Now that we know there will be just one championship and the 2010 entry list has been published I think it would be nice to open a new topic to talk about the first Spanish team in history to join the F1.

website: http://camposmeta.com/

Good luck to them, the more teams, the better.

I've got a feeling that from these new 3 teams this is the most solid one - due to the link to Dallara. But I don't know much, really.

I'd prefer a link to some solid,and significant funding.

Hopefully at least 1 of the new teams can make it to the grid. I wonder what sort of technical consultation they will receive from the manufacturers.

i believe Campos himself is very wealthy thorugh the frozen food business which is supposed to be the funding, or a large chunk of it anyway.

I do wonder about these teams though, now that the picture on budgets has changed again will they have any realistic chance of being competitive? i guess they probably do, there is so much equality these days with engines, tyres, the ecu, fuel, heck the way the rules are written large portions of the cars are the same anyway.

I think maybe Pantano and Piquet will be the driver lineup, although Rosberg going to BMW could see Heidfeld in a Campos seat, would be a good driver to get them on their feet

They're working with Meta Image, a Spanish sports management firm. If anybody can secure funding, it's them.

Besides, the new teams were assessed on their ability to get funding. Epsilon Euskadi claimed they had enough backing to lask their first four years and they didn't make the cut, so what do you think Campos had to be able to beat that?

I think these new teams are now screwed now the budget cap is off.

I believe the teams have agreed to provide assistance and that FOM are still going to provide financial aid.

I am certain that all 3 new teams will be on the grid come the first race next season. They will most likely be towards the rear of the grid, but if they employ a solid driver and get assistance from one of the manufacturrs, I can not see why they should not be able to at least be equal to which existing team is at the rear of the grid.

They will open up for more seats, which will save some drivers a seat they would otherwise not have gotten, and save some current driver / test drivers career.

Given some of the performances - Piquet, Nakajima and Bourdais spring to mind - do you really think they're worth saving? Fisichella is another that should be put out to pasture, too. Kovalainen might have his career saved by the sheer number of openings, Buemi too (he's been outpacing Bourdais, but that's like saying you're outpacing a herd of tutles wading through peanut butter), but I suspect many of the teams will want to minimse the number of rookies on the grid.

I know Campos are looking at a Spanish All-Stars lineup, but I think they're mad. Super Aguri proved exclusively employing drivers from the team's home country is not the way to do things; the best driver should always get the best seats and people like Petrov are out-classing Rodriguez and Villa (okay, he had a bad run at Silverstone, but Grosjean had a bad run in Turkey). In fact, the three Spanish drivers in GP2 are currently ranked 12th (Villa), 18th (Clos) abd 21st (Rodriguez). Campos should be looking closely at Grosjean, Petrov, Maldonado, Hulkenberg, di Grassi, d'Ambrosio, Valerio, Zuber, Fillipi, Mortara and Chandhok if only because they're all doing better than Villa. Given Grosjean's connections with Renault and Hulkenberg's with Williams, I'd say Petrov, Maldonado, di Grassi and d'Ambrosio and maybe Valerio are the only ones from that list they should be considering. I'm tipping Petrov for a race seat next year - whether with Campos or someone else remains to be seen - because he's improved dramatically over four years, is closely associated with Campos and with Robert Kubica bringing a renaissance to Formula One in Eastern Europe, Petrov could attract a lot of sponsorship from Russia and the former USSR. If I were a team principal looking at the GP2 ranks, Petrov is the first person I'd be looking at. And if he keeps his form up for the rest of 2009, he may well be the only one I'd be looking at.

do not fool yourself. how many polish sponsors do you see on that BMW-Sauber?


Poland is extremly poor country, only thing it got is partisan crowd, but if your economy is down that doesnt bring money.

Russia on the other hand has strange dispersion of capital. There are milions of poor and only one or two oligarch, but oligarch doesnt care about nationality, he cares about quality, how many russians has chelsea ever had? few if none worth of mention. So if oligarch is to fund an F1 team he wil be looking at Alonso or Vettel, not some rookie that comes from his homeland. And apart form oligarch there is nobody in russia that is able to sponsor a team in F1

A bigger bribe?

First choice drivers are De La Rosa and Gene but they both have contracts with big teams. Petrov is well positioned too. Campos has said that a new team can't afford any driving mistakes because the difference between being 8th or 10th in the WCC is a lot of money. That's why he wants one very experienced driver at least.
They've been working with Dallara since February and the car is ready to enter the wind tunnel next week.

Formula Two's Mikhail Aleshin proves otherwise. He comes with backing from oil giant Lukoil, even if he isn't the quckest or the most consistent. One of my closest friends is Russian, and she says that Russians do place a lot of value in their nationality.

The reason why you don't see Polish branding on the BMW-Sauber is because they already have enough sponsors. But Camos is a virgin team, with no major sponsors, and they can hardly do a Brawn because that car was built with Honda's resources. Even if everything you say about Russian oligarchs is true, Petrov still fits the profile for what they're looking for: four years ago, he placed 28th in GP2. Now in 2009, he's currently second in the championship after improving with each year that goes by, and has probably been the second-most consistent driver there this year behind Maldonado. He also has a close association with Campos, having raced with them in 2006 and 2007, so there would only be a limited breaking-in period with Campos because they would know what to expect from one another. It's no guarantee of quality in Formula One - drivers like Liuzzi have been very promising and amounted to nothing - but provided he keeps up his form tis year, I think there's enough there to make him a lucrative prospect for those oligarchs especially comapred to the other prospective GP2 drivers. After all, a lot of drivers come with backing from personal sponsors, who are usually from their home country.

i'd like to see Petrov in F1 and think him worth it. with russian money its more tricky. i'd think the whole Midland project was hoping to get some other oligarchs involved. Lukoil - or Gazprom - depend too much on the international oil market thats not too stable. btw iirc Petrov comes from Finland's third biggest city...

I am not saying I agree with what will happen, I simply state what I think will happen.

Piquet and Bourdais as far as I am concerned have proven themselves not to be F1 material long term. As have Liuzzi and Sutil and Nakajima.

If a team entering F1 were looking for a known and proven hand, then they could do worse than employ Fisichella. And I do not, and never really rated him, he have shown better than a number of other presumptive F1 talents.

But I would like to see the GP2 and IRL drivers stepping in the new seats. Due to how seats are filled, I am not convinced that Grossjean will be at Renault next season.

Drivers I would like to see in F1

Patrick
Grossjean
Hulkeberg
Bianchi
Senna
Pantano
Rahal
Andretti
Di Grassi
Petrov
Magnussen

They are not all going to make it, likely most will not make it. And there are doubtless many I forgot making this post.

He's from Vyborg, which is just inside the Russian border, but has been administered by both Russia and Finland on several times before, but it has been Russian territory since 1944, I think.

Cough...octogon...cough.




They were assesed on their ability to support Rufus' "vision" of F1.

Would be nice to see Pantano and Sato.

Yeah from that perspective (sponsors vs performance) I'd definitely be considering Petrov.

I so love the people that think any sane method was used to pick which new teams got in.

Mosley became a tyranical, power-crazed wackjob quite early on in his regime, and remains so.

Why is there homepage a picture of a Honda RA107 in the pits? I believe Ruben's #11 car???

Really? Then how come Autosport ran an article detailing the selection process? It clearly states that an entire group was set up to go over the prospective teams, including funding, facilities, long-term plans, the ability to produce a car and so on. Mosley might have had the final say in who got in and who didn't, but he only chose from a short list of five teams as opposed to the full fifteen.

The sheer fact that he was constantly trying to negotiate with FOTA during all of this time proves that he wasn't the only person involved in the selection process; he simply wouldn't have the time to do it al himself the way you imply. And if there's any team that he chose because it would give him a bargaining chip, it's Manor. Campos have had cosistent and constant success in GP2 for several years; that alone put them ahead of the competition.

You're just letting your dislike of Mosley get in the way because you're pissy someone like Prodrive didn't make it. But everyone remembers Prodrive's lst attempt to get into Formula One, and it's a major stroke against them.

Perhaps because it's probably the most forgettable F1 car of all time and has zero sponsors to piss off

Sorry, its not..

It's by no means the richest, though. It might be rich in comparison to Moldova, but not compared to Germany.

Well I am sorry if I offended you, but I am being realistic

Poland is even poorer than the country I am coming from

actually that looks like Ra106 or earlier judging by the pit crew overalls

Isn't Kevin a bit young? At 16 he's currently in Formula Renault, I believe.

I just checked that webpage, its horrible. only spanish.

So learn Spanish or start your own F1 team.

I did not say I wanted him next season, just that I would like to see him there.

it is. my mistake. i meant to be put 106 but clearly did not lol!

ross, what has learning spanish go to do with a horrible web-design :s. he mentioned it was only in spanish, that was it. you misunderstood. however for a team wanting to enter the international circus of f1 you would at least expect the one source of information for the public about the team would also be available in english?

What is the nowadays connection between Max Mosley and Nick Wirth, they used to own together Simtek, besides other rumours I heard about the connection between Mosley and Wirth

They joined because it would cost £40m. To be as competitive they would now need to find 4 times that.

I wouldn't be surprised if neither Campos nor Manor make it, USGPE didn't join because of the budget cap.

Both Campos and US-F1 have stated they would compete without a budget cap if it came down to it. There's talk Richard Branson and the Virgin brand might defect from Brwn to Manor because it will be cheaper, and while Virgin obviously won't be able to fund the entire Manor project, they're notgoing to be totally cash-strapped.

Part of the criteria to be considered for entry in 2010 was for the teams to provide plans on how they intend to fund their operations. All three obviously have something in store; Epsilon Euskadi said that they had up to sixty-five million secured if they got in, and they didn't make the cut, so one has to wonder that Campos, Manor and US-F1 hav to trump that.

http://www.thef1.com/noticias/noticias-200...supuesto-limite (Spanish)

Campos Meta Team keep working in their car unaffected by reg changes according to Gian Paolo Dallara. "Our car will be a 2WD without possibility of refueling. We've been working with 2009 specifications adding extra capacity to the fuel tank for 2010". More info in GPWeek.

The IMF rank Poland the 50th in terms of GDP per capita. That's one place behind Equatorial Guinea.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76648

Rumour they're after De La Rosa. Could be BS.

No BS at all. Campos has said many times that his first choice drivers are De La Rosa and Gene but they both have contracts with big teams and he wants to do things properly.

Campos said the day they were accepted that he'd love to have De la Rosa or Gene driving for him next year.

It's still horrible but at least in English

Adrian Campos has admitted today he´s expecting to announce his 2 drives during the Valencia GP.

My bet is De La Rosa + Sergio Pérez/Petrov

Huh. I was under the impression it was only going to be one driver.

New interview with Adrian Campos (Spanish):
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/deportes/mi...lpepidep_18/Tes

- They're definitely going to be ready for Australia, currently buying the trucks and the hospitality. Staff almost complete.
- Dallara told him they'll have the new car ready to track testing by January the 10th.
- The team HQ in Valencia are being reformed and in two years they'll have a new Campos-Dallara factory so the whole car could be made in Spain (this year it only will be assembled there).
- New teams had to sign with Cosworth but they were promised mobile flaps, more ground effect, more tests, 20.000 revs and wind tunnel working during all season. Now they've got nothing but a contract with Cosworth which motor could not get the expected performance.
- Their budget will be 45-50m maximum but he's not worried because the other teams will have to cut their own budgets in two years.
- He has talked with five drivers. He wants Gené o De La Rosa for one place and a promising youngster (who could open new markets) for the other.

Sorry for the quick and poor translation.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: Vitaly Petrov. He's young, he's fast, he's worked with Campos before and he's pretty much the key to unlocking the Russian and Eastern European markets.

U were right, it was a logical decision, Campos also worked with Petrov, so that played also in his favour.

The official announcement will happen sometime during the weekend, De La Rosa and Petrov would drive for Campos.

According to MARCA (cof, cof..) BBVA, Telefonica and a Russian company will be the main sponsors so blue it's expected to be the dominant color on the car.