There remain strong doubts about whether the others - Campos Meta and US F1 - will be ready for the first race in Bahrain on 14 March. Bernie Ecclestone certainly doesn’t think that they’ll be there.
It was reported that Jean Todt, FIA President, had indicated that new teams could skip the first three races. Apparently his comments were misinterpreted by some journalists though, and a follow up statement by the FIA has now made it clear that all entrants are expected to turn up to the Bahrain event.
Waiting in the wings for an empty grid slot is Stefan Grand Prix, headed by Serbian Zoran Stefanovic. Even without a confirmed entry, it has continued work on its car, even going as far as sending a container load of equipment to Bahrain just in case.
It’s true to say that Serbia doesn’t have much of a history of developing F1 cars, but the team has had a major head start: its car is the one that Toyota had already designed for the 2010 season, before the Japanese manufacturer pulled the plug on its F1 activities. Interestingly, virtually all of the subsequent development work has continued to take place at Toyota’s Cologne factory.
As if resurrecting a car wasn’t enough, it seems that Stefan Grand Prix may also be reviving the F1 driving career of Jacques Villeneuve. The Canadian was seen at a few races in 2009, perhaps checking out the possibilities for a return to F1. If he is contracted he’ll be joining ex-Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima, who has already been signed up.
The prospect of Villeneuve joining Schumacher, Alonso, Hamilton and Button as a fifth world champion on the grid should be something to look forward to, provided of course that his car can show more consistency than last year’s Toyota.
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