F1: StefanGP not tyred as F1 USA look failing to qualify

Stefan GP say they can't do official tests because they are not official entrants to the 2010 GP season - even though they have a car and an engine that work. And they can't drive the car because they don't have any tyres. Bridgestone has provided GP2 tyres to some teams in the past but Stefan and Bridgestone don't seem to be able to get it together.

US F1 might have some flashy kit, and a factory in Spain, but they don't have a car and engine that work. Two weeks ago, when a rumour started that teams might be allowed to miss up to three Grands Prix in 2010, the FIA was quick to squash the idea. Teams must compete in all rounds, they said, adding that teams that missed rounds faced disqualification.

That sounds like increasingly good news for Stefan: US F1 have not made it to any of the tests so far and are highly unlikely to make it to Barcelona for the final test. Under the Rules, that's not a problem although turning up on the Friday before a Grand Prix with a car that's only ever been driven in one of the approved straight line tests would be bordering on the crazy.

But that's their plan - except that it's not the first race they will turn up to if they get their way. Team F1 USA, which many have accused of being all hat and no trousers, has reported asked the FIA for permission to miss the first four races.

Last week, Ken Anderson of US F1 told The New York Times that the team "has not gone" but it is in desperate financial straights. He told the paper “We’re working with the F.I.A. to clarify how many races we can miss."

Basically, the team wants to miss the Bahrain, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai, then turn up in Barcelona.

At the heart of the team's problems is sponsorship. Formula One has a very different sponsorship model to that of US racing where cars in the same team run in different liveries - and often change sponsors several times in a season. Worse, USD8 million comes with pay-to-drive José María López. And he might jump ship if there's nothing to drive: his spectacular 2009 season in Argentina can't be allowed to drift into memory because teams hire on the basis of current performance, not something quietly festering in a CV. Well, not entirely true, as Stefan's discussions with Villeneuve testify.

Englishman Peter Windsor who had been a major force in getting US F1 off the ground has reportedly left the team, although Anderson says this is not so.

But things are going poorly: the team's twitter page reported on the 18th Feb "The US F1 Team web server is down and is being repaired as this is written. We are not gone, as many have reported. More news soon." That was the last tweet to date. The team's Facebook page is up but not updated. The website at www.usgpe.com is now alive - but has not been updated since 25 January - and then with the announcement we carried at that time about Lopez joining the team.

It will be a great shame if they don't make it: not because Stefan don't deserve it but simply because to have the prize and then to lose it is worse than never to have had it at all.

But they really should be at all the races; that's the essence of F1. Teams have, on isolated occasions, missed a race towards the end of the season but - and here's the big but - if a team can't afford to make it to the first four races, realistically their chances of making it through the rest of the season are horribly slim.

Editorial note: correction - incredibly, the author of this piece muddled Campos and Stefan GP and the name of the wrong team originally appeared. Thanks to readers who rapidly pointed this out enabling us to make this correction.