budget-limited championship in 2010 has attracted USF1, Campos GP, Manor, and Qadbak Sauber. Honda must be kicking themselves now that they a) have given brawn a championship winning car for peanuts and b) leaving F1 due to costs 1 year before the new rules would easily allow their participation. BMW have also jumped the gun by announcing that they would exit F1 just weeks before the budget cap agreement for 2010 was made and are still trying to negotiate with the FIA to reenter in 2010. On the flip side, given the recent success of Force India, it’s clear that manufacturers no longer have the upper hand. Here’s run down on the team entered and bidding for a position in next years grid line up:

BMW Sauber is now Qadbak Sauber

BMW Sauber team have sold to Swiss company Qadbak Investments and this could be the 14th race car to enter the 2010 F1 season. Bernie Eccelstone is looking at increasing the current 13 car entries to 14 teams to let the new Sauber team owners to race.

Lotus formerly Pacific Team Lotus

Lotus F1

The Malaysian Government has funded Lotus F1 Team along with private such as the lotus car manufacturer Proton, Airasia, Sepang International Circuit, the Malaysian Motorsports Association, Naza Motors, and Malaysian Automobile Association. Team principal Tony Fernandes will be managing the Lotus F1 Team up until the first Grand Prix in Melbourne 2010. Formula 3 team, Litespeed, acquired the rights to use to the Lotus name but for legal reasons it will not be called Team Lotus. Nevertheless, Lotus will reentry Formula One under the historic name.

Mike Gascoyne, Lotus F1 team technical director said, “We are not just a small new team; we have the possibilities to be a very substantial team. And the FIA recognize that, combined with the name and that we’re also a team based outside Europe”. The Lotus F1 team will be based in Norfolk, England, but will move to the Proton manufacturers n Malaysia. Plans are underway for a purpose-built facility at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit which will no doubt help their chances of a good result at Sepang.

Campos Grand Prix

Adrian Campos currently runs a team in the European F3 Open Championship and has a lot of experience in lower level Formula Racing. Campos Grand Prix is partly funded by a Madrid sports agency called Meta Image. Campos Grand Prix is using Dallara Automobili, which has built Indy Cars, Formula 3 & GP2 cars will build the Campos Grand Prix chassis for 2010.

USPGE

USPGE stands for United States Grand Prix Engineering which is the All-American USF1 Team. Click here for more details on USF1.