Dubai team to take part in F1


A Dubai team will take part in the 2006 Formula One world championship, the team announced on Saturday.

Team Dubai FI said in a statement it would lodge a $48 million security with the sport's governing body to secure a slot.

It said it had also entered into exclusive negotiations with both Mercedes and McLaren for engines and technical assistance.

The team said it had talked to a number of teams and owners about buying an existing team but had decided to go it alone.

The statement said work would begin next year on a technical centre and wind tunnel in Dubai with much of the long-term development work on the team's car done there. The manufacturing facilities will be based in England.

Schumacher pleased with Team Dubai F1's arrival


Dubai : Ferrari's World Champion Michael Schumacher has welcomed the arrival of two new Formula One teams starting from 2006.

"It is encouraging to see that there are new teams coming into Formula One," Schumacher told Gulf News in a statement issued through his media consultant and personal press officer Sabine Kehm.

Schumacher is pleased that the sport is spreading itself out. "It is encouraging to note that the origin of those teams are from different countries," he stated.

Last week, Grand Prix Investments announced that 'Team Dubai F1' will enter the FIA Formula One World Championship with effect from the 2006 season.

Team Dubai F1 will file with the International Automobile Federation (FIA) the entry documentation and will lodge the $48 million (Dh 176.5 million) security necessary to enable it to participate.

At the same time, Team Dubai F1 has also entered into exclusive negotiations with Mercedes-Benz and McLaren for the supply of engines and technical assistance for their programme.

Team Dubai F1 is the first entirely new independent team to enter Formula One since 1997.

A group of businessmen from Russia had earlier launched Team Midlands, also eyeing a start from the 2006 season.

Schumacher was quick to laud the entry of the new teams. "F1 is a world championship, it is a global sport, so it is only natural that we compete on a global level," he said.

The seven-time world champion was also thrilled that motorsport has spread out more uniformly with the introduction of the new teams.

"It's always good to get in various countries from all over the world," Schumacher said. "And personally, I always find it very interesting to see that people take the challenge to try it.