Published>Fri, Apr 16 10 12:29 AM
Prodrive, run by former BAR and Benetton team boss David Richards, and former grand prix constructor Lola on Thursday both ruled themselves out of entering Formula One next year.
The British-based companies were considered two of the strongest possible contenders to fill the 13th and final slot left empty by the failure of U.S. F1 to compete this season.
Thursday was the deadline day set by the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) for would-be teams to register an interest.
"Our current focus is on Prodrive's return to the World Rally Championship in 2011 and that alone takes significant resource to design and develop a totally new car," Richards said in a statement.
"Lola... will not pursue an entry application for Formula One in 2011," that company said. "Lola will continue to remain a technology supplier to Formula One via its technical centre and manufacturing facilities in Huntingdon."
Richards is also chairman of British sportscar maker Aston Martin, majority owned by Kuwait's Investment Dar, while Prodrive formerly ran Subaru's world rally team.
He said Aston Martin's activities in all categories of sportscar racing would continue to expand. Prodrive also compete in Australia's V8 Supercar series with Ford.
INSUFFICIENT TIME
"Taking on the challenge of starting a brand new Formula One team, finding the necessary funding and developing the car from scratch is a massive undertaking and not to be under-estimated," said Richards.
"As expected, we've witnessed the financial and technical challenges that the new teams have faced this year in just getting to the grid, let alone being competitive.
"Whilst I have enormous admiration for their efforts I don't believe this is an appropriate strategy for Prodrive or Aston Martin to adopt," he said.
Prodrive had been due to enter Formula One in 2008 but withdrew due to uncertainty over the regulations. A subsequent application to compete in 2010 was not accepted.
They were also in discussions with Renault last year about taking over that team but lost out to Gerard Lopez's Luxembourg-based Genii Capital.
Lola had also applied to be one of three new teams in 2010 under a proposed cost cap, but were beaten by Manor (now Virgin), Campos (now Hispania) and U.S. F1. Lotus were then chosen as replacements for Toyota when the Japanese pulled out.
"A 2010 entry under the cost capped and performance balanced criteria was perfect for Lola," said owner Martin Birrane.
"Sadly our well-developed 2010 F1 project, which included a significant wind tunnel programme, had to be frozen in June 2009. The recently announced applications for 2011 has left us with insufficient time to prepare for what would be a quite different programme."
So far only Italian-based Durango, who dropped out of the GP2 support series last year due to financial problems, have publicly expressed an interest. A final decision is expected to be made by the FIA in July.
Richards did not rule out a future Prodrive entry, however.
"We've enjoyed a successful involvement in F1 in the past and respect the value it can create; we will therefore keep a close eye on developments in the championship," he said.
"However, I have always made it very clear that the timing for a Prodrive entry would be judged on two criteria: that we could be competitive and that the business case would make it a financially viable proposition.
"Today, if we were to adopt the strategy of starting a new team, I don't believe it is possible to meet these two conditions."
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