The FIA have finally announced the completed line-up for 2010. It tells the story of how the grid has been shaken to the core - only 6 teams have the same name/engine as last year and one of my original predictions has already come true. Firstly, let me discuss Hispania Racing Team (HRT - no jokes please). Born from the struggling Campos effort, this team launched last Thursday and most people involved breathed a heavy sigh of relief. What I want to know is how it ended up like this? Campos was one of the first new teams to get the green light for this season and so they have had the longest to put together a viable package. Furthermore, 6 months ago I would have tipped them to be the best of the new teams because their heritage is in GP2 (one step below F1) and so they should have a good idea how to bring a team package together. Also, the car that they would be using would be designed and built by Dallara using established techniques in a wind tunnel. It really seemed that beating Virgin (who have taken the CFD only route to designing a car), Lotus (who were announced late and so had less time to build a car) and USF1 (all talk and no trousers) would be simple. 6 months later USF1 has been put on hold (although I doubt that they will make it at all), and Virgin and Lotus have spent at least 2 tests running their car on the road valuable development miles that could give them an unassailable head start in a season of limited testing. Meanwhile, Campos has been sold to Jose Ramon Carabante and re-branded HRT.
However, they do have a car and apparently are good to go in Bahrain.
The pictures that I have seen of the car show it to be quite sleek and tidy; definitely more of the Ferrari than the Lotus - especially around the sidepod area. What also bodes well is that the front wing has been developed, a noticeable feature that the Virgin car was lacking at its launch. The colour scheme is ok but reminds me a little too much of the Midland from 2006 - ironically Colin Kolles was that team's boss too.
The problem I have with this team is that they lack a bit of character. You would expect Latin flare and fun but it all seems a bit drab and dull - certainly there isn't the interest (from my point of view at least) as there is with Virgin and Lotus. Having said that, they have an intriguing (if inexperienced) driver pairing of Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok - these two have been team mates before (in GP2) and they both carry high expectation (because of their name and nationality respectively).
I expect HRT to struggle at the start - mechanical failures could be plenty as they optimise the car. However, by the mid season I think that they could push themselves ahead of the other new teams; aerodynamically the car seems the most balanced of the three and they will get used to race strategies and tyre wear the more that they run. We won't know for another week though but you can be sure that no team will be using Friday free practice in Bahrain more them.***
So Hispania come in and take car numbers 20 & 21 as planned. Sauber replace USF1 with cars 22 & 23 and Stepan GP is denied even a sniff of the grid.
The Stepan situation is a strange one; they are race ready with a car and technical staff fit to go. What's more, the car is probably quite good (as it was designed and made by Toyota) and there is space on the grid now that USF1 aren't going to be there. However, Bernie Eccleston doesn't seem to ever have been keen on allowing them a place - which probably means he has a better (for him) situation lined up. It is quite clear that 13 teams is the limit that was ever going to get agreement from the other teams (fewer teams = bigger share of the revenue for each) and as the American entry has only been deferred to 2011 then the grid should be complete next year. If Stepan are allowed entry then it would be really difficult to honour the USF1 deferral and keep only 13 teams. This doesn't seem like Bernie though. I would have expected him to tell USF1 where to go and allowed Stepan to Step-in (sorry). So why isn't this the case?
Where Bernie is concerned there must be a bigger picture that we cannot see. In my mind there are three possibilities:1. Mr E. is being paid by USF1 to keep them a place on the grid.
2. Mr E. would rather have another audition for the final grid slot so that he can broker the best deal. This could mean either selecting the team most suitable or the one that will earn him the most money.
3. Mr E. needs USF1 because Mr E would like to have a race in America again soon. American team = American interest (especially if they have an American driver) = Americans starting to like F1 more = Americans wanting a race = more money for Bernie.
Personally, I think all three are probably true. Bernie is probably being paid a retainer by USF1 but if they are still in disarray in October then number 2 could be put into action where Stepan could put their team forward along with other potential options like Prodrive (or maybe even another manufacturer if the financial situation makes it appealing by then). However, if USF1 do make it onto the grid in 2011 then don't be surprised if the USA returns to the racing calendar in 2012/13.
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