All sorts of things didn’t happen in F1 this week. The FIA didn’t allow USF1 to miss the first four races. USF1 didn’t survive to enter the World Championship nor did they get the automatic go-ahead for 2011 they were hoping for. With the thirteenth slot now available the FIA didn’t allow Stefan GP to have an entry, saying it was “too late”. Therefore Jacques Villeneuve didn’t make a comeback with the team. Campos-Meta didn’t enter the World Championship as now that Adrian Campos has nothing to do with the team it is known as Hispania Racing F1 Team. Bruno Senna didn’t get dropped by H.R.T. for someone with more money. Hispania didn’t say no to all of Karun Chandhok’s money. H.R.T. didn’t give their car a name or designation.

Hispania Racing F1 Team show off their sludge grey F1 challenger

 So what did happen? Well Hispania Racing F1 Team launched their Dallara designed and built car in Spain before shoving everything and everyone onto planes to get to Bahrain on time for next weeks opening round of the F1 World Championship. They did announce that they had signed Indian GP2 driver Karun Chandhok to drive along-side Bruno Senna and therefore they will be the beneficiary of the large wad of sponsorship dollars that Karun had been shopping around with. Considering that at the launch the car had about as many sponsorship logos on it as the Sauber currently has (ie; none) these funds probably paid for the Cosworth engines and the previously unpaid Dallara bills. As the team continues it’s search for sponsorship I’m not entirely convinced that the current colour scheme is a real attention grabber. Sludge grey with a white stripe and a bit of red doesn’t stand out as a statement of excitement. It just sort of oozes dullness. Let’s hope for Karun and Bruno’s sake that it at least oozes quickly.

    The FIA’s visit to North Carolina didn’t help the slowly strangling USF1 team when they had to admit that they a)had no money, b)had no car, c)had no engines, d)had no drivers, e)had almost no staff left, f)had absolutely no hope of actually starting any F1 races this year and that missing the first four races wouldn’t really make a great deal of difference. Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor then had the front to ask the FIA for an immediate entry to the 2011 championship as they have obviously done so much preparation and their failure to be ready for this year wasn’t really their fault. It was obviously the fault of all those naughty folk that saw no car, no progress and a mound of unpaid bills and wages and therefore gave none of their money to the team. What rotters. The FIA then announced the criteria for entries for next year and that the thirteenth slot was up for grabs. See yer later USF1. Was a nice dream for a while.

  At this point Stefan GP would have been feeling quite confident and had Jacques Villeneuve in for a seat fitting. They would have had plenty of staff hunting for their passports with a view to a pleasant jaunt out to sunnier climes to enjoy a bit of racing. Not so. The day after announcing that USF1 would not be entering the championship the FIA announced that it was “too late” to consider any other entries and that, despite the fact that Stefan GP had a)money, b)cars, c)engines, d)drivers, e)staff and although were lacking in testing were ready to race in Bahrain, there would only be 24 cars accepted for this years championship. Why is it so? Who the hell knows the truth. The fact the several senior employees of the team had previously departed the sport with their reputations not quite so shiny has they had once been may have been a factor, as may have been some of the more excitable press releases over the last month or so. There have also been suggestions in the last day or so that not is all totally kosher with the teams parent company, although these allegations of exaggerated claims of industrial links have been strenuously denied in yet another press release. Maybe it is just that they got up Jean Todt’s nose, because that is never a good idea.

Sam Snape 

06-03-2010     

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