Sauber absence hints at Stefan slot
Although Peter Sauber's return as eponymous team owner following BMW's much-publicized exit from the top flight at the end of last season has been ratified by the FIA, neither the Swiss outfit or drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Pedro de la Rosa appear in the governing body's season guide [see here – while Jose Maria Lopez's name does feature alongside that of Bruno Senna in the slots allocated to the Campos Meta team, even though he has yet to sign a deal with a team that has yet to hit the track!
While Sauber's absence may be nothing more than an oversight, YallaF1 suggests that it may say more about the state of the sport's newcomers than the health of Sauber itself. Reports claims that by omitting the Swiss team, the FIA could be preparing to admit Stefan GP in place of either Campos Meta or USF1, which appears to be in worse health than its Spanish counterpart after apparently losing the support of various backers. Lopez, who was reported to be taking $8m to the Carolina-based operation is now rumored to be on the verge of a switch to Campos Meta – hence his inclusion alongside Senna on the entry – amid speculation that he could even unite the hitherto unseen newcomers for 2010 [see story here].
That, of course, would free up a spot on the entry for Zoran Stefanovic to launch Serbia onto the F1 map – with a potential combination of Kazuki Nakajima and Jacques Villeneuve piloting ex-Toyota machinery – and spark a reshuffle among the numbering on the entry. That, reports claim, is the main reason for Sauber's absence, as the loss of USF1 would see the Swiss team move up the entry, with Stefan GP taking over numbers 24 and 25.
All could become clearer should Lopez, as expected, be confirmed as part of the Campos Meta line-up in the coming days. Yahoo! Eurosport