According to emerging rumours, the FIA has decided to leave the 13th team position vacant for the 2011 season.

It is believed that Epsilon Euskadi, and the Villeneuve/Durango alliance, were the only two contenders to make their grand prix debuts next year.

But according to the speculation early this week, F1′s governing body has concluded that neither has a strong enough combination of engineering and financial resource.

It is believed the decision could be publicised after Friday’s regular meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Como (Italy).

Internally, the FIA is believed to have made the decision one week ago.

The FIA’s World Motor Sport Council will consider Ferrari’s team orders breach on 8 September.
For the position switch at Hockenheim last month, the Italian team was fined $100,000 by the stewards for breaking not only the tam order rule 39.1, but also the general guideline about disrepute.

It had been speculated that the disciplinary hearing would be held in Como, Italy, on September 10 — the day of a scheduled Council meeting.

But that would have clashed with Friday practice for the Italian grand prix.

The sport’s governing body has therefore convened a separate meeting two days earlier for the Ferrari matter, in Paris on September 8.

FIA president Jean Todt, implicated in the infamous Austria 2002 team orders controversy, will not chair the meeting; instead it will be headed by the deputy president for sport, Graham Stoker.

Also on Monday, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo referred to some recent “perplexing decisions”.

“But we must look ahead and believe in the fact that today, we are in the fight for the championship,” said the Italian.

“This is the Ferrari I like to see and the one our fans want to see; a team that can fight and deliver the results.”

Like McLaren, Ferrari’s factory shut down for two weeks on Sunday.

The FIA is still not ready to set a date for the hearing about the Ferrari team orders affair.
It has been reported this week that the team’s one-two finish at Hockenheim will be considered during the regular World Motor Sport Council meeting in Como, Italy, on September 10.

But that date clashes with Friday free practice at Monza.

“The relevant committees are consulting about it (a date for the Ferrari hearing),” a spokesman for the Paris based federation is quoted in the German press.