Report: FOTA welcomes Manor, Lotus into group
November 26, 2009 by SJ Skid
Filed under Prime & Option
The Formula One Teams Association has approved the membership of Manor and Lotus, Autosport is reporting today, meaning that all teams scheduled to be on next year’s grids are now part of the “club.”
But I don’t think that’s what’s interesting. First, the news:
FOTA’s executive committee met earlier this week for its latest discussions about the future of F1, and on the agenda was the ratification of the applications of the two new F1 teams.
Sources have confirmed that both Lotus and Manor’s membership was approved unanimously, meaning that the outfits follow fellow new entrants Campos Meta and Team US F1 into the organisation.
The move means that FOTA is now made up of 14 teams – with Toyota still members for now despite its pull-out – and significantly it is the first time since Williams was temporarily suspended in May that the body features every team on the grid.
FOTA’s executive committee also confirmed that elections for new chairmen will take place next month, with the mandate of both current chief Luca di Montezemolo, plus vice-chairman John Howett, coming to a finish at the end of the year.
Work is also continuing on plans for a common car launch next year, which the teams are considering doing prior to the first official test of the season in February.
It is understood FOTA representatives met with Bernie Ecclestone and F1 shareholders CVC following this week’s meeting to discuss the concept – which is being considered to help reduce costs further.
The issue of the final grid slot was also discussed at the meeting, but there is unlikely to be any final decision about what happens with either Toyota or BMW-Sauber until after the F1 Commission and World Motor Sport Council meetings that take place in Monaco early next month.
It also is not the news of the “common car launch” that I want to point to.
You’ll actually have to travel for a second to FOTA’s website.
Notice anything? More specifically, do you notice anything missing?
If you say that neither Manor or Campos’ logos are included, you’re right — but that’s still not quite it. I’m sure it will take a bit of time to get the logos (which link to the web pages of the teams) onto the site.
What’s missing, and what I’ve been watching for a while and waiting to see, is USF1. Although a member of FOTA, it has been the only team without its logo/link up on the site.
And, no, it isn’t because it’s website is the only one that is essentially static. So is Campos’.
Just one more reason to be skeptical of USF1′s ability to make it onto the grid in 2010, I’m afraid.
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SJ Skid,
I do see USF1′s bigshots on the working group part of the FOTA site. I think I’d be more concerned if their names were missing from there.
(Ward)
Good catch. To try to keep the “conspiracy” around USF1 going, I might say: I wish they were less focused on FOTA working groups and more on making their car! :)
Good to see the new teams joining FOTA. As for logo’s I wouldn’t speculate too much after all who expects Manor to be racing under that name in 2010? Given all the speculation with another team’s title sponsor a few months ago. I’m sure there will be shiny new logo when they can announce whatever they have lined up given the noises they’ve made on it.
It’s because there is still grief with CVC’s lawyers over what their name actually is, and what the logo can look like. That’s also why the website still isn’t back up (there was a rudimentary site up briefly early this year), and why the current static page doesn’t have a logo on it.