HRT missing from 2013 F1 entry list

HRT Formula One drivers Narain Karthikeyan of India (front) and his team mate Pedro de la Rosa of Spain drive during the Japanese F1 Grand Prix at the Suzuka circuit October 7, 2012. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (JAPAN - Tags: SPORT MOTORSPORT F1)

HRT Formula One drivers Narain Karthikeyan of India (front) and his team mate Pedro de la Rosa of Spain drive during the Japanese F1 Grand Prix at the Suzuka circuit October 7, 2012. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (JAPAN - Tags: SPORT MOTORSPORT F1)

Published Dec 3, 2012

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Formula One looks likely to be reduced to 11 teams next season after the official 2013 championship entry list was published without struggling Spanish-based Hispania on it.

The 22-car list was published by the governing International Automobile Federation on Saturday after the expiry of a Friday deadline for teams to pay their entry fees.

Under the 2013 sporting regulations, Madrid-based Hispania were required to pay entry fees of $500 000 (R4.45 million).

The owners of Hispania, who have not scored a point in their three-year existence, announced in November that the team was up for sale and talks were underway with various groups interested in buying them.

FIA sources indicated that Hispania could yet be added to the list if they paid up and Spain's AS newspaper reported that Hispania had been allowed more time to try and find a buyer.

RESCUE OPERATION

The team was founded by Spanish ex-Formula One driver Adrian Campos in 2010, when three new teams were invited to enter the championship, as Campos Meta but the outfit hit immediate financial trouble.

It was renamed Hispania in a rescue operation led by Murcia-based businessman Jose Ramon Carabante and Colin Kolles, a former principal of what is now the Force India team, before being taken over by Thesan Capital in July 2011.

Spanish veteran Pedro De la Rosa and Indian Narain Karthikeyan were the two drivers this year, with the Cosworth-powered team finishing 12th and last overall after beating Marussia in the two previous seasons.

There has been considerable scepticism within the sport about the prospect of any buyer emerging.

“I hope they find a buyer, an investor, and I hope they don't shut. But clearly there's a good possibility that they might,” McLaren principal Martin Whitmarsh had told reporters in Brazil last weekend.

“I think we've got to recognise that after probably the four top teams, all the teams have got really big challenges and costs are escalating.”

Japan's Super Aguri were the last Formula One team to fold, during the 2008 season due to financial problems.

Only five of the teams named their full driver line-up, including Williams who announced only this week that Finland's Valtteri Bottas would be racing for them next year in place of Brazilian Bruno Senna.

Sauber and Toro Rosso, who have both finalised their line-ups, did not name any drivers. - Reuters

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