ART Grand Prix who was the major contender for the 13th grid slot at the F1 championship, announced that has withdrawn its application after failing to guarantee sufficient long-term funding. However, the team owned by Nicolas Todt will continue to race in other inferior championships like GP2, GP3 and Formula 3, with F1 still as a future goal.
"ART Grand Prix has decided to withdraw their application to the International Federation of Automobiles (FIA) to take part in the 2011 Formula One World Championship. The team has been working for several months on this ambitious project that they had undertaken with determination and lucidity.
ART Grand Prix had forged strong bonds with several technical and financial partners but with unfavourable economic conditions they could not gather the necessary guarantees to ensure the stability of the project in the long term. Therefore, the company will have to postpone its project until a later date, however it remains completely focused and dedicated to the other single-seater championships in which they are successfully involved in."
After the latest news, the competitors that have remained for the 13th grid position are American Cypher Group, Epsilon Euskadi, Stefan GP and Durango. FIA is expected to announce the successful candidate in few weeks time although all F1 teams have already started to design their 2011 F1 cars.
