(wires/autosport) The commitment by Formula 1's current teams to remain in the sport until 2012 has quelled fears about the grid getting decimated by manufacturer withdrawals, but the focus still must be on encouraging new teams. According to autosport that is the view of Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali, who has welcomed the team unity that secured a breakthrough deal with the FIA, but thinks it vital that 'fresh blood' is given the chance to shine in F1. "For sure it is important that F1 will stay as a real F1, that was one of our priorities for the future," explained Domenicali in a press conference held by the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) in Bologna on Thursday. "For sure we as FOTA, we will welcome the new teams that are coming to F1, but of course it is important to make sure that the value of this formula is to make sure that these companies are able to be in F1 not only for one year but also for the future. And this will give another input to this championship. "We need to make sure the new ones, who are very welcome, are really part of this business, not because we need to have new teams in terms of numbers, but new in terms of fresh blood into the championship. This is a very important point that we need to make sure of, for the benefit of what we have achieved in these last days." While the three new teams entered into the championship have yet to comment on their future plans in the wake of the budget cap getting scrapped for next season, FOTA vice chairman John Howett said talks would commence with them next month to sort out if they would join FOTA. "First of all I think we need to have some dialogue with these teams to establish whether they wish to join FOTA or not," he said. "FOTA is open. We believe dialogue is constructive and positive. "Obviously before doing that there is the issue of reaching an understanding with them on their position, based on the new regulatory framework. It's too soon to say, but our door is open and I guess in the next two to three weeks, as the total situation is stabilised, we will enter into discussion with them should they wish to meet." Brawn CEO Nick Fry did not rule out some other teams joining Formula 1 if any of the three chosen outfits was not interested in racing without a budget cap system. "If one of those three weren't able to get the funding to enter, there a possibility that others might be invited in," Fry told Reuters. "Obviously, we want more teams involved in Formula 1." Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said he hopes the Concorde Agreement, that will commit teams to F1 until 2012, should be signed off between the teams, the FIA and the sport's commercial owners imminently. "I'm confident we can find a solution with CVC in the next days - CVC is the company that owns the rights of F1. So our role is in two years, by the end of 2011, to achieve a cost basically like in the 1990s," he explained. "It means that finally for small or big teams, it's important to think of the balance between cost and the revenues at the end of 2011. We are united in the interests of the sport and I think that yesterday was a very positive and constructive agreement." He added: "I want to say, one of the important agreements we achieved was an important commitment from manufacturers and big teams to race and continue to be in Formula 1, at least until the end of 2012. "So in the past, if somebody was worried, maybe after Honda left or somebody else, not now. The car manufacturers and the big teams will remain in Formula 1, and this is the reason why yesterday's agreement is important for us to work together for a better future for F1. F1 needs fresh air, needs ideas, needs improvement, working together to achieve this goal."
Forgot about this tidbit of info, it appears the real reason that Prodrive was not accepted in the initial grid approval by the FIA is that although Prodrive is the most experienced race team, they are in some sort of financial bind. Apparently they could not provide sufficient proof of funding. But then I ask, what about Superfund? I thought they had more money than God or Branson.
WRONG - Max doesn't like Dave Richards so he never stood a chance in hell in getting in. Why not superfund.....because BeMax GAVE the us entry probably with some sort of contract between Windsor and BeMax and so there was ONLY EVER two positions.......which I suspect are specially named for "various reasons" which could likely have been part of the BeMax show. Besides, Prodrive belongs in SportsCars where the fans like Richards and he's appreciated, not this revamped circus. We'll see who the reserve teams are as I have to agree with Mike, the us team may not see the grid and if so it will be short lived....same with the others - I doubt they'll be nothing more than backmarkers. Carol
True Dat!! Nicked from a Blog: Prodrive has a terrific record in the sport and, according to David Richards, has the funding for the project from Dar Capital. This is a recently-established British-based investment bank, which is controlled by Kuwaits Investment Dar. To give you an idea of the scale of the company, not long ago Mercedes-Benz had meetings with Investment Dar about a possible joint venture. Investment Dar has been listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange since 1999 and has close links with the ruling families of the region, it claims to have 800 prominent and respected individuals and institutions mainly from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman as its investors. In other words it has money. It also owns Aston Martin, which gives it a good reason to want to be in F1. And let us not forget that David Richardss Prodrive was granted an entry in F1 by the FIA back in 2006, so his organisation clearly met the criteria then. So why not now?
