Wednesday, September 8, 2010

FIA rejects new team applications

Jacques Villeneuve
Villeneuve had hoped for a return to F1 next season

Formula 1's governing body has turned down all the entries from teams hoping to fill the vacant 13th slot in 2011.

The decision ends for now ex-world champion Jacques Villeneuve's hopes of returning to the grid as the Canadian had lodged one of the rejected entries.

The FIA said on Wednesday: "None of the candidates meet the requirements to be granted an entry."

It also released a 20-race calendar, with the new Indian race set for 30 October, two from the season's end.

In other changes, Brazil replaces Abu Dhabi as the final grand prix of the season, which will end on 27 November.

The longest F1 season in history - with one race more than in 2010 - will start in Bahrain on 13 March before moving on, as this year, to Australia, Malaysia and China.

Turkey replaces Spain as the first European race of the year on 8 May, with the Spanish race following two weeks later.

The British Grand Prix marks the halfway point of the season on 10 July.

There are four back to back pairs of races: Malaysia and China, Spain and Monaco, Germany and Hungary, and Japan and Korea.

The 13th slot arose as a result of the collapse of the US F1 team before the start of the 2010 season.

Among the teams applying for the vacant slot were Villeneuve's, which was in partnership with the Italian ex-GP2 team Durango, and another bid from the Spanish outfit Epsilon Euskadi, which was one of the teams who were rejected in 2009 when the FIA approved the applications of Manor Motorsport (which became Virgin F1), Campos Meta (which became Hispania) and US F1.

Lotus, the third of the new teams on the grid this season, took the slot vacated by Toyota when the Japanese car giant pulled out at the end of the 2009 season.

None of the three new teams this season have scored points, and they remain some way from the pace of even the slowest of the established teams.

The decisions came at Wednesday's meeting of the FIA World Council, the organisation's legislative and disciplinary body.

It also announced its intention to push on with plans to licence certain specified staff members of all teams competing in its championships.

This is a reaction to the controversy over Renault's attempt to fix the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix by asking their driver Nelson Piquet Jr to deliberately crash to increase the chances of his team-mate Fernando Alonso of winning the race.

The FIA's decision to ban Renault bosses Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds from taking part in any FIA championship was overturned in the French courts so the two have effectively not been punished for their actions.

A statement from the FIA read: "The World Motorsport Council will submit a proposal to the General Assembly that a specific licence is created for a restricted list of members of staff of the competitors entered in the FIA World Championships.

"The aim is to introduce a system that ensures they are subject to the criteria set out in a new FIA code of good standing.

"This would apply to a minimum of six people per competitor, including the team principal, sporting director, team manager, technical director and two race engineers [or equivalent].

"A new mechanism will be introduced to control access to areas under the jurisdiction of the FIA and no pass of any kind will be issued to any person or body who is not in good standing for the purposes of the FIA International Sporting Code.

"Entrants will also become responsible for their staff, meaning any person connected directly or indirectly with the entrant in connection with their participation in an event."

Formula 1 calendar 2011:

13 March - Bahrain
27 March - Australia
10 April - Malaysia
17 April - China
8 May - Turkey
22 May - Spain
29 May - Monaco
12 June - Canada
26 June - Europe
10 July - Great Britain
24 July - Germany
31 July - Hungary
28 August - Belgium
11 September - Italy
25 September - Singapore
9 October - Japan
16 October - Korea
30 October - India*
13 November - Abu Dhabi
27 November - Brazil

Potenshöjande medel - köp viagra

No comments: