iSport International, the Norwich-based GP2 entrant that saw Timo Glock to victory and a F1 drive in 2007, is the third British outfit to state that it will consider a F1 entry if the price is right.
Team principal Paul Jackson has moved to clarify rumours about his team’s position on the subject after what he described as “a few outrageous stories”.
He told Autosport that he would be waiting for tomorrow’s World Motor Sport Council meeting when plans for a budget-capped F1 are expected to be unveiled.
iSport, founded in 2004 exclusively to compete in GP2, soon established itself as a leading team, with driver Bruno Senna taking the runner’s-up position in last year’s championship. It also raced with American F1 pilot Scott Speed.
It was founded by a group of people who had built a strong reputation in the defunct F3000 championship and was runner up in last year’s constructors’ competition with drivers Senna and Karun Chandhok.
This year it will be fielding experienced GP2 drivers Giedo van der Garde and Diego Nunes.
Jackson said of iSport’s F1 prospects: “For many years I’ve said if the conditions were right and the numbers made sense, then we’d enter F1.
“The budget cap could be the perfect opportunity for us, but until we find out what the magic number is, I don’t know if it’s do-able or feasible.
“When it’s all in print, we’ll look at it, start doing our sums and talking to potential investors. Until then, it’s all speculation but there have been a few outrageous stories about us doing it.
“Of course we’d like to do it, and I think we can do a good job in F1, especially as we’d be working our team up to a budget cap, whereas the others would be coming down.
“But there’s no way we could come in and take on the big boys. We’d simply be aiming to break in to the top 10.”