29/01/2010
NEWS STORY
Serbian F1 hopeful Stefan GP has announced that it has reached an agreement whereby it will receive "technical support" from former F1 constructor Toyota.
A brief, ambiguous, statement on the Stefan GP website, reads: "Stefan GP has already made its wishes clear to compete in Formula 1, and Stefan GP has just come to a basic agreement with Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) that Stefan GP will receive technical supports from TMG."
Exactly one month ago, the Serbian team revealed that its car had successfully passed the mandatory crash test, though it admitted that the test was carried out internally by an independent outsourcing company and not by the FIA itself.
Earlier today, at the launch of his team's 2010 contender, McLaren team boss and FOTA chairman, Martin Whitmarsh, expressed surprise that nobody had sought to purchase the cars that Toyota was building for the new season before Tokyo pulled the plug.
"We know how difficult it is, with all the experience and resources we have, to be ready for the start of the season so it must be very difficult for any new team," he told reporters. "Quite a lot of these teams had an opportunity I believe to buy up a Toyota chassis, Toyota built two cars available by Christmas, and I am rather surprised some of them did not do that.
"They rather looked a gift horse in the mouth, I think, and made perhaps the wrong decision. They have had their own reasons for those decisions and we have got to see in the coming weeks and months whether we can help those new teams be there."
It is understood that in anticipation of being granted an entry in 2011, Stefan GP will spend most of 2010 testing in preparation. However, with one, possibly two teams, still doubtful for making the grid this year, Stefan GP is clearly preparing for a reserve role.