He is Slobodan Milosevic's half brother. Also think about it, if the money pot has to be divided between 13 teams rather than 12, who is going to object to Stefan making an entry on the grid?
+1 Draggin FIA to court surely didn't help... Most likely his completely shady background - he came out of nowhere with a more than questionable company and spends money like there's no tomorrow.
Did he actually spend any serious money ? Coughlan probably worked for nothing seeking rehabilitation - did Toyota ever get paid for anything - since they have now evicted him and kept the cars the answer is probably not - sending two containers of kit you don't own by sea costs very little even if assuming you actually pay the bill - etc etc etc
No Phil, let blame Ferrari, after all Ferrari is to blame for everything. Sort of like the game "seven degrees of Bacon" eventually, Ferrari will be involved.
The thing is, all those people who blame Ferrari for everthing have inadvertantly stumbled onto the one thing that the Tifosi have known all along, It's because Ferrari are the most important thing!. Without Ferrari, their lives (like ours), would be so much duller!.
It the rumors are true that Stefan's deal with Toyota is now null and void for failure to get admission to F1, Stefan's gonna need much more than USF1's grid spot to try again.
As the FIA have tried to tell him though, he's wasting his money because that grid spot essentially no longer exists. Next step for Stefan GP?, give up on F1 (not very likely it seems), continue with the purchase of USF1, pay their FIA fines and then go to court to try to force an entry into F1 (not sure it would work and the FIA would tie it up in court for too long anyway), or buy out HRT racing or Virgin racing (the only real route left open now for 2010 but would those teams sell out?, probably yes for the right money but then again, who knows!), or start from scratch for 2011 and hope they get in (and I wouldn't put money on that happening!).
The "new" FIA is not anxious to bring on itself the ill will that litigation brings and I suspect that Stefan would not like the exposure that it would bring them either. If Stefan wanted to pursue a legal remedy it would have done so already.
Expect some new rules for new teams/applicants to be announced any time soon. Just a matter of sorting out the mess Mosley left behind.
From what I've read the FIA is starting the selection process asap so as to avoid any more "embarrassments".
He started to pursue legal action to start with but then backed out of it, either because he was scared what might come out or he realised it was going to seriously upset the FIA and do him no favours at all. All I'm saying is that if Stefan GP went down the legal route again and backed the FIA into a corner, The FIA would defend itself in court and tie up Stefan GP until it missed out on a grid spot again. At the end of the day, you can't force people to like you and the more you try, the less likely it is to happen. Perhaps someone should tell Stefan GP that A1 GP is for sale and to start their own rival series!.
Yes if they want to go the court route the option remains open. So far they haven't and show no sign (that I've seen) that they will. Perhaps they're just waiting for Branson to get bored and sell the Virgin team
The problem was, he was complaining about the fact that Mosley would only let new teams get a entry if they were running Cossie engines, and he was bang on right to, only if you have not got your foot in the door..not the best way. Mosley has a lot to answer for in fact that if ya face don't fit your not in. So this fact clouds the real issue which may be: The guy has pots of money to spend, its how he got it, the problem.
If they offered the right money I'm sure he would, but I think HRT would be the cheaper option. As I say, buying USF1 now makes no sense at all, it's like backing a horse after the race has already been run.
True on both points. At this point his issues with Max wouldn't be keeping him out. I suspect the real reasons are quite unrelated.
Call me ignorant here... USF1 is not out until it doesn't participate to the first 3 races of the seasons. If Stephan GP buys USF1 and can ring a car to Sepang than USF1 (now Stephan GP) is in the 2010 championship.
The FIA have already ruled that although the grid spot is technically still open, USF1 have forfeited any rights to it by missing the first race of the season and have basically informed Stefan GP that if they buy USF1, they won't have a grid spot for 2010 and they may be liable to pay any fines levied against USF1 for failure to participate. See here for details:http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82250
This is probably overly simplistic, but here goes ... USF1 isn't in F1, has no actual/physical car, and has no major sponsor. So the FIA is going to punish them? MAY I ASK HOW? Isn't this the equivalent of a headmaster trying to punish a student that doesn't go to his school? They tried to enter, they failed to answer the bell, and it's over with, right? After this debacle, surely there isn't serious thought that someone would step up and sponsor them for a future entry ... or is there?
It's a poison pill that basically will make anyone that' buys USF1's assests (such as the slot) pay through the nose. So, USF1 is punished by not being able to sell itself or anything it's created. Aside from a lawsuit, there is little the FIA can get from USF1 financially. But, they can make sure that they lost everything.
So will such penalties appease/help Stephan or whomever? Or is this merely a case of the FIA exerting power?
