Richards not committing to 2010 team entry

The fight between existing Formula One teams and the FIA is a spanner in the works of David Richards' prospective entry for 2010.

The former Benetton and BAR boss was planning a budget-capped entry for next year, to run under his Prodrive or Aston Martin brands, or in the guise of a Middle Eastern-funded foray.

But with major current teams now threatening to quit over Max Mosley's cost-slashing methods, Richards is not yet committing to making the May 29 deadline for a 2010 team entry.

"We are very concerned about the controversy these proposals have created with the existing teams and the uncertainty that this has created," he told GPWeek.

"It is important for us and our partners that there is stability in the sport with broad alignment on the future direction of Formula One and this will be a critical issue in our decision-making process as to whether or not to make an entry," added Richards.

In fact, given the uncertainty and the existing teams' threats, it is likely that, come May 29, only three or four teams will actually meet the FIA's entry deadline.

But that doesn't mean that, despite the 13 two-car team vacancies, the May 29 deadline will lock in a six or eight-car grid for 2010.

An FIA spokesman confirmed that entries after May 29 "would be accepted with the appropriate late entry fee."

Of course, in view of the ongoing talks with the existing teams and the factors still at play, nothing prevents the FIA from simply extending the May 29 deadline in order to allow the interested parties time to assess the situation - in addition to postponing any late entry fees resulting directly from the current uncertainty.

Comment 1 - 7 of 7

Sort comments by: Most recent

1 want to see the stig driving for aston martin. lol.
From zoso, on Tue 19 May 9:59AM
- 0
- 0
- Report abuse
can anyone tell me what max and bernie have done except get rich off others?a pair off @#$% who should leave f1 alone and lets see some racing and not politics from a pair of money grabing freaks
From catno, on Mon 18 May 11:24PM
- 2
- 1
- Report abuse
I dont think that the FIA will be charging a late entry fee after May 29th, more like giving out discounts and having a sale!
From pauljgregory, on Mon 18 May 9:25PM
- 2
- 0
- Report abuse
TeamJuanF1...I agree with many of your posts but forget not that Dave Richards spent a great deal of Effort, cash and time to enter F1 a couple of years back only to have the rug snatched from under him by a change of rulings, you must concede that in this financial climate one should seek assurances of security, after all is not his money he'll be spending it's that of his trusted investors, and these frequent visits to court are not helpful
From Peter c, on Mon 18 May 5:04PM
- 6
- 0
- Report abuse
please Dave Richards bring Aston Martin to F1, that would be awesome, i would cheer that
From william c, on Mon 18 May 4:19PM
- 5
- 0
- Report abuse
What about making sports car racing the be all and end all of motor sport- a combination of diesel engines ( and who would have thought that these would have been winning at La Mans consistently for the last 2 years... ? of aerodynamics, making the disc brake work... let the manufacturers put the financial, design and research resource into this area of the sport and have a real world sports car championship which takes in Le Mans, Silverstone, 2 American circuits, ....... Real racing in recognisable cars- the BMW F1 cars - are they relevant ?? The Endurance Audis are they relevant ???? A big YES !!!
Richard West
From R, on Mon 18 May 4:13PM
- 1
- 2
- Report abuse
Beginning to wonder if Richards is ever going to make it to F1. It seems that he is waiting for F1 to be free of MAx and Berine, but I don't know if that will ever happen. One good thing about is that this puts more pressure on FIA/FOM to reach a deal with FOTA asap.
From TeamJuanF1, on Mon 18 May 4:09PM
- 1
- 0
- Report abuse