Dallara says F1 challenge 'fascinating'

Source : www.autosport.com
By Michele Lostia and Pablo Elizalde

Gian Paolo Dallara says building a Formula 1 car for the Campos Meta team will be a 'fascinating' challenge for the Italian company.

Dallara will design the car the Spanish squad will use next year, when it makes its Formula 1 debut after gaining an entry last month.

Dallara admits the project is 'scary', but the Italian is looking forward to the challenge.

"I've accepted this opportunity with enthusiasm," Dallara told Gazzetta dello Sport. "It's scary, but it's exciting for me and for my entire company, because this is a fascinating challenge that tests energy and creativity.

"We've been working for three months already."

Dallara said he is hoping the car, which will be powered by a Cosworth engine, will be ready to be tested early next year.

"[The goal is] having the car running around January 10. Let's hope it's quick. I mean for Campos, but also for us," he added.

The Italian said 40 people are working on the F1 project, but the team is expected to grow up to 80 in the future.

"We have strong people with fresh experiences like Gabriele Tredozi, who for years was the technical head at Minardi, and like Ben Agathangelou, aerodynamicist for Red Bull and Ross Brawn's Honda. And then there are our people, all of them good," Dallara added.

The Parma-based company had already competed in Formula 1 from 1988 to 1992, building the cars for Scuderia Italia, and then collaborating with Honda in 1998 and Midland in 2006.

Team boss Adrian Campos said the Spanish outfit had been entered in F1 as a constructor thanks to the creation of a new company.

"The model will be in the wind tunnel for the first time next week," Campos told AUTOSPORT. "We have set up a company called Dallara-Campos to build the cars in a new factory. We are recruiting 200 people."

Campos added that he was hoping for peace following months of uncertainty in Formula 1.

"I am interested in being in a situation where everyone agrees, whether that is FOTA or whatever," he said. "I think there is always a big commotion in F1 every seven years or so, and this is one of those times. Now there is an open door to finding a solution, and as a new team it is important for us to help in this."