BP Silverstone

**BP Silverstone FI Team** is a British racing team owned by oil company BP. Founded in 2030 after BP took over the struggling Virgin team, the team started being in the lower midfield and stayed well for the first 5 years as an existing team. In 2035, BP defied all odds to win their first ever title, winning both the drivers and teams title with the longest-serving driver of the team Erich von Ribermarch winning his only title in FI. Since 2036, the team has formed an alliance with McLaren, becoming the third team in McLaren's pecking order behind Shadow.

## Origins

In the end of 2029, Virgin announced the sale of their team due to financial difficulties. The assets were put on sale alongside Jaguar's, who also had decided to leave the sport and were put for a bidding war. British oil giants BP took part and won the bidding war for the Virgin assets, taking over not only them but also the team's headquarters. The team announced they would race as BP Silverstone, with the Silverstone name coming from the location of the acquired headquarters.

## 2030-2034: In the midfield

For their debut campaign, BP signed Erich von Ribermarch who had struggled in the previous season with BMW Andretti and veteran Sake Okasas who would race for a final year in FI. The team impressed in their debut campaign, with von Ribermarch, who had struggled badly in the previous years and his signing was met with initial criticism, impressing and finishing 15th with 17 points, while Okasas, who was tipped to push the team, struggled on his last year as an active driver and scored 3 points. Okasas was replaced with youngster Levi Lea'ai for 2031. This year was a bit of a setback due to midfield teams struggling in general, with von Ribermarch scoring 3 points and Lea'ai the same on his debut campaign.

2032 was an improvement for the team, with Lea'ai impressing by scoring 30 points and von Ribermarch scoring 20 as the team dominated the lower midfield. In 2033, Lea'ai left for Renault and former Williams driver Glen Smith was signed from Venturi. The team was again in the same places, scoring 17 points in total with the increasingly improving von Ribermarch scoring 10 points and Smith 7. 2034 saw pretty much similar results, but with a total of 59 points, the most the team had scored so far.

## 2035: Winning the double

In 2035, BP Silverstone turned out to be surprisingly competitive and took the grid by storm as they managed to fend off stiff competition from the Venturi lineup and Harvard's Simone Cimorelli to shockingly win their first double, dominating both the driver and team championships. Von Ribermarch, once tipped as a reject, won his first ever career title while Smith also impressed in what was his last season as an active driver to finish 4th. Overall, BP Silverstone's succesful title campaign was deemed by the paddock the greatest upset in Formula International history.

## 2036-2038: Alliance with McLaren and ups and downs

In 2036, after their succesful 2035 campaign, BP Silverstone formed an alliance with McLaren to serve as a second feeder team behind Shadow. The team would also receive technical support and parts from McLaren. For 2036, with von Ribermarch moving to McLaren and Smith retiring, the team signed veteran Felix Neurether who would race for a 14th and last season in FI and promising rookie Krzysztof Fernandez. Neurether, the most experienced driver of the 2036 grid, impressed on his last year before retirement, finishing 3rd and helping the team beat Nero and Venturi for 5th place. Fernandez on the other hand struggled, finishing 16th with 40 points. For 2037, the team decided to conserve some money following some overspending in the previous year and also signed Stanislav Rezac from Lexus to replace the retiring Neurether. 2037 was a tough year for the team with only 5 points scored. 2038 was an improvement for the team, with Rezac finishing 8th and Fernandez also getting good results. The latter also picked up an injury that sidelined him for 6 races, with Luca Amaral filling in and scoring a single podium.

## 2039-present: The golden era

Fernandez left the team in the end of the year and McLaren loanee Creed Daniel joined the team on loan. BP started the team on a major high, with Rezac quickly building up a large lead from his competitors, including beating Venturi, which was the favourite for the win. Rezac did lose some form in some races of the second half, but his early season form was enough to guarantee him the title win with 1 race to go. Rezac overall scored 5 wins and 9 podiums in what was his final season with the team. Daniel, who was without a drive in 2038, also impressed, with 2 wins and the rookie of the year award as well as finishing 5th, but fell short of the points required to win the teams title.

Rezac was promoted to McLaren's first team and the team signed Buzz Hahn on loan from NIG Zandvoort, one of the most exciting prospects of the sport. The 16yo South African had a stellar debut, scoring a win on his debut and becoming the youngest driver to win a race on his debut. In a tight battle for the title, Daniel prevailed with a win on the last race and won his first ever title in FI, with 3 wins and 5 podiums. Hahn finished third with 2 wins and became rookie of the year in what was a stellar debut campaign, helping BP Silverstone win their second double.

## Notable Drivers

* Erich von Ribermarch (2030-2035)
* Sake Okasas (2030)
* Levi Lea'ai (2031-2032)
* Glen Smith (2033-2035)
* Felix Neurether (2036)
* Krzysztof Fernandez (2036-2038)
* Stanislav Rezac (2037-2039)
* Luca Amaral (2038)
* Creed Daniel (2039-present)
* Buzz Hahn (2040-present)