What New Teams Will Join F1 in 2011?
There were supposed to be 13 teams competing in Formula 1 this season. However, the implosion of the US F1 team left a hole in the grid that could not be replaced at the last minute. This is why there are only 24 cars making up the field of any Formula 1 race in 2010.
This is also why there is one spot available for a new Formula 1 team in 2011. The sport’s bosses have decided to reopen the new team process to add a 13th team to the grid for next season. And in order to avoid a situation like last season, a decision has been made to also have a team in reserve ready to join the grid in case the 13th team falls through at the last minute, like the USF1 team did in 2010.
There has been much speculation about which team will be selected to join the Formula 1 grid in 2011 (and which team will be added as a reserve). Several teams that were expected to be leading candidates for the position have already dropped out, including two of the expected frontrunners.
Lola had submitted a bid to enter the grid in 2010 and was expected to be one of the top candidates for entry in 2011. However, they withdrew their bid early, claiming that the compressed time frame did not give them adequate time to complete testing and design on a 2011 chassis. Another team which pulled out of its bid was the ART Grand Prix team, which has been one of the most successful teams in the lower levels of racing. They backed away from a proposed bid, citing “unfavourable economic conditions.”
While the economy and great cost of starting a Formula 1 team is too much for many fledgling Formula 1 teams, some are still very much in the running for 2011. Interestingly, two of them have deep connections to the failed US F1 team. One is Anderson F1, founded by US F1 lead engineer Ken Anderson. Another is the Cypher team which is built on the remaining assets of the failed US F1 team and is owned by YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley.
ART Grand Prix might have decided that it wasn’t cost-efficient to move up from the lower forms of racing to Formula 1 but other teams have decided that now is the time to make the big move. One of them is Durango, as the Italian-based team has found investors willing to commit to a bid to move to Formula 1. The team is said to be considering using the Toyota TF110 chassis for the season. Epsilon Euskadi is taking a different route to Formula 1, moving from the world of sports cars and Formula Renault racing to a potential new seat.
A wild card entry comes from former world champion Jacques Villeneuve. He has recently announced plans to start his own team (named Villeneuve F1) to join the grid next season. If he does this, he would join famous former drivers such as Jackie Stewart and Emerson Fittapaldi as former world champions who later started their own team. However, details about Villeneuve’s investors have been hard to come by.
As amazing as it sounds, the team which likely has the best chance of earning a 13th spot is the Cypher Racing team. While the idea of bringing the remnants of the USF1 team in to fill the hole left by the collapse of the same team might seem laughable, it’s clear that Bernie Ecclestone and the rest of the Formula 1 elite want the sport to succeed in the USA. With at least one race scheduled in the USA starting in 2012, having an American team makes sense. The team was close to being ready last year and Hurley has the type of deep pockets which should ensure success – or at least not an epic collapse.
Tags: