New Teams Lining Up To Enter F1

Following the sport’s moves to cut the operating costs of teams and a promise of a £30m aid fund for new outfits from F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, as many as eight new teams are reportedly vying for three additional places on next year’s grid including British firms Lola and Aston Martin.

Assuming the FIA, motor sport’s world governing body, pushes through radical financial reforms that will cap the annual budgets of teams at £30m, there will undoubtedly be additions to the F1 grid next year.

The importance of bringing new teams into the sport has been emphasised by Ecclestone whose Formula One Management firm will plough almost £7m as seed capital into each new team and then pay at least £3m more for their travel costs for a season.

Aston Martin, under the leadership of Dave Richards the former Benetton-Renault team principal, have long been linked with a return to the sport.

Said Richards: ‘This is a great time to come in. If budgets are capped to a sensible level, everybody will benefit. Instead of F1 being a contest of the teams with the most money, it will become a championship for engineers with ingenuity and great drivers who can show their skill, as it was years ago.’

Additionally Lola, which has not been involved since the failure of their works team in 1997, is one of a number of outfits to also consider an entry into F1.

‘The announcement that F1 teams may opt for a prudent, financially responsible cost-capped regime from 2010 has resulted in us deciding to fully evaluate the opportunity to develop a car to compete in the FIA F1 World Championship,’ said Lola Group executive chairman Martin Birrane.

Lola was a consistent presence in the F1 paddock from the 1960s, and has entered discussions with several parties over the development of a car for next year.

The firm is well positioned to design and build a car given its expertise gleaned from other forms of motorsport, and Lola also possess key facilities such as a wind tunnel.

‘The current necessity for F1 to adopt a responsible approach in times of economic uncertainty has created the ideal conditions for us to consider developing a car for the world championship,’ added Birrane, who bought the group in 1997.

‘Lola possesses the technical resources, capability and know-how to develop cars capable of competing at the very highest levels of international motor sport, including F1.’

Outside of Aston Martin and Lola, a US-based team is also in the process of being formed while a host of other car manufacturers are eyeing up the opportunity.