Sauber Confirmed As 13th Entry on The F1 Grid

The FIA confirmed on Thursday that the BMW Sauber team has obtained the last available space on the 2010 F1 championship’s entry list. The departure of Totoya therefore played in the Swiss team’s favour.

“The FIA has written to inform BMW Sauber AG that their application for an entry in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship has been successful,” indicated a statement issued by the sport’s governing body. “Subject to their signing the Concorde Agreement, BMW Sauber will be awarded the 13th entry in the Championship, taking the place of the departing Toyota team.”

“The FIA has worked closely with the Commercial Rights Holder and the teams involved over recent weeks and is grateful for their support in achieving the best outcome for the sport,” the FIA said, adding that “an updated Formula One entry list will be published in due course.”

With BMW having announced its retirement from Formula One this summer, the German carmaker had not signed the amended Concorde Agreement which would have bound it to the sport until the end of the 2012 season. That left the outfit out of the picture when the FIA granted the 13 team positions available on next year’s roster.

However the FIA granted a ‘14th team status’ to BMW Sauber in case a confirmed team pulled out. Failing that, unanimous agreement was required from the other competitors to allow a 14th team on the entry list – a task easier said than done.

With the Qadbak takeover of the BMW Sauber team floundering, BMW confirmed earlier this month that original team founder Peter Sauber would in fact take over the outfit. However, with legal issues surrounding the Toyota exit, the FIA declined to grant the Sauber team entry for 2010 when they released the official entry list on Monday.

The FIA finally clarified the issue and confirmed today that Sauber has been granted a place in next year’s championship.

Peter Sauber is now looking for sponsors and investors in order to continue the adventure. It can be expected that drivers will be confirmed in the near future.