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[myownalias]

I am shocked to see Pro-Drive overlooked as they had already been given entry in 2008. USGPE were certain entries as they have been building their team for a while and Bernie wants an American team on the grid to hopefully tap into the US market! Campos are a surprise entry and I have never even heard of Manor before. But the big news is that the 8 FOTA teams have been included (still unconditionally) and now need to sign up conditionally before next Wednesday to sign up unconditionally. The FIA have lost all credibility pushing back the deadline yet again; FOTA will realise this and keep pushing for what they want and the FIA will cave before the end of the season. Then would could easily see Campos and Manor fall by the wayside before the start of the season. I believe USGPE will be fine as they planned to enter under an uncapped series regardless!

[scotty]

Q & A with Manor's John Booth

One of the biggest surprises of the FIA's announcement on Friday of the entry list to 2010 was the inclusion of Manor Grand Prix. The successful F3 team had never been mentioned in any of the speculation about new entries - but has been quietly working away on its plans.

AUTOSPORT was the first to speak to team principal John Booth after the announcement, as he revealed why he had kept a low profile, how the team came about and what his ambitions for the future are.

Q. You kept this quiet...

John Booth: "It was always our intention to keep under the radar, so if you think something is going to happen and then it doesn't, you don't look like such a pillock!"

Q. How did Manor Grand Prix come about?

JB: "It's a project we've been working on for quite a while. The opportunity came up about four or five months ago after chatting to Nick Wirth and that's the key to the project in all honesty. He's a brilliant guy and has the skill and talent to design and build the car, whereas we've got the nous to run it. Manor Grand Prix will run to Yorkshire values - as cleanly and efficiently as possible. Nick is a partner in Manor GP and I've got every faith in his people."

Q. What made you want to get into F1?

JB: "I always said we'd never go further than F3, because I believe that's the pinnacle outside of F1, and until the recession and the budget cap it was never going to happen except for a major manufacturer with £100million to spend.

"The way the FIA has decided to cap budgets and bring it all under control has opened the door for new teams. Originally we planned under £30million and the willingness to get costs under control."

Q. If the budget limit goes up will you still be able to enter F1?

JB: "Even if it creeps up to £100million, it's better than £500million. If the cost goes up, we will still be working within our parameters – I have every confidence."

Q. Is Manor Motorsport big enough to take on F1?

JB: "Our current premises are oversized for F3. It's about 8,500 square feet, but we do need to expand for F1 and have planning permission for another 6,000."

Q. How far advanced is the car?

JB: "The design is pretty much finalised and we intend to have a car running in January with an FIA-spec customer Cosworth engine. We wanted to be independent of a manufacturer because we don't want to be used as a political pawn – it was a conscious decision not to approach them."

Q. How do you expect to fare?

JB: "I'd expect it to be a good car straight out of the box. I don't expect to win races immediately, don't get me wrong, but I expect to surprise a few people."

Q. How will the F3 team be affected?

JB: "Manor Motorsport will continue, maybe as a two-car operation, but it will continue for sure. Once the season is over, my focus will be the F1 project, but I'll give the F3 team my best efforts until then."

Q. Do you have any potential drivers in the pipeline?

JB: "It's to early to talk about drivers, but it's unfortunate that Roberto [Merhi] isn't a year on from where he is because I have every faith he will be the real article."

Car already designed eh? I wonder how much of a factor that was in the FIA's decision.... bold words to say they think the car will be quick straight off too!

[Denthúl]

Car already designed eh? I wonder how much of a factor that was in the FIA's decision.... bold words to say they think the car will be quick straight off too!

Could have been a major factor. USF1 already have theirs designed and plan to have it 'finished' by November, I believe. The FIA were obviously going to look more seriously at organisations that actually had a lot of things already done. Designing and building a car from scratch, as well as building up facilities, is something that would be very hard to do in nine months (less, actually).

[Jensonb]

Car already designed eh? I wonder how much of a factor that was in the FIA's decision.... bold words to say they think the car will be quick straight off too!

Jacques Villeneuve and co. say "Hi".

[7UpJordan]

Q. Do you have any potential drivers in the pipeline?

JB: "It's to early to talk about drivers, but it's unfortunate that Roberto [Merhi] isn't a year on from where he is because I have every faith he will be the real article."

[/quote]
For a while I thought he was referring to Roberto Moreno, but maybe he would come in handy for them.

[headless]

Manor sounds promising then

[EwanM]

Manor Grand Prix will run to Yorkshire values - as cleanly and efficiently as possible.

What a cracking line!

[7UpJordan]

Manor Grand Prix will run to Yorkshire values - as cleanly and efficiently as possible.

What a cracking line!

So can we expect to hear the words "chuffin' 'ell!" during the radio transmissions?

[headless]

Manor Grand Prix will run to Yorkshire values - as cleanly and efficiently as possible.

What a cracking line!

So can we expect to hear the words "chuffin' 'ell!" during the radio transmissions?

Train foreigners to speak Yorkshire!!

[7UpJordan]

Manor Grand Prix will run to Yorkshire values - as cleanly and efficiently as possible.

What a cracking line!

So can we expect to hear the words "chuffin' 'ell!" during the radio transmissions?

Train foreigners to speak Yorkshire!!

There are a couple of variations of the Yorkshire language, depends which parts of Yorkshire you come from.

[Denthúl]

>.>

<.<

[headless]

Still be funny. Any Yorkshire accent in F1

[Jamie]

Campos have major funding in the GP2 series and also in the F3 series, so really they are like Jordan, as Jordan had took part in many smaller series before making the huge jump to F1? I believe that in this case it is all bout money, how much money you have and they will look at if the $40 Million cap does not work then the teams still have to fund the season, Pro-Drive indefinitely could not afford a $130 Million dollar season, Campos could and would have the funding, so would USF1! It’s all about who has the top Dollar here guys what I want to know is are any of them dumb enough to hire Piquet?

[headless]

I don't think all three teams will end up on the grid.

[EwanM]

N.Technology baffled by FIA's F1 snub

By Jonathan Noble and Michele Lostia Monday, June 15th 2009, 09:17 GMT

Mauro SipszItalian racing outfit N.Technology says it does not understand why its application to race in Formula 1 was rejected by the FIA - after claiming that it has been a 'victim' of the row between the governing body and the current teams.

The FIA announced on Friday that it had chosen Team US F1, Campos Grand Prix and Manor Grand Prix as the three new competitors who are guaranteed a slot on the 2010 grid.

However, talks are progressing with at least three other outfits about the possibility of them joining the grid too, should any of the current teams choose not to lift the conditions attached to their entries by this Friday's deadline.

N.Technology is extremely disappointed about missing out on the chance to graduate to F1, and its leading figures Mauro Sipsz and Angelo Codignoni are angry about what has happened.

Speaking to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Sipsz claimed: "The applications have been used by the Federation as pawns to move in the fight against the teams."

Sipsz and Codignoni reveal that they were informed by the FIA about having missed deadlines for submitting financial and technical details of their teams - even though they are adamant such information was sent in on time.

They also do not understand why teams like Scuderia Toro Rosso and Red Bull Racing were allowed provisional entries, even though they did not submit information about their engine partners for 2010 on their entry list.

"Toro Rosso and Red Bull are included despite missing the compulsory indication of the engine, and it doesn't say who will race under the budget cap. We are victims of their war," the pair were quoted as saying.

AUTOSPORT understands, however, that the team is on the shortlist of reserve teams in case any of the current squads fails to enter.

The FIA issued documents after publishing the entry list on Friday detailing the process by which they selected the new teams for 2010.

"We have been provided with accounts, contracts, multi-year business plans and other supporting material," said the FIA statement. "On the technical side we have asked for a thorough description of their capability, key staff, project plans, capital assets (present and planned for), organisational charts, and so on.

"Where there are key sub-contractors required we have asked to see contracts and letters of intent. This extends to the sponsorship side, where plans and any descriptions of existing relationships) are required. In all these aspects we have requested evidence that substantiates any claim in the teams' plans.

"In the background to these evaluations, where key individuals were identified on the funding side, our forensic accountancy advisors have run reputational checks, alongside the checking of factual data supplied.

"Once we had formed an opinion of the serious contenders we asked them to come to London to be questioned face to face by the due diligence team. Then a short summary report on the top five was sent to the FIA President."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76220