APRIL 23, 2009

Lola one of many looking at F1

There are a string of organisations looking at potential F1 entries next year if the cost-cutting measures or budget-capping are introduced. The biggest problem, however, is that until there are firmly established rules for the 2010 season it is hard to launch a project - and projects need to be launched now if they are to be successful. We are already almost May and normally F1 teams would be starting work on next year's projects. With talks still ongoing about how best to cut costs, this is not easy because while there are rules for next year, they are almost certain to change.

The latest organisation to throw its hat into the F1 ring is Lola, which says it has begun work on a Formula 1 car.

Lola was a regular feature in F1 in the 1960s, under various different guises, but has not been seen in Grand Prix racing since the disastrous 1997 attempt to run a team.

The budget cap discussions and the widespread availability of staff means that now is a good time for the ambitious to start F1 projects and one can imagine that there will be many such projects going on amongst the GP2 teams, notably ART, Campos and DAMS but also with other organisations that have long had F1 ambitions. One might keep an eye on Epsilon Euskadi, which was to have been involved with Peter Windsor's US team but has not been mentioned of late.