Formula One’s new entrants will be allowed to miss the first three races of the season without punishment, according to Jean Todt, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) president.
Bernie Ecclestone, F1’s supremo, does not expect U.S. F1 and Campos, two of four completely new teams this season, to be ready for the opening race in Bahrain on March 14.
“In the last draft of the Concorde agreement it’s written that a team can skip three races,” Todt said.
U.S. F1 and Campos have so far named only one of their two drivers and neither have launched their cars for the new season. Times Online
Former Spanish driver Adrian Campos has said he hopes to settle the future of his new team this week, having already signed Brazilian Bruno Senna, nephew of the late Ayrton.
Tony Teixeira, the boss of the A1 GP series, told Reuters last month he was in talks to buy into Campos while Serbia’s Stefan GP say they are all but ready to replace a failed new team and have Ecclestone as a backer.
Todt remains cautious, however.
“If one of them doesn’t make it, it doesn’t mean another team comes in. It’s up to the FIA to decide if they have the credentials,” the former Ferrari chief said.
Virgin have already launched their car and fellow new team Lotus are set to unveil theirs on Friday, after Red Bull’s presentation at the Jerez test on Wednesday. Yahoo! Eurosport
Todt, who replaced Max Mosley as FIA president last year, also said that he was against the latter’s budget cap proposal which almost brought about a breakaway series last year.
The Frenchman did state that he wanted to continue to reduce costs, although he supported the expensive KERS energy recovery system which has been dropped this year. Sky Sports
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