The team that Peter Sauber bought back from BMW has been given the 13th spot on the 2010 Formula 1 grid. A letter from the FIA to Sauber reportedly stated that their application for an entry in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship had been successful. Sauber, of course, must now sign the new Concorde Agreement because BMW failed to do that prior to announcing that they would be leaving Formula 1. Apparently, this decision was reached with the support of the other teams and the commercial rights holder (Bernie).
I don’t know about you, but this is good news to me. I think that Sauber, based on past participation and performance, deserves to be on the grid. We have yet to find out what the status of Stefan Grand Prix will be if it proceeds with the purchase of Toyota’s F1 team. Unlike BMW, Toyota did sign the Concorde Agreement before abandoning its plans to participate in the 2010 championship, and Stefan, provided it can be prepared to race next year, may feel that the 13th grid spot should have rightfully belonged to it.
In other F1 news, rumors are emerging that have Prodrive planning to buy the Renault team. Now that is a surprise, at least to me, but if David Richards does buy Renault F1, they too have signed the Concorde Agreement for the 2010-2012 seasons. If both Prodrive and Stefan want to play, who will get the nod? This is becoming a very interesting off-season. Not only big-name drivers playing the usual musical chairs game, but multiple teams themselves changing hands. F1 is finally getting back to being more entertaining than political, and they haven’t even started racing yet.
Stay tuned for more shortly. So many teams; so few grid spots and major manufacturers. If both the Toyota and Renault sales actually happen, only Ferrari and Mercedes will remain as factory teams…and the latter only because it bought out Brawn.
Voodoo Bob