FIA F1 2011 Entry List - includes Team Lotus!

The FIA published today the official 2011 Formula 1 Entry List. After this, it becomes much tougher for a team to change their official entry name, requiring unanimous approval of the other teams. BMW Sauber is now Sauber F1 Team, running Sauber-Ferrari cars, as expected.

The surprise news is that Tony Fernandes' team, which raced as Lotus Racing last year, is indeed entered for 2011 as Team Lotus, running Lotus-Renault cars (the chassis/engine are registered with the FIA entry as well as the team name). It had been expected that he would lose out on the battle with Proton/Group Lotus in their attempt to hijack the Lotus name back from Fernandes, that Fernandes would have to rename his team to something other than Lotus for 2011, and that Proton/Group Lotus would then become title sponsor at Renault, and that they wanted the team to be named Lotus Renault - well, Renault is still entered as Renault F1 Team.

So, it looks like the upper hand in the Lotus battle has swung back to Tony Fernandes, and that possibly, Briatore-wannabe Bahar is losing support at Proton? James Allen says that Proton told Group Lotus and Fernandes' F1 Team to figure out a way to work together, which presumably means continue with the Fernandes' Lotus F1 Team and dropping the title sponsor Lotus Renault deal. This makes far more sense, since Fernandes would quite likely let Group Lotus have decals on the car for $5 million or less, whereas it was going to cost them over $20 million to get their name on the airbox of the Renault cars. It was only Bahar's ego that was in the way of that common sense approach. I doubt Proton was willing to throw away that much extra money for no extra benefit...

Those are my hopes, anyway, I am sure there are still more surprises to come from this fight!

Here's the entry list:

1 Sebastian Vettel (D), Red Bull Racing, Red Bull Racing-Renault;
2, Mark Webber (AUS), Red Bull Racing, Red Bull Racing-Renault;
3, Jenson Button (GB), Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, McLaren-Mercedes;
4, Lewis Hamilton (GB), Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, McLaren-Mercedes;
5, Fernando Alonso (E), Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, Ferrari;
6, Felipe Massa (BR), Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, Ferrari;
7, Michael Schumacher (D), Mercedes GP Petronas, Mercedes;
8, Nico Rosberg (D), Mercedes GP Petronas, Mercedes;
9, Robert Kubica (PL), Renault F1 Team, Renault;
10, TBA, Renault F1 Team, Renault;
11, Rubens Barrichello (BR), AT&T Williams, Williams-Cosworth;
12, TBA, AT&T Williams, Williams-Cosworth;
14, TBA, Force India F1 Team, Force India-Mercedes;
15, TBA, Force India F1 Team, Force India-Mercedes;
16, Kamui Kobayashi (J), Sauber F1 Team, Sauber-Ferrari;
17, Sergio Perez Mendoza (MEX), Sauber F1 Team, Sauber-Ferrari;
18, TBA, Scuderia Toro Rosso, STR-Ferrari;
19, TBA, Scuderia Toro Rosso, STR-Ferrari;
20, Jarno Trulli (I), Team Lotus, Lotus-Renault;
21, Heikki Kovalainen, Team Lotus, Lotus-Renault;
22, TBA, HRT F1 Team, HRT-Cosworth;
23, TBA, HRT F1 Team, HRT-Cosworth;
24, TBA, Marussia Virgin Racing, Virgin-Cosworth;
25, TBA, Marussia Virgin Racing, Virgin-Cosworth

Other notes:
- Force India has no drivers confirmed, neither do HRT or Marussia Virgin;
- Toro Rosso has no drivers confirmed, despite their announcement last week that both this years' drivers would be retained next year;
- Lotus confirmed Trulli and Kovalainen;

 

Yes, the only number mandated by the FIA is #1 for the WDC (or #0 for his team if the driver retires from F1). After that, the number pairs are assigned by the FIA in SCC order (no #13), and it is up to the teams to determine which driver gets which number.

Remember the start of this year when Brawn/Mercedes had 3/4, originally assigned #3 to Rosberg, but then Schumacher made them give him #3?