FEBRUARY 1, 2004

Stoddart's two-seater series hits trouble

Paul Stoddart's plan to run a two-seater Formula 1 series at the European Grands Prix has gone the way of many other ideas in F1 because the other team bosses have failed to throw their weight behind the idea. Teams are saying that they will support the idea if the others do, but none of the major players has committed itself. We understand that there are a couple of teams which have sponsors who do not want to be involved; there are a couple which want to be able to prepare the two-seaters themselves and others which simply have not replied to the proposal. Stoddart hopes that he can run a series with two cars for each of the teams that have agreed (there are believed to be four of them) but it remains to be seen whether this will get the support of Formula 1 ring-master Bernie Ecclestone.