LONDON: The International Automobile Federation published the entry list for the 2013 Formula 1 season with the notable absence of HRT, suggesting that the Spanish team has brought the shutters down on its operations.
Thesan Capital, the owners of HRT, had said last month that they were in talks with a number of potential buyers to sell the team but appear to have failed to rope in an investor to keep the team alive.
This leaves Narain Karthikeyan’s position on the F1 grid in doubt, as the competition for available seats at other teams is fiercely competitive.
Friday was set as the deadline for all teams to pay next year’s entry fees for the championship, with each to shell out a basic $500,000 along with $5,000 for every point scored in 2012.
However, as the per new regulations, the constructors’ champions are required to cough up $6,000 for every point recorded, which means Red Bull had to pay $3.26 million.
“HRT fails to enter for 2013, we are down to 22 cars. With 2014 engine costs looking scary can see ‘customer’ F1 cars back on the agenda,” former F1 driver Martin Brundle said on his Twitter page.
The entry list confirms the participation of the remaining 11 teams although not all the drivers are named yet.
Kimi Raikkonen’s team mate is yet to be established at Lotus, indicating that Romain Grosjean’s future is uncertain. And although Sauber and Toro Rosso named both their drivers for 2013, the schedule declares that their line-ups are yet to be announced.
The drivers of Force India, Caterham and Marussia are not named either, although Paul di Resta, Charles Pic and Timo Glock, respectively, will continue next year. (AP)