The team elected to miss the first two long-haul races of the season, reasoning that it was better to focus on building a new car than upgrading the old one (a solution that would be very uncompetitive), and hoping that the sport's governing body, Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) would waive the standard fines levied against teams that missed Grands Prix in the interest of keeping the team in F1.
O equipo optou por perder as dúas primeiras carreiras da tempada disputadas en América, co razoamento de que era mellor centrarse na construción dun novo coche que actualizar o anterior (unha solución que sería moi pouco competitivo), e coa esperanza de que o organismo reitor do deporte, a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) renunciara ás multas estándar impostas contra os equipos que non participaban en grandes premios no interese de manter o equipo na F1.