It’s time to confess to a little personal bias.  We all have favourites, and those presenting their opinions on motorsport don’t necessarily claim to do so without giving those favourites the best possible write-up.  Regular readers may have noticed a fondness for Rubens Barrichello which this reporter hasn’t done all that much to hide (see here for a prime example, paying particular attention to what happens if you hover your cursor over the final picture).  What you may not know, since the race hasn’t yet taken place that would give cause to discuss the team at length, is that the same fondness is felt for a constructor, and that the constructor in question is Williams.  If Rubens wins a race in the Williams this season and the race report is late, it’s because the man writing it has exploded with joy.

The last two on the list of links, Virgin and Lotus, are new entries noteworthy for different reasons.  Virgin’s car has been designed entirely using computational fluid dynamics.  All of the aerodynamic work, every calculation needed to figure out how the car moves through the air and how that air acts upon the car, has been carried out on a computer rather than using traditional wind tunnel testing.  The man behind the car is Nick Wirth, who employed similar design techniques when developing the LMP2 Acura sports prototype that has enjoyed considerable success in the American Le Mans Series.

The car is now running but there remains an amount of scepticism in the F1 community, and the initial performance of the car hasn’t done much to shift it.  In two days of testing the car has managed just 19 laps, delayed yesterday by its front wing falling off and today by the late arrival of parts designed to keep front wing and car together.  It’s not fair to really analyse lap times at this stage, but it’s still worth mentioning that when in one piece, the car has so far been around 7 seconds a lap off the pace.  The gap to the front will surely come down with more mileage, the team’s ultimate target for 2010 being to avoid embarrassment.

The new Lotus is yet to turn a wheel in anger, having undergone a gentle initial shakedown in the hands of Fairuz Fauzy before being officially unveiled today.  Lotus aim to be close to the slower established teams in 2010, and while that might not sound like a particularly lofty aim, it’ll be a remarkable achievement for a team that was only granted its entry on September 12th last year.  The team has a number of ex-Toyota personnel, including technical director Mike Gascoyne and driver Jarno Trulli, and the backing of Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes, the AirAsia owner worth a reported $230 million.

The car carries the classic pre-sponsorship Lotus colours and a proper Lotus type number, links to the name’s glorious past.  A quick visual inspection reveals a car that looks sensible.  T127 appears basic, with no obvious innovations or fine details not seen elsewhere, but this is to be expected of a car built to a tight deadline and suggests that a season of learning from an easily understandable base is in prospect.  It sounds like a smart way to go motor racing, and one hopes that Fernandes will give the team the time and support needed to see their approach bear fruit.

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That still leaves us two teams short of a grid.  Those two teams are Campos Meta and USF1, this year’s other start-up outfits.

Campos Meta are in financial trouble, with team principal and ex-F1 racer Adrian Campos openly seeking new investors and considering the possibility of selling the team.  Campos had claimed that his 2010 plans would be confirmed last Monday, but as yet no news has been released.

Tony Teixeira, the South African businessman who was CEO of the A1GP series until its demise last year, has confirmed his interest in acquiring the team.  Petrolheadblog understands that Irish driver Adam Carroll is in line to partner Bruno Senna at Campos should the deal go ahead, but that Teixeira’s proposed involvement has met with resistance from within the sport.  It should be noted that Teixeira’s company Energem is believed to carry debts of over $50 million related to A1GP, the self-styled World Cup of Motorsport.  Dallara, the Italian carmaker responsible for the design and construction of the Campos car, are believed to be in negotiations with two other teams over the use of their design after Campos Meta failed to meet a scheduled payment.

One of those teams is USF1.  Peter Windsor, the team’s sporting director, claims that the team had a funding issue caused by a sponsor missing a payment, but that the sponsor has now been replaced and business continues as normal.  Windsor has been involved in F1 as a journalist and a team manager for over 35 years, more than long enough to understand the value of good PR and positive spin.

There are, however, as yet unsubstantiated claims that the team is several months behind on its chassis development programme, owes Cosworth around $2.5 million for engines and stands less than a snowball in Hell’s chance of making it to Bahrain in 4 weeks time.  They have, of course, still got support and backing from their highest-profile supporter Chad Hurley, CEO of YouTube.  How are things going, Chad?

“Good question!  It’s crunch time for Ken and company.”

Not exactly a glowing endorsement, and this subsequent Tweet would seem to cast doubt upon the level of Hurley and YouTube’s involvement.  It has, though, been reported that talks with Dallara have begun at Hurley’s behest.

Dallara are also believed to be talking to Stefan Grand Prix.  Stefan GP is the baby of Zoran Stefanovic, the Serbian having his third try at running an F1 team.  Stefan GP was one of the teams rejected by the FIA during the team selection process last June, but has pressed on with plans to race in 2011 and claims to be able to race this year if an opportunity presents itself.  To that end, the team have purchased the chassis, gearbox and engine designed by Toyota prior to their withdrawal from F1, confirmed technical support from Toyota and plan to test their 2010 car at Portimao on February 28th.  Kazuki Nakajima will drive, Ralf Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve have been linked with the second seat, equpiment has been sent to Bahrain and Malaysia, and all of this in spite of the FIA confirming that should Campos or USF1 fail to make it to Bahrain, their entry won’t necessarily be reallocated to Stefan or anyone else.

It remains to be seen whether any of the remaining teams will be ready in time for March 14th.  All we can do at the moment is pose questions; the answers will come in time, and you’ll be able to read about them here in due course.