Richards confirms Prodrive for 2010

David Richards has officially confirmed its entry into the Formula One championship of 2010 under the name of Prodrive. The decision has been prompted by F1's push for a budget cap, making the sport much more interesting to join for privateers.

“We are very appreciative of the support we have been given in putting together our entry, not least by both the FIA and FOM. With the help of Dar Capital, in raising the finance, coupled with our understanding of the latest proposals to assist new teams, we now feel the conditions are right to formally request the FIA for an entry,” said Richards, chairman of Prodrive.

“The level of next year’s cost cap has risen substantially since we originally considered entering. However everyone appears committed to major reductions in future years and when one takes into account the transition proposals for new teams we are confident that we now have the opportunity to be both commercially viable and competitive. As we have said all along, we don’t want to be in Formula One just to make up the numbers.”

The announcements did not yet mention the name Aston Martin, but it is expected that the entry will be renamed as of 2012.

Prodrive marks the third new entry into next year's championship while the current F1 teams are still deciding how to react and whether to join given the current dispute on the regulations and the budget cap.