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Team bosses question F2 plans

Plans by the FIA to make its new Formula Two championship an 'arrive-and-drive' series could negate the need for traditional racing teams, claims a number of senior figures within the sport

Motor racing's governing body revealed details of its plans for the new category over the weekend when it launched its tender for the championship.

Those plans made it clear that the manufacturer supporting the series would supply the cars and other consumables, like fuels and tyres, as well as spare parts at each event.

The removal of a team's need to prepare cars and transport them plays a key part in the FIA's bid to limit a driver's budget to around 200,000 Euro per season.

But the plans have been questioned by a number of team bosses, who think that while the scheme will be good for drivers, it will not be of much use as a Formula One feeder formula for teams and their staff.

And that is why they believe the category may be better off being run centrally rather than with teams at all.

David Hayle, boss of reigning British Formula Three champions Hitech Racing, said: "I don't see how it can work in that format. They've taken away a lot of the incentive for teams because nobody is going to be happy about running a car they haven't prepared.

"I think they should decide to do it one way or the other. Either it's run like Formula Palmer Audi where, if they're going to do so much themselves, they should just run the cars centrally as well.

"Or do it like A1GP where the cars are all kept in one place by the series, but you have your own chassis and all the teams go there to prepare them before each race."

Anthony 'Boyo' Hieatt, Raikkonen Robertson Racing team manager, added: "It does make it different for the teams and I'm not sure how it would work.

"We'd obviously have to employ mechanics and engineers, but if we can't touch the cars between races, what do they do during the week? Also, just running the car at the event means it won't be as good a training ground for mechanics and engineers.

"For a team, entering a series has to work commercially. You wouldn't just enter to turn up, you have to make a profit. It might fit in well for us if it supports Formula One because we have the BMW team there already, but you have to be able to see a clear potential for profit to make it worthwhile."

Trevor Carlin, whose team compete in Formula BMW, Formula Three and World Series by Renault, felt that the category may have to be run centrally.

"The arrive-and-drive style seems like a good idea for the drivers, but why would they need teams?" he explained.

"You'd lose any changes you make to your cars when you get a different one for the next race, and you don't know who has been maintaining the car you get. That's not an attractive thought. I think it would make more sense to run the cars centrally."

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