The FIA has delayed its decision on a future Formula One team entry, which was due to be made today.

The governing body has written to the candidates, but apparently did not give a reason for the delay, nor an alternative deadline. However, it's worth speculating that FIA president Jean Todt and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone might have different ideas about which team should get the nod.

It's believed that only one slot is up for grabs, although there is no reason why the field could not be extended to 26 cars, and that may be one of the factors behind the delay. There's also the question of whether all the existing teams will survive over the next couple of years.

It seems that Gene Haas is aiming for a 2016 start. The Romanian project is ready to kick off in 2015, and should it be given the go ahead.

Meanwhile, we can reveal that the driving force behind latter is Ion Bazac, a qualified doctor and former Romanian health minister. The 45-year-old has a number of business interests and is the country's Ferrari importer, under the name Forza Rossa. He's also a past chairman of a company Global Finance and Leasing.

He is the frontman for a consortium of private and state-funded investors whose motive is to promote the interests of Romania, and who have the support of the government. Indeed, the country's sports minister joined team representatives for the meeting with the FIA in France last week, where he stressed that F1 was seen as a valuable tool for that purpose -- and a better option than building a circuit and hosting a Grand Prix, a strategy that has now been abandoned.

As noted here several weeks ago, Romanian car manufacturer Dacia is also involved, which explains the team's plan to use Renault engines; Dacia is a subsidiary of the French car company.

Although Ecclestone was not represented at this week's meetings, he is believed to be fully aware of the state of both projects.

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