Driver jigsaw falling into place?

There are potentially two teams heading to Bahrain for the season-opening Grand Prix next month with yet-to-be-confirmed drivers. USF1 has made clear that they will not be attending the first race, opening the debate as to StefanGP getting the nod from the FIA to race.

StefanGP hopes to test its Toyota-based S-01 later this week at Portimao with the Japanese firm’s preferred driver Kazuki Nakajima behind the wheel. The team has also been linked with the services of 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve.

While the Serbian team is pressing on with its plans, there has been no confirmation from the FIA that they are even considering USF1’s request to miss the first four races of the season, while the sport’s governing body has yet to make a judgement on StefanGP’s hopes of joining the F1 circus.

“I had a chat some time ago with [Zoran Stefanovich] just to find out where everything was at,” Villeneuve told AutoWeek. “It was not about everything that has been written recently, it was prior to that. I’m not involved directly with anything. If it happened I would be very interested because it looks like a serious outfit. If they are allowed in, seeing how he’s been talking and moving forward even though he didn’t have an entry, he is quite serious in getting the thing going. He’s done more than some teams.

“The Toyota car wasn’t a bad car last year, and it has been developed,” Villeneuve said in a separate interview with Adam Cooper. “It would definitely be ahead of all the other new cars. Now the problem is they won’t get any testing, they won’t get anything, which is a bit problematic. But a good base is always a good base. So it wouldn’t be a bad proposition – it would be exciting enough to work on.”

Over at Campos Meta, the team is under new ownership and management and while the team hasn’t confirmed that the contract with former GP2 racer Bruno Senna remains in place, the Brazilian is still expected to race for the team should they be able to compete in Bahrain.

Well-funded Argentinean driver Jose Maria Lopez is under contract to USF1, but it remains to be seen if that contract is still valid given the team’s admission that they will not be ready for the start of the season. Lopez is now being linked with the second Campos seat, while Indian driver Karun Chandhok also remains in the frame.

Before the final pieces of the driver jigsaw can fall into palace, the status of the USF1 and StefanGP entries need to be clarified by the FIA.