Campos gains new owner

Former Midland, Spyker and Force India team principal Colin Kolles has taken up a similar role with Campos Meta after brokering a rescue package for the beleaguered new team.

Founder Adrian Campos failed to find sufficient backing to get the team going, and in January agreed to sell to erstwhile A1GP boss Tony Teixeira. However, the South African did not complete on the new deal. Original Campos shareholder José Ramón Carabante subsequently took over the project and has installed Kolles (above right) to run it. Campos himself has been sidelined, but Kolles stresses that the former Minardi driver will still have a role in the team.

Campos Meta was the first of the new F1 teams to complete the FIA crash tests, but due to a lack of funds work stopped at Dallara. It has now restarted, with the cars being completed in Italy before being sent to Bahrain. Initially Kolles will use his DTM/LMS factory near Ingolstadt, although eventually the team will move to a new facility in Murcia, Spain, where Carabante has strong links.

Kolles has engaged the former BAR and Red Bull technical chief Geoff Willis as a consultant, while former BMW Sauber chief engineer Mike Krack will also be involved.

Bruno Senna had signed a contract with Adrian Campos, but at the time of writing Kolles had yet to confirm the line-up and said he needed drivers with a budget. Karun Chandhok and José María López head the queue.