Toyota did announce their immediate quit from the series, but they also signed a new Concorde Agreement earlier this year confirming their presence in Formula One at least until the end of 2012. The 2010 entry list – as presented nu the FIA yesterday – therefore contains only 12 teams, with references regarding a 13th entry to be made in due time.
“Toyota Motorsport GmbH remains formally bound by the Concorde Agreement to put forward a team for participation, though it has indicated that it will not be in a position to do so. An announcement will be made regarding this entry in due course,” said the press release from the FIA.
Toyota will most likely be fined for their decision to quit the series, with several reports suggesting that the Japanese car maker is looking at around $150 million. In order to escape that penalty, it was rumored that Toyota are ready to hand over their entire F1 operations to Serbian outfit Stefan Grand Prix, including their base at Cologne.
As far as Peter Sauber is concerned, the Swiss owner who bought into BMW’s share in BMW Sauber a few days ago, is also very confident that his team will get into the entry list for 2010 after all.
“Regarding the slot on the grid I am very confident that we will be given a final confirmation very shortly,” said Sauber, according to Formula One’s official site.
Also, talking to Schweizer Fernsehen publication, Sauber admitted that he already made plans for 2010, searching for new bosses for his team, new drivers and, most of all, new investors.
“There are experienced drivers like Nick Heidfeld, Jarno Trulli, and Pedro de la Rosa lives in Zurich and would be close by. Then there are a few boys; (Vitaly) Petrov, and the Japanese Kobayashi,” added Sauber.
As far as the 2010 F1 entry list goes, some other details worth mentioning are that Mercedes’ team in the series is likely to be called Mercedes GP (rather than Silver Arrows, as initially projected), and it was confirmed that Manor Grand Prix will enter F1 as Virgin Racing.
Google News