Wurz seeking to become F1 team boss

Posted at 12:00am on 01 June 2009

LONDON, June 1 (Reuters) - Former racer Alex Wurz is hoping to become a Formula One team boss after submitting an entry for 2010 with the support of wealthy Austrian businessman Christian Baha.

The 35-year-old Austrian, who competed in 69 grands prix and last raced for former champions Williams in 2007, told the autosport.com website that the Team Superfund project was serious.

"I was always interested in going into team management, even when I was racing in F1," he said.

"Christian and I have talked about doing this for many years. When we saw that through budget caps and natural market conditions, the cost of running a team was going to come down, we saw it as an opportunity," he added.

Wurz said that Baha, founder of investment company Superfund that has sponsored teams and drivers in the past, was backing the team personally and they planned to use an engine provided by Cosworth.

He added that plans remained fluid while the 2010 rules remained up in the air, with the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) demanding the governing FIA scrap plans for a 40 million pound ($64.14 million) budget cap next year.

"Nothing can be fully decided until it become clear what we are allowed and not allowed to do for 2010 and years to follow," said the Austrian.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) has said there would be space for three new teams if all the existing ones remain.

The nine FOTA teams, including champions Ferrari, submitted only conditional entries by the May 29 deadline with the definitive 2010 rules still to be confirmed.

The final list is due to be published on June 12.

Other known would-be newcomers include Prodrive, run by former Benetton and BAR boss David Richards, Lola, Litespeed, a Spanish Campos Meta team run by former racer Adrian Campos, and an American-based U.S. F1 entry.

Of the existing teams, only Williams have entered unconditionally.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Justin Palmer; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

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