Jose Maria Lopez has launched a stinging attack on US F1, claiming the stillborn Formula One team "hid things" from him.
Argentine driver claims stillborn F1 team misled him
Jose Maria Lopez has launched a stinging attack on US F1, claiming the stillborn Formula One team "hid things" from him.
The Argentine was signed by US F1 in January but his dream lay in tatters at the start of this month when, having spent months denying speculation questioning their ability to make the start of the new season, the North Carolina-based team finally withdrew their 2010 entry.
Understandably angry at the manner in which the team was unable to fulfil promises made to both him and the FIA that they had the wherewithal to compete, Lopez claimed that he had been misled.
"I find it hard to say that we did it wrong," he told a news conference.
"I think we put too much trust in what people were telling us."
Impossible
He added: "As soon as I arrived in Charlotte in February, I realised that everything they were saying was not true.
"What happened to us was unthinkable: in 60 years of Formula One it never happened that a team signed up and didn't make it. They hid things from us."
Lopez tried unsuccessfully to jump ship to another new team, Hispania Racing, when it became apparent that US F1 would not race.
However, despite the disappointment, the 26-year-old has not given up hope of one day racing in Formula One and wants to try and secure a test driver role.
"My idea is to go on, not lay my head down," he said.
"Everybody knows what happened. We are going to go on, even though as of today we have no firm project. Of course it's not the same anymore. There have been many falls and I don't know how long I can take it, or my family.
"It (testing) would be the easiest thing because racing in F1 is almost impossible this year. At some point I will be making the decisions."
