I think you'll find it's not that easy.

Me too. There's too much uncertainty surrounding US F1 Team and Stefan Grand Prix. Ideally they put 2 and 2 together and enter the Toyota-designed cars under the US F1 banner, and the Toyota-built engines, likely with a Stefan badge. So, a 'US F1 - Stefan', anyone?

No thanks ...

Yeah, it sounds terrible, I know. 'US F1 - Toyota' would be better, in that regard. However, if this is the way we get those 13 teams and 26 cars, so be it.

Update:

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
McLaren MP4-25 – Mercedes FO108X
Team Principal: Martin Whitmarsh ; Technical Directors: Paddy Lowe, Neil Oatley
1. Jenson Button (on a multi-year deal, likely until '12)
2. Lewis Hamilton (contracted until '12)
T Gary Paffett, Christian Klien

Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team
Mercedes MGP W01 – Mercedes FO108X
Team Principal: Ross Brawn ; Technical Director: Ross Brawn (?)
3. Michael Schumacher (confirmed; on a 3-year (!) contract)
4. Nico Rosberg (confirmed; on multi-year deal)
T Nick Heidfeld

Red Bull Racing
Red Bull RB6 – Renault RS27-2010
Team Principal: Christian Horner; Technical Director: Adrian Newey
5. Sebastian Vettel (on a multi-year deal until '11, with an option for '12)
6. Mark Webber (re-signed for '10)
T Brendon Hartley, Daniel Ricciardo

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
Ferrari F10 – Ferrari 056
Team Principal: Stefano Domenicali ; Technical Director: Aldo Costa
7. Felipe Massa (contracted until '10)
8. Fernando Alonso (3-year deal '10-'12)
T Giancarlo Fisichella, Luca Badoer, Marc Gené

AT&T Williams
Williams FW32 – Cosworth CA2010
Team Principal: Frank Williams ; Technical Directors: Sam Michael, Patrick Head
9. Rubens Barrichello (confirmed; 2-year deal?)
10. Nico Hülkenberg (confirmed, probably on long-term deal)
T Valtteri 'Vale' Bottas

Renault F1 Team
Renault R30 – Renault R27-2010
Team Principal: Éric Boullier; Technical Director: James Allison
11. Robert Kubica
12. Vitaly Petrov
T Ho-Pin Tung, Jérôme D'Ambrosio, Jan Charouz

Force India F1 Team
Force India VJM03 – Mercedes FO108X
Team Principal: Vijay Mallya ; Technical Director: James Key
14. Adrian Sutil ('10 option taken up by the team)
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi (has '10-'11 deal)
T Paul di Resta

Scuderia Toro Rosso
Toro Rosso STR 5 – Ferrari 056
Team Principal: Franz Tost ; Technical Director: Giorgio Ascanelli
16. Sébastien Buemi
17. Jaime Alguersuari
T Brendon Hartley, Daniel Ricciardo

Lotus F1 Racing
Lotus T127 – Cosworth CA2010
Team Principal: Tony Fernandes ; Technical Director: Mike Gascoyne
18. Jarno Trulli
19. Heikki Kovalainen
T Fairuz Fauzy

HRT F1 Team (recent buy-out by shareholder Carabante, with Kolles taking over daily running; name 'Campos Meta 1' changed)
HRT 110 – Cosworth CA2010
Team Principal: Collin Kolles ; Technical Director: Toni Cuquerella
20. Karun Chandhok ("close to finalizing a deal", according to Kolles)
Bertrand Baguette (rumoured)
Pastor Maldonado (rumoured to still (or again) be first in line for the seat; allegedly brings sponsorship)
Adam Carroll (rumoured)
María de Villota (rumoured)
21. Bruno Senna (#21 is Embratel-related)
José María López (deal allegedly being brokered by B.C. Ecclestone in case US F1 Team folds; rumoured to take Senna's seat alongside Chandhok)
T t.b.a.

US F1 Team (team now highly doubted to make the 2010 grid; deal with Stefan GP unlikely; postponement until '11 applied for)
US F1 Type 1 – Cosworth CA2010
Team Principal: Peter Windsor ; Technical Director: Ken Anderson
22. José María López (deal announced, but allegedly told that the team won't make Bahrain)
23. James Rossiter (was signed in December already, but walked away due to uncertainty)
Ralf Schumacher (from no Schumachers on the grid back to both of them: the younger allegedly has a fan in Peter Windsor)
Adrián Vallés (rumoured)
Alex Wurz (although Austrian, experienced test driver; excellent choice to develop the new car; allegedly lost interest and twice stated so)
Jacques Villeneuve (says he's in talks with the team; getting a former F1 WDC and Indy 500 winner would be a major coup for the team; rumoured the team turned him down)
T Jonathan Summerton, Alexander Rossi

Virgin Racing
Virgin VR-01 – Cosworth CA2010
Team Principal: John Booth ; Technical Director: Nick Wirth
24. Timo Glock (2-year deal with an option for a 3rd)
25. Lucas Di Grassi (how long a deal?)
T Luiz Razia, Andy Soucek

BMW Sauber F1 Team
BMW Sauber C29 – Ferrari 056
Team Principal: Peter Sauber (new (old) owner) ; Technical Director: Willy Rampf
26. Pedro de la Rosa
27. Kamui Kobayashi
T Bertrand Baguette

Stefan Grand Prix (deal with US F1 more and more unlikely)
Stefan S-01 – Stefan RG-01 (car is the Toyota-designed TF110, engine a rebadged Toyota RVX-10)
Team Principal: Zoran Stefanovic ; Technical Director: Mike Coughlan
28. Jacques Villeneuve ("very near to a contract", according to Stefanovic)
Ralf Schumacher (rumoured)
Sébastien Bourdais (rumoured)
Nelson Piquet, jr. (rumoured)
Christian Klien (rumoured)
Bruno Senna (rumoured if Campos go bust before the season)
Romain Grosjean (rumoured)
29. Kazuki Nakajima (confirmed by Stefanovic in Autosport interview)
T Miloš Pavlović

Edit: Campos Meta 1 name changed to HRT F1 Team

Soucek is confirmed as 3rd driver for Virgin.

For Chandhok, you can put very near of a contract, Kolles says.

For Rossiter, he signed a contract but leave in February according to Adam Cooper.

Fixed.

Hadn't read the Rossiter bit yet. Interesting.

Rossiter is expected driving for KV Racing Technology in IndyCar. Last week he succesfully testing with KVRT in Birmingham, Alabama.
http://kvracingtechnology.homestead.com/

I read that, too. On Wikipedia it says he'll be driving the Indy 500 under the Team Lotus USA banner.

The link : http://adamcooperf1.com/2010/03/01/us-f1-h...s-didnt-add-up/

He made the right choice.

Yeah, I'd found it already. I follow Adam Cooper, but just hadn't seen this blog post yet.

I believe Schumacher has confirmed he won't be following his brother back into the sport. I think he's becomming a commentator for the Germans.

Does anyone know when the FIA will publish the final entry list for this season? The first race is in less than 2 weeks and there's still no sign of it.

Jonathan Noble on twitter

For those who have asked, the official FIA entry list for 2010 should be out within the next week - and BMW Sauber will be on it

1:37 AM Feb 24th via TweetDeck

So maybe this week. If Stefan GP presentation is tomorrow and Hispania (Campos) is Thursday, so maybe Friday.

USF1 has no driver : Lopez has officially confirmed he left the team. I think it will be with Hispania (Campos) as 3rd driver.

With Lopez as 3r driver with Campos and Maldonado as 3rd driver with Stefan GP, we can say the grid is full.

Only Sauber has no 3rd driver.

I hadn't seen the 'Hispania Racing F1 Team' articles, yet, but have now made a remark in the list above.

A Hispania-Cosworth, anyone?

On PitPass now

McLaren
1. Jenson Button
2. Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes
3. Michael Schumacher
4. Nico Rosberg

Red Bull
5. Sebastian Vettel
6. Mark Webber

Ferrari
7. Felipe Massa
8. Fernando Alonso

Williams
9. Rubens Barrichello
10. Nico Hulkenberg

Renault
11. Robert Kubica
12. Vitaly Petrov

Force India
14. Adrian Sutil
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi

Toro Rosso
16. Sebastien Buemi
17. Jaime Alguersuari

Lotus
18. Jarno Trulli
19. Heikki Kovalainen

Hispania
20. Karun Chandhok
21. Bruno Senna

Virgin
24. Timo Glock
25. Lucas di Grassi

BMW Sauber
26. Pedro de la Rosa
27. Kamui Kobayashi

Stefan
28. Jacques Villeneuve
29. Kazuki Nakajima

Somehow, this better satisfies my sense of proportion.

It's more likely that Sauber or Stefan will get the 22 and 23. Virgin are likely to have ordered merchandise by now, and if merchadise is a good enough reason for Force India to retain their numbers, it's a good enough reaso for Virgin. The FIA will want to plug the gaps left by USF1, and so Stefan or Sauber will get those numbers.

It's very unlikely that due to US F1 Team's demise, other teams will move up in the car numbering order. Should Stefan Grand Prix buy US F1's entry, they'll most likely get 22+23. If they gain an entry without forking out several hundreds of thousands of dollars for Windsor/Anderson/Hurley's account, they may get the same numbers, too, or otherwise 28+29. So no #27 Villeneuve for 2010.

Oh, and:

Adam Cooper now states that 'Campos Meta 1' will be renamed 'HRT F1 Team'.

It's official.

Hormone Replacement Therapy.

It's a team for old ladies to follow.

Autosport isn't very clear on it: will the team be 'HRT F1 Racing' or 'Hispania Racing F1 Team'?

F1 Fanatic is more clear: "Campos Meta will change its name to HRT".

Hostage Rescue Team
Holden Racing Team
[x] High Risk Target
Highway Regulating Team

It appears that US F1 Team had signed no less than three drivers for the 2010 season. Argentine José María 'Pechito' López had been confirmed. Briton James Rossiter was later confirmed to have jumped ship ahead of the team's collapse. And now López's manager, Felipe McGough, in a rant against US F1 Team's management, mentions Miloš Pavlović as "the other driver they had signed to be in the project".

This has to be the best silly season ever. Started back in June 2009 and it's STILL going.

They were so desperate for paydriver money they hired a serbian guy that even the weird serbian team wouldn't hire?

All spot on, except for Lopez.

I expect number 20 will be confirmed as Chandhok tomorrow, and then this silliest of seasons will finally be over.

Oh, the irony. A team with a Serbian driver wouldn't sell their entry toa team with a Serbian founder.


I'll drink to that.

I am. A shame JV didn't make the grid though ;)

Come on, by Feb 20th most people were convinced USF1 wouldn't make it (the NYT Anderson interview was Feb 19th). So you got Stefan right, Lopez @ Campos wrong. 1/2 ain't bad.

I like to think of it as a blessing in disguise.

So, the all but definitive list is as follows. Only one seat formally available, and several test/reserve drivers not confirmed, yet.

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
McLaren MP4-25 – Mercedes FO108X
Team Principal: Martin Whitmarsh ; Technical Directors: Paddy Lowe, Neil Oatley
1. Jenson Button (on a multi-year deal, likely until '12)
2. Lewis Hamilton (contracted until '12)
T Gary Paffett, Christian Klien

Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team
Mercedes MGP W01 – Mercedes FO108X
Team Principal: Ross Brawn ; Technical Director: Ross Brawn (?)
3. Michael Schumacher (confirmed; on a 3-year (!) contract)
4. Nico Rosberg (confirmed; on multi-year deal)
T Nick Heidfeld

Red Bull Racing
Red Bull RB6 – Renault RS27-2010
Team Principal: Christian Horner; Technical Director: Adrian Newey
5. Sebastian Vettel (on a multi-year deal until '11, with an option for '12)
6. Mark Webber (re-signed for '10)
T Brendon Hartley, Daniel Ricciardo

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
Ferrari F10 – Ferrari 056
Team Principal: Stefano Domenicali ; Technical Director: Aldo Costa
7. Felipe Massa (contracted until '10)
8. Fernando Alonso (3-year deal '10-'12)
T Giancarlo Fisichella, Luca Badoer, Marc Gené

AT&T Williams
Williams FW32 – Cosworth CA2010
Team Principal: Frank Williams ; Technical Directors: Sam Michael, Patrick Head
9. Rubens Barrichello (confirmed; 2-year deal?)
10. Nico Hülkenberg (confirmed, probably on long-term deal)
T Valtteri 'Vale' Bottas

Renault F1 Team
Renault R30 – Renault R27-2010
Team Principal: Éric Boullier; Technical Director: James Allison
11. Robert Kubica
12. Vitaly Petrov
T Ho-Pin Tung, Jérôme D'Ambrosio, Jan Charouz

Force India F1 Team
Force India VJM03 – Mercedes FO108X
Team Principal: Vijay Mallya ; Technical Director: James Key
14. Adrian Sutil ('10 option taken up by the team)
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi (has '10-'11 deal)
T Paul di Resta

Scuderia Toro Rosso
Toro Rosso STR 5 – Ferrari 056
Team Principal: Franz Tost ; Technical Director: Giorgio Ascanelli
16. Sébastien Buemi
17. Jaime Alguersuari
T Brendon Hartley, Daniel Ricciardo

Lotus Racing
Lotus T127 – Cosworth CA2010
Team Principal: Tony Fernandes ; Technical Director: Mike Gascoyne
18. Jarno Trulli
19. Heikki Kovalainen
T Fairuz Fauzy

HRT F1 Team
HRT 110 – Cosworth CA2010
Team Principal: Collin Kolles ; Technical Director: Toni Cuquerella
20. Karun Chandhok
21. Bruno Senna (#21 is Embratel-related)
T José María López

BMW Sauber F1 Team
BMW Sauber C29 – Ferrari 056
Team Principal: Peter Sauber (new (old) owner) ; Technical Director: Willy Rampf
23. Pedro de la Rosa
24. Kamui Kobayashi
T Bertrand Baguette

Virgin Racing
Virgin VR-01 – Cosworth CA2010
Team Principal: John Booth ; Technical Director: Nick Wirth
24. Timo Glock (2-year deal with an option for a 3rd)
25. Lucas Di Grassi (how long a deal?)
T Andy Soucek, Luiz Razia

On to the 2011 Silly Season, then...

Edit: Chandhok confirmed at HRT.

Well, it's going to be an interesting grid ...

You can take López off. It wont happen.

And one of the longest, one of the craziest Silly Seasons is finally over:

Silly Season Timeline:

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/6/9487.html - Entry List

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/7/9648.html - Webber Stays at Red Bull

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/7/9698.html - BMW withdraw from F1

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/8/9713.html - Concorde Agreement signed

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/8/9771.html - Vettel extends contract

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/9/10015.html - Alonso moves to Ferrari

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/10/10065.html - Kubica moves to Renault

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/10/10152.html - Rosberg leaves Williams

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/10/10169.html - Senna joins HRT

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/11/10187.html - Barrichello and the Hulk join Williams

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/11/10192.html - Toyota withdraw from F1

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/11/10220.html - Mercedes takes over Brawn

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/11/10222.html - Glock joins Manor

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/11/10226.html - Raikkonnen leaves F1

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/11/10228.html - Button joins McLaren

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/11/10236.html - Rosberg joins Mercedes

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/11/10244.html - BMW sells back to Sauber

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/11/10245.html - Sutil and Liuzzi stay at Force India

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/12/10262.html - Sauber take Toyota's place

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/12/10263.html - Raikkonnen joins Citroen

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/12/10279.html - First points revision

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/12/10283.html - Trulli and Kovy join Lotus

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/12/10286.html - Di Grassi joins Virgin

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/12/10290.html - Renault sell out

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/12/10293.html - Kobayashi joins Sauber

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/12/10301.html - Schumacher returns to F1 with Mercedes

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2010/1/10346.html - De La Rosa joins Sauber

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2010/1/10357.html - Alguersuari resigns for Toro Rosso

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2010/1/10363.html - Jose Maria Lopez tries to join USF1

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2010/1/10381.html - Petrov joins Renault

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2010/2/10402.html - Heidfeld becomes reserve driver

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2010/2/10454.html - Management reshuffle transforms Campos into HRT

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2010/2/10460.html - Andy Soucek joins Virgin

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2010/3/10485.html - Chandhok completes grid with HRT

Check the dates and see just how long and silly this silly season is.

I'm not sure it's over yet. Stefanf1 may yet provide some fun and news.

Over 6500 posts and no one made a completely correct prediction. But it's the journey, not the destination, right?
Good work there, TheF1Person. I was hoping to see just such an log of the twists and turns of The Greatest Silly Season Ever. Roll on, Bahrain.

With what, just one week and a few hours before the first wheel is turned in free practice?

If they make it, it's not just going to be the eleventh hour. It's going to be the eleventh hour and fifty-ninth minute. I'm all for having more cars so that we have a full quota of twenty-six, but I'm honestly doubtful Stefan will be accepted, and if they are, then I doubt they can make it to Bahrain. I think their race is run, for now at least.

To round off the 2010 Silly Season...

Call me nostalgic, but I sometimes miss the traditional team numbers in Formula One. Oh, and some of those classic team names, too, along the lines of sponsor – team – engine… except for Ferrari and Ford/Cosworth customers, of course.

So, please allow me some poetic license for this alternative 2010 Formula One season entry list:

1 + 2 : Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
3 + 4 : Petronas Tyrrell Mercedes
5 + 6 : AT&T Williams Ford
7 + 8 : Red Bull Stewart Renault
9 + 10 : Toleman Renault
11 + 12 : 1Malaysia Team Lotus
14 + 15 : Kingfisher Jordan
16 + 17 : Sauber F1 Team
19 + 20 : Hispania Racing F1 Team
21 + 22 : US F1 Team
23 + 24 : Red Bull Minardi Team
25 + 26 : Virgin Manor F1 Team
27 + 28 : Scuderia Ferrari
29 + 30 : Stefan Toyota