FIA denies USF1’s delay request; US team officially dead

The FIA has made a verdict on USF1’s request of delaying its F1 entry for 2011 and much to the dismay of the US-based outfit, they’re appeal was resoundly denied. The loss of USF1 for the 2010 grid means that one spot will be vacated, paving the way for the possibility that Stefan GP could take USF1’s place.

As it stands now, the FIA is doing a business review over the viability of the Serbian-based team and if they decide that the team is structurally-fit, then they could make it for the season-opening race in Bahrain next week.

Bernie Ecclestone, however, thinks that allowing a team to join for the season this close to the first race of the year doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Continued after the jump.

“As far I know, Stefan GP could race in Bahrain," said Ecclestone. "Yet you should not believe everything you hear because we don’t want the opposite to come true.

The F1 chief executive also said that the decision to give Stefan GP the space left behind by USF1 will rest entirely on the FIA and that a decision could come in the immediate future.

Now that the whole saga surrounding USF1 has come to a close, we’re still curious as to how this plays out – especially if Stefan GP is given a spot on the grid with the first race of the season only a week away.