The French GP2 outfit ART Grand Prix confirmed that will bid to become the 13th team on the 2011 Formula One grid.
Frederic Vasseur, the team's co-founder, announced to France's Auto Hebdo.
"Yes, we have applied to join the World Championship in 2011... We did not want to confirm our willingness to engage in Formula One until now, to best prepare for this very complex issue and not compromise our current activities... The choice of engine is not yet defined.
The team is also headed by Nicolas Todt, son of FIA president Jean Todt and manager of the Ferrari driver Felipe Massa. Yet, he declared that he is not expecting his father to favor him through the selection process and expects tough competition towards FIA's final decision by July.
"My father is anything but stupid. For us, we need to do things even better than the best in order to not be open to criticism. Our dossier needs to be better than any others, because I do not expect any gifts from the FIA, quite the contrary"
