Sep.20 (GMM) 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.”
