Official 2010 F1 Pre-Season Thread

Stefan GP-USF1 Merger in talks?
http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-hurley-stefan-talking-us-f1-merger/
Chad Hurley and Zoran Stefanovich are trying to put together a deal that will see the US F1 and Stefan GP teams join forces and make it to the first race in Bahrain, sources have confirmed.

As previously reported Hurley has given up on pursuing a deal with Colin Kolles and Campos. Thus the blindingly obvious scenario of a team with no car joining up with a team with no entry finally appears likely to unfold.

We understand that Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor are not amenable to a link with Stefan, and still wish to pursue their dream of fielding an American car.

However, if as rumored Hurley is a major shareholder in the team he is presumably in the driving seat, and that may ultimately enable him to push the merger through.

In addition the visit of Charlie Whiting to Charlotte on Wednesday has given the FIA a clearer picture of what is going on there, and the governing body may now be in a position to force the issue and perhaps give Anderson and Windsor no alternative but to do a deal.


The FIA will in theory have no problem in allowing Stefan onto the Bahrain grid if such a deal takes place before the start of the season. It would also support a name change, although other F1 stakeholders would also have to agree.

Life will be much easier for the FIA if a merger does go ahead. The alternative scenario ? the canceling of the US F1 entry and a new bid process ? would be far more complicated legally.

Stefan already has a base in Serbia and also has a foothold at the Toyota factory in Cologne. However the US F1 facility in Charlotte could still be of use as a manufacturing base. It may prove more economical to have parts made in the USA than by Toyota.

Ultimately there?s also a question of the 2011 car, which won?t necessarily be a Toyota product. US F1 also has access to the Windshear wind tunnel facility.

Sources say that one Toyota/Stefan chassis is ready in Cologne, but the second is not yet complete, and a total lack of spares back-up will make the early races difficult.

We have also learned that the engine will not be badged as a Toyota, although the company will send a handful of fulltime staff members to races to support it. They are likely to be the only current Toyota employees to travel to the races with Stefan.

Meanwhile Jacques Villeneuve is on standby and will be willing to sign up as teammate to Kazuki Nakajima, should the team get an entry.

So pretty much Chad and FIA are pushing Anderson and Windsor to merge with Stefan. If USF1 can't make it, the merger makes sense. It can also be economically viable for both team if they work together. USF1 will be in charge of the manufacturing and testing parts, and Stefan will be in charge of the design, hopefully with the assistance of USF1 too.

It won't be USF1, but at least it would be something. At this point the US is desperate for some connection to F1, if the merger is the golden ticket then so be it.
 
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Who's the lesser of two evils?
 
If you're trying to join forces with someone, isn't it a bad idea to badmouth the folks you're trying to join with?

Yes, USF1 is full of fail right now, but they've got the entry spot. If I was at Stefan, I'd be sending boxes of cookies and letters asking to be BFF...not calling them out for not having their crap together (even if that's the honest truth).

Just sayin'. Doesn't make sense.
 
Just sayin'. Doesn't make sense.

It makes perfect sense... Stefan have a car, USF1 don't, you generally need a car to compete in F1, therefore USF1 fail.

You can't expect to take random bits of different teams scattered all over the world and just squash them together into one because there's a single grid spot left.
 
To be honest, all that Stefanovich's done with his latest statements is p*ss off the FIA even more, and this will probably mean that he'll be getting an entry when hell freezes to absolute zero.


Also, one thing I've come across somewhere today (can't exactly remember where) is that some of the people who filed an application for the 2010 F1 entry list are still keeping the project running in the background of their other activities, in readiness for a possible new selection for 2011.

Particularly Lola Cars.
 
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It makes perfect sense... Stefan have a car, USF1 don't, you generally need a car to compete in F1, therefore USF1 fail.

You can't expect to take random bits of different teams scattered all over the world and just squash them together into one because there's a single grid spot left.
This much makes sense, but the I was talking about the whole USF1/Stefan merger bit posted above. The idea that the two teams would merge together for the entry spot's sake doesn't seem to make sense given Stefan's statements about the USF1 guys.

(Sorry if which bit I was commenting on was a bit unclear...erm, yay insomnia!)
 
Same difference :tease:

I'm actually thinking about watching F1 again this year. I followed it a few years ago, but kind of lost the interest and/or time.

Is there any place I can consistently watch it live online? All I get is Speed TV, with fat, stupid, annoying American announcers who don't know jack about F1.
 
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311wri.jpg


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPqm7RjgtVY[/youtube]

"Quick, get more white walls!" :lol:
 
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Today is the final day of pre-season testing.

So far i would rate performance (including reliability):

1. Ferrari
2. Red Bull, Mclaren, Merc (in no particular order)
3. Sauber
4. Williams
5. Renault, Toro Rosso
6. Lotus
7. Virgin
 
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I'll reserve my judgement untill I see low fuel runs from all the teams, or if I don't see that, Bahrain quali.

Testing seems to be like a giant media exercise, with a little too much talking and speculating without really knowing what you're talking about.
 
Q3 @ Bahrain will be the first time we can really compare the speed of all the teams, until then.. everything is pure speculation.
 
Q3 @ Bahrain will be the first time we can really compare the speed of all the teams, until then.. everything is pure speculation.
Even then, I'm not so sure. Is the new tire rule still in place about starting a race with quali tires?
 
Yes, it is. The same as it was a few years ago and the same as it is in sports cars.
 
Button also doubting car's pace
27 February 2010

Just a day after 7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher questioned the pace of his Mercedes, current title holder Jenson Button has hinted that his McLaren may also require improvements before he is able to challenge for race victories in his season of title defence.

Having taken his six victories of 2009 in the first seven races of the campaign, Button's victory tally could be somewhat the opposite this season as the Englishman knows that there is already room for a step up with his MP4-25.

"There's definitely more to come from this car," Button explained to GPUpdate.net at the Circuit de Catalunya, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton set to take over at the wheel tomorrow. "The day was too short, I would rather have another day of testing. Out of the box I'm happy with the consistency but don't think that we're at our maximum yet - there will be more to come."

Having finished his own pre-season running third on the timesheets and eight tenths of a second off leader Nico Rosberg's pace, Button hopes for further improves on Sunday. "We'll see tomorrow after a few setup changes - hopefully that will help the balance," he continued. "We need more time with this update, more mileage - it's a good update but we're not getting the best out of it."

Jenson added that he believes the red cars are currently the ones to beat: "On long runs, Ferrari is competitive. Others, I don't know - Sauber will surprise people as they're quicker than most of us think. Five or six teams are competitive?exciting!"

Source
 
Well, it's probably true in F1 that if you give up in one year, your next year will be much better.
 
Sorry don't have a source for this its buried in about 3-4 hundred tweets, but I read that either the FIA or FOM had the Bahrain GP program printed with an insert for Stephan GP and has told whomever to take them out and not to use them. The article also stated that while Stephan may have shipped their stuff to Bahrain it most certainly hadn't arrived at the track.
 
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