Despite not yet turning a wheel on their car there have already been some major changes at the new Campos Meta team. In fact, they probably wont be called Campos for much longer.
With just 3 weeks until the season kicks off team principal Adrian Campos (below left) is gone, having been bought out of his own team by former partner Jose Ramon Carabante. Campos has been replaced by ex-Force India team principal and- we kid you not- qualified dentist, Colin Kolles (below right). They’ve also added former Williams, BAR and Red Bull man Geoff Willis to the technical team in preparation for 2010.
The changes were expected, following a veritable deluge of rumours that Campos Meta wouldn’t make it to Bahrain due to severe financial problems. They’d failed to keep up with payments to Dallara, the company building their cars, and lost their desired (and very well funded) choice of second driver, Vitaly Petrov, to Renault.
The team already has Bruno Senna on its books, but his contract is thought to be with Campos, and so whether he races for the team is down to the new owners. Kolles isn’t making any commitments yet, saying the team would ‘announce the line-up for 2010 in due time’. Jose Maria Lopez, currently signed to USF1, is thought to already be in talks with the team about a seat. USF1 look unlikely to make it, at least not in time for the first race, and so the Argentine is seeking alternative employment.
Sometimes F1 moves too fast.
At least F1 fans can now look forward to a minimum of 24 cars on the grid. With USF1’s future uncertain the 26 we were promised isn’t guaranteed, but Serbian F1 wannabes Stefan GP could still make the grid should the American team fall by the wayside.
There’s plenty of uncertainty surrounding Campos at the moment, and Badger will keep you up to date with what’s happening at the team as the dust settles. What we do know is that with Campos gone the new ownership may well decide to change the name of the team. Badger couldn’t possibly speculate as to what the new moniker will be, though maybe you could. Any ideas?
