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Lotus and Sauber get 13th and 14(?) spots on the grid next year...

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Scott:
I have to say I am impressed that the FIA seems to be going to extreme lengths to get Sauber on the grid.  Giving them the fictitious 14th spot (or call it 'reserve spot' ) along with commencing 'urgent' talks with the other teams to allow for 28 cars next season is not typical of Max and his gang.  Congrats to Lotus.  Should we have a pool as to how many races Mike Gascoyne stays there for before he is fired by the money-minders?  I say 6.   ;)

From F1 Live:

The garage currently occupied by BMW Sauber will be replaced by a Malaysia-owned 'Lotus F1 Team' in 2010, Formula One's governing body the FIA announced on Tuesday morning.

However, the Paris federation also gave hope to the Hinwil-based team, who had also applied for the 13th and final 2010 entry in the wake of BMW's decision to quit the sport.

The FIA described Sauber's application as "impressive", but said Lotus had been selected for the definite 2010 entry because "there are still uncertainties" about the former team's future ownership.

Sauber has instead been awarded the "14th place" in the 2010 pitlane, even though at present the sporting regulations and Concorde Agreement allow a maximum of 13 teams.

But the 14th place entitles Sauber "to fill any vacancy that arises on the 2010 grid", and in the meantime the FIA will "urgently" commence talks with F1's existing teams about expanding the grid to 28 cars in time for next season.

Regarding Lotus, the FIA said a company called 1Malaysia F1 Team has won the 13th entry for a Norfolk-based and Cosworth-powered team to be headed by Tony Fernandes and technical director Mike Gascoyne.

Fernandes is currently chief executive of the Malaysian airline AirAsia, a sponsor of the Williams team. The FIA said that in future, Lotus F1 will be based at Sepang.

Dare:
a 14 car grid :good:now that's what
I'm talking about

Jericoke:
Getting the teams to agree, unanimously, to reopening the Concorde?

I smell trouble!

Some of the smaller teams will be running into sposorship troubles.  I assume that Williams will be losing Air Asia to Lotus.  I don't know that there are sponsors banging down the doors to put their logos on 8 more cars.

Hopefully by including Spanish, American and Malaysian teams, they have opened up new sponsorship streams.

I can't wait to see 28 cars that are as tightly competitve as the 20 we have this year.

(Will this be an issue for garage space at any of the venues?  I know that Monte Carlo is a tight fit for the current 10 teams!)

Alianora La Canta:
I have a sneaky suspicion that this will resolve itself without the need to go to 14 teams.

Monaco simply can't fit 28 cars in the track or garages, but everywhere else should be fine. More or less.

cosworth151:
I agree, Ali. I suspect that one or more of the newbies won't make the grid next spring.

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