|
More confirmations of the bias in selecting the new teams for next year. This article is from PlanetF1
Prodrive boss Dave Richards has confirmed that rumours teams unwilling to sign with Cosworth were not even considered for next year's Championship are in fact true.
In June this year, the FIA named USF1, Campos Meta and Manor GP as the three new teams for next year's Championship, announcing that it all three would be using Cosworth power.
It didn't take long for reports to surface claiming that motorsport's governing body had insisted that all teams wanting a place on next year's grid use Cosworth power - and if they didn't agree, their application would not be considered.
Richards has now confirmed that the rumours, at the time backed up by an unnamed boss of one of the unsuccessful candidates, are in fact true.
"Exactly that was said to me," Richards told motorsport-magazin.com, "I must have a Cosworth engine if I wanted to be in the F1 World Championship.
"However, I had an agreement with McLaren and thought that we would not be as competitive with a Cosworth engine, so I was not ready to change partner.
"If the regulations had meant, from the beginning, that we were only allowed in if we used such an engine, then I would have known the situation, but I do not believe that it is appropriate for those in charge of the sport to say such a thing."
One rumour that isn't true, though, is that Richards is considering buying the BMW-Sauber F1 team after the German manufacturer announced that would be withdrawing from F1 at the end of this season.
"We are waiting even to see if [BMW-Sauber's] place becomes free, as we do not know what happens if the team is sold to somebody else," he said, "but I do not have any interest (in buying the team).
"I live in England and will always remain there - I will never move to Switzerland, Monte Carlo or the Bahamas. My life takes place in England. | 
2nd August 2009, 16:08
