02/03/2010
NEWS STORY
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According to reports, US F1 has closed down its operation less than two weeks before the start of the 2010 season.
With the FIA due to announce the finalised world championship entry list tomorrow (Wednesday), a source confirmed to Pitpass that one existing entry was definitely out.
According to reports, while calls to the US F1 North Carolina HQ are unanswered, the team's production manager Dave Skog addressed the remaining staff earlier today to inform them that they are now on unpaid leave.
While the FIA has remained frustratingly silent in recent days, officially saying nothing other than rejecting the claim that teams can miss up to three races, it must be fully aware of who is in and who is out.
Quite how US F1's demise will affect the chances of Stefan GP making it to the grid remain to be seen, for in order to allow the Serbian team to enter the championship the American team would need to officially withdraw.
Meanwhile, Felipe McGough, manager of US F1 driver Jose Maria Lopez has launched a stinging attack on the team and its management, while demanding he return of the £554,000 ($834,000) deposit paid to secure the drive.
"Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor will travel to Argentina in the coming days to give us an explanation about everything that has happened, since the sole responsibility is theirs," he told Argentina radio station Cadena 3 Cordoba.
"The main culprit is Ken Anderson," he continued. "He deceived the FIA, FOTA, FOM and broke the Concorde Agreement.
McGough who had been hoping to secure a race seat for Lopez at Campos - or the team formerly known as Campos Meta but now known as Hispania Racing - is now resigned to trying to get the test role for the Argentine, with Indian racer Karun Chandhok likely to partner Bruno Senna.
"We have already told him that Lopez is free," he said, referring to talks with Hispania owner Jose Ramon Carabante, "they are aware of everything, and now we are waiting to see what is decided in Europe. We are looking at anything that allows Jose Maria to stay in Formula One, even as the reserve driver," said McGough."
For what it's worth, while McGough believes that Anderson and US F1 "deceived the FIA, FOTA and FOM", a lot of race fans, particularly American race fans - who already feel that F1 has treated them with contempt over the years - will feel equally let down and “deceived”.