To no-one’s surprise, the FIA
announced Friday that
Prodrive will join the existing 11 teams for the 2008 championship.
According to FIA President Max Mosley,
Prodrive was selected as the 12th team because “Prodrive has the best combination of financial backing, technical
capability and motorsport experience… Also, Prodrive’s chief executive, David Richards has experience as a Formula
One team principal.”
In addition to the 11 existing teams, the FIA received applications from new teams
vying for the 12th and final entry. Despite the heightened level of interest in Formula 1, Mosley indicated that the FIA
were unlikely to increase the number of teams beyond the current limit of 12.
When asked about the newest
team’s plans, David Richards said,
“An entry is just the beginning. We now have less than two years to build a team and put two competitive cars on
the starting grid for the first race of the 2008 championship.”
[Source: FIA, Prodrive]