In order to avoid USF1 fiasco or any criticisms by the likes of Ferrari – and clearly ensuring that next time around, no mistakes are made, FIA has already announced the opening for the selection process for a 13th team to join Formula One in 2011.
Even though USF1 was supposed to fill the space on the grid of the 13rd F1 team, its plans fell apart in the months leading up to the first race due to lack of funding. Moreover FIA denied to the team a request for a deferment after talks for a potential merge with the Toyota-backed Stefan GP failed. The entry of the Serbian team in the place of USF1 had finally denied as arbitrary and time for a formal FIA entry selection wasn’t enough to complete before the inaugural race in Bahrain.
The FIA has now invited potential replacements to put forward a proposal outlining their ability to compete. The governing body will also select reserve candidates, in case of further drop outs, in order to secure that a 13rd team would be present at 2011 grid but only as long as they can prove they are capable of participating in the championship for 2011 and 2012. Bizarrely though its schedule calls for a decision to be made by July, which is very late not only for the selected entrant but as well as for the reserve teams.
As was announced when the 2010 entry list was issued, the FIA will also select at least one reserve. Logic suggests however that it would be almost impossible to get a project off the ground with such a status, and that any team would need six months or so notice that it is being upgraded to full entry status – unless like Stefan GP last month, it had access to someone else’s unused car.
The full statement reads as follows:
“The FIA has decided to open a new selection process to identify a candidate team to fill any vacancy that may exist in the FIA Formula One World Championship at the start of the 2011 season. The FIA may also identify one or more possible ‘reserve’ entrants to fill such vacancies.
This selection process will be open to all candidates capable of participating in the Championship for 2011 and 2012. The overall long-term interests of the Championship will determine which candidates are selected.
The precise terms of this selection process, together with the applicable selection criteria, deadlines, legal requirements and other conditions, will be communicated to candidates who have registered a formal expression of interest with the FIA’s Secretariat before 5pm CET Thursday 15th April 2010, together with an administration fee of 1,000 Euros.
The application process will commence at that time with those who have registered an expression of interest before this deadline (late applicants will be admitted only at the FIA’s discretion). This fee is non-refundable, although it will be offset against the application fee, which the FIA will require from those submitting full applications.
All applicants will be expected to undergo thorough due diligence. By way of indication only, the applicable selection criteria will include:
(a) the technical ability and resources of the team;
(b) the ability of the team to raise and maintain sufficient funding to allow participation;
(c) the team’s experience and human resources;
(d) the FIA’s assessment of the value that the candidate may bring to the Championship as a whole.
The timing of this process will depend on the candidates’ responses. However, by way of indication only, the FIA anticipates that full applications will need to be submitted by the end of June, followed by due diligence leading to a decision in July 2010.”
