Fia Sets Deadline For 2011 New Teams

World motorsport governing body the FIA, has set an April deadline for
new teams wanting to join F1 in 2011 and laid out criteria for them to
fulfil.

Teams must register their interest in filling vacant grid slots by 15th April.

The
candidates will have to prove they have the technical capability,
resources and enough funding to participate in the championship.

US F1 were awarded an entry this season but will now have to submit a new entry after failing to be ready in time.

Just
10 days before the season-opener in Bahrain, the American-based team
asked to defer their entry until 2011 as they failed to have the
technical resources or finances in place to make their F1 debut
alongside fellow newcomers Virgin Racing, Hispania and Lotus F1.

Serbian
team Stefan GP, who had hoped to take US F1’s place in 2009, are also
likely to join other potential F1 teams in submitting a formal
application.

The FIA has set out the following selection criteria for new teams wishing to join the championship:

i) the technical ability and resources of the team

ii) the ability of the team to raise and maintain sufficient funding to allow participation

iii) the team’s experience and human resources

iv) the FIA’s assessment of the value that the candidate may bring to the championship as a whole.

A decision will be made by the FIA on which teams will join the 2011 and 2012 championships by July.
Campos,
which are now running as Hispania following a takeover, US F1 and
Manor, which have been renamed Virgin Racing, were accepted as new
entrants last June.

Lotus were chosen to fill the gap left by
BMW’s decision to quit the sport but the former BMW team retained its
place under the ownership of founder Peter Sauber after Toyota pulled
out at the end of the season.