Stefan GP pulled out of the running for the 13th team entry for 2011 because the FIA’s selection process was too slow.

That is the view of Zoran Stefanovic, who after missing out on a place on this year’s grid vowed to try again for the 2011 season.

Alongside other contenders including Villeneuve/Durango and Epsilon Euskadi, the Serbian outfit tackled the initial stages of the selection process, but ultimately pulled out in August.

“We had applied at the beginning but we found out that the process was too long and it didn’t give us assurances on the time when someone will be chosen as the 13th team,” Stefanovic told f1pulse.com.

When the FIA invited expressions of interest for the 13th place in March, the governing body said its decision would be made in July.

But the decision, with the FIA ultimately ruling that the team place should be left open, was made only this month.

Stefanovic said September is “too late to go in and design a car for next year”.

“We think it (the process) should be faster and we think it’s necessary to have a 13th team,” he added.

Contrary to the ‘plan B’ announced by Jacques Villeneuve, Stefanovic said he is not currently contemplating taking over an existing team.

“At the moment we are not doing that thing specifically,” he said. “We will see in the future what we can do.”

GP2 championship leader Pastor Maldonado claims Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez wants him to debut in formula one.

The well-sponsored 25-year-old has been linked with F1 seats several times, including when he was close to inking a deal with the hopeful Serbian outfit Stefan GP.

“We were nearly ready to sign … but at the end it didn’t get an entry,” he told Reuters at Valencia on Friday.

The news agency said Maldonado is backed by the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.

“Venezuela is pushing very hard for me, to have me in formula one,” he confirmed.  “All my sponsors are from Venezuela so that’s a big support.

“He (Chavez) is pushing.  I know that,” Maldonado, also a contender for a Campos/HRT seat in 2010, added.

He said president Chavez is also interested in hosting a grand prix, possibly off the northeastern coast of the country on Margarita Island.

Jun.16 (GMM)  Jacques Villeneuve has admitted he is not yet in talks with any teams about making a return to formula one.

The French Canadian, who came close to driving for the hopeful Serbian outfit Stefan GP this season, said last weekend he will make a final effort to find a seat for 2011.

“I am working on it more than ever, and for that reason I have postponed a participation in the NASCAR circuit,” 1997 world champion Villeneuve, who turns 40 early next year, said in an interview with Austria’s Salzburger Nachrichten.

Stefan GP, however, seems unlikely to be on the grid any time soon, and Renault team boss Eric Boullier said recently that he is not interested in signing Villeneuve.

Asked if there are already “concrete negotiations” with any teams, he answered: “No, nothing concrete, because it’s too early in the season.

“There are some positive contacts.  If the Stefan project had worked out, I would be driving in F1 already this year.”

Villeneuve acknowledged that a place with a top team is not initially likely.

“I have a longer term plan,” he said.  “The most important thing is to get inside, and then you can look around and find the right place.”

Jun.11 (GMM)  Jacques Villeneuve says he will make one final effort and then give up trying to return to formula one.

The 1997 world champion was reportedly high on the list for a Stefan GP seat this season, but the Serbian outfit was not granted an official entry to race the 2010-specification Toyota car.

French Canadian Villeneuve, who last raced in F1 with BMW in 2006, turns 40 early next season, and he told reporters on Thursday that 2011 will be his last-ditch effort to come back.

“I’m quite happy right now being busy raising kids,” he said at a road safety event near Montreal alongside his former title nemesis Michael Schumacher.

“I would obviously be happier behind a wheel.  Once you’ve been a racer, I think you’re a racer all your life.

“I worked hard on (trying to return to F1 for) 2010.  I’m giving myself until 2011.  There’s still a few months,” added Villeneuve.

The assembled reporters laughed after asking Schumacher, who retired in 2006 but returned to F1 full-time with Mercedes this year, if he thinks it is a good idea if Villeneuve also comes back.

“I don’t know what is funny about that,” said the German.

“The point is, as Jacques was saying, we are racers, and we have that in our blood.  So, what you have there, you always keep.”

Villeneuve admits it is a difficult task trying to convince F1 bosses to give him another chance.

“The teams don’t want to take a risk.  There comes a point where you’ve been out for too long and the teams just won’t give you a chance,” he said.

May 3 (GMM)  Christian Klien has begun working with a new manager.

The former formula one driver is Peugeot’s Le Mans reserve this year, after a career spanning 48 grands prix and recent stints as test driver with departed Honda and BMW.

Austrian Klien, 27, wanted to return to the grid in 2010, and was previously managed by his father Johannes.

“Already last year it became obvious that talent and speed are by far not a guarantee for a permanent race seat in the current economic climate,” said the former Red Bull and Jaguar racer.

It is believed Klien was in the running for the HRT ‘Friday’ driver role that instead has been secured by Sakon Yamamoto.

“On two occasions I missed out on a contract literally last minute because other drivers had a more attractive sponsor package to offer,” said Klien.

He did not confirm reports that he was among the drivers considered by hopeful Serbian team Stefan GP.

“In formula one you normally do not talk about unlaid eggs.  It may always weaken somebody’s position in ongoing negotiations,” insisted Klien.

“I would like to ask for everybody’s understanding that I refuse to comment on anything the rumour mill spits out.  As a matter of fact we are in talks with several teams on a regular basis,” he added.

Klien’s new manager is German 28-year-old Roman Rummenigge, of the Rummenigge Sport Marketing company.

Apr.28 (GMM)  Jacques Villeneuve on Wednesday confirmed he is still in training for his formula one comeback.

The 1997 world champion came close to returning to the grid in 2010, but the hopeful Serbian outfit Stefan GP was not granted an official entry.

“I’m pushing on anyway,” said Villeneuve, who was among the 12 drivers confirmed as having been in talks with the outfit headed by Zoran Stefanovich.

Stefan GP has however reapplied for the vacant berth for next season, and 39-year-old Villeneuve on Wednesday told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport that he is working hard on staying race-fit.

The French-Canadian said he is also ready to replace a current driver in 2010, and is maintaining his fitness with the help of a bespoke EUR400,000 machine conceived by his famous trainer Erwin Gollner.

“Last year showed that teams change their drivers during a season,” he said.  “And the return of Schumacher and de la Rosa is a sign that experience is appreciated once again.”

Villeneuve also dismissed claims that Michael Schumacher’s age is his problem.

“Look at hockey,” he said.  “Guys in their late 30s are still at world-class level.  It’s because we’re all living much healthier and have gained ten years.”

Apr.24 (GMM) The Serbian outfit, headed by Zoran Stefanovich, also said it has “signed an agreement” with the mayor of Stara Pazova, located 25 kilometres from Belgrade, for the construction of a F1 circuit and team headquarters.

“This is proof that we want to put ourselves on the map as a serious hi-tech company, and that we are serious about competing in formula one for the long term,” said Stefanovich on the team’s re-launched website.

Stefan GP confirmed that it is bidding for next year’s final spot on the grid, revealing that talks for its failed 2010 plans had taken place with drivers including Sebastien Loeb, Christian Klien and others.

However, Mike Coughlan appears no longer part of Stefan’s plans, due to the publication of an airbrushed photograph that once featured the disgraced former McLaren designer.

“We want to be a part of F1 for both the long and short term future, and I hope that we will finally have the success we deserve,” added Stefanovich.

Bernie Ecclestone added more fuel to the fire when he made statements regarding the possibility that USF1 and Campos Meta 1 get a place in the grid of the first race at Bahrain. The F1 boss went even further by suggesting the both teams will miss the three first races of the season.
Ecclestone himself revealed there is a clause in the Concord Agreement which allows the teams to be absent at three races during the season. Even though most of the teams will not make use of it –due to the sponsorship contracts-, this could offer an extra period to Campos and USF1 to prepare for their debut in the Formula One.
“I think we won’t be seeing Campos nor the Americans, who are going to request to be absent to three races,” declared Ecclestone to Express. “According to the Concord Agreement the teams are authorized to be absent from three races.”
Both teams have insisted several times that they will run the first race of the season, even though Campos has admitted he is still looking for investors to pay the debts he has with the Dallara chassis manufacturer. On the other hand, the USF1 is ready for his final crash tests, and a number of reports suggest that the chassis is in a very advanced phase.
However, the Serbian, Stefan, who is developing the Toyota’s team F1 2010, is ready to intervene if necessary, suggested Ecclestone, saying that Stefan GP has gotten enough funds to be in conditions to participate in the races. “They have the Serbian government money. I have talked with the Prime Minister.” declared Ecclestone.
Formula One ex-pilots, Schumacher, Kazuki Nakajima and Jacques Villeneuve have been associated with the new team, that will make tests at the Algarve Portimao Race Circuit in Portugal, at the end of the month.

There are rumors that Kazuki Nakajima, Formula One ex-pilot with Williams, could make a comeback to F1 by the hand of the Serbian team, Stefan GP.  The team that aspires to be part of the 2010 World Championship’s grid (provided that someone withdraws), has just announced that he will perform some tests in the Portimao Circuit, in Portugal, at the end of this month.

“The first Stefan GP test will take place at the Portimao Circuit, between the 25^th and 28^th of February.  The identity of the pilots will be announced when the time comes, even though the first pilot has two years of experience in the Formula One,″ it’s indicated in his website.

According to rumors in the paddock, the Japanese already has an agreement for technical advise, and if the Serbian scuderia finally runs, Kazuki Nakajima could take the seat of a single-seater.

Speculation has begun because the Campos Meta ‘scuderia’ condition is unknown. According to a press conference by the Stefan GP’s team itself, headed by the Serbian entrepreneur Zoran Stefanovic, who today announced that they have reached an agreement with Toyota for the technical assistance as they allegedly incorporate to the Formula One.

“Stefan GP has clarified its intention to compete in the Formula One.  It has reached a basic agreement with Toyota Motorsport so that it (Stefan GP) receives technical support from the Japanese manufacturer,” the press release indicates.

Stefan GP was one of the teams that did not enter this year.  However, the ‘scuderia’ has not remained isolated; from the time of its refusal to enter as one of the new teams, it has had negotiations with Toyota.

That being so, the Serbian team is shaping up as one of the main reserve teams to take the place that would be left vacant by any of the new teams that have joined the Formula One this year, if any of them withdraws, of course (it is understood that due to financial problems.)

Last year, the current McLaren team CEO, Martin Whitmarsh, suggested the possibility that any of the new teams would be made up with the Toyota place, buying its chassis.  “Many of these teams had the chance to buy a chassis from Toyota.  The Japanese brand built two cars that were available before Christmas, and I’m quite surprised that some of them didn’t (buy a chassis).” Well, this seems to be the case of the Serbian team.

The funny thing is that the team itself gave the press conference.  Do they want to press due to the delays of some teams?