The alpha and omega of the project, which at the time quite stirred up the gossip scene in F1, was Zoran Stefanovic, otherwise the owner and director of the company AMCO Corporation, which is otherwise engaged in the development and manufacture of components for the aerospace industry.
Stefanović had already tried to get a vacancy for his team, but that summer of 2009 he was also helped by the fact that the umbrella car association opened a tender for new teams in Formula 1. 15 applications were sent to their address. of which three were eventually chosen, namely Campos Meta (later renamed to Hispania Racing), Manor Grand Prix (later renamed to Virgin racing) in Team USF1. The application of the Stefan Grand Prix team, as Stefanović's team was officially called, was among those rejected.
Despite the rejected application, Stefanović told the media that the team will take part in the first race of the 2010 season Bahrain, as the rules allow thirteen teams at the start, and additional water to his mill was also the fact that with the 2009 season the factory teams said goodbye to the competition BMW Sauber in Toyota. The team's problems also brought additional optimism USF1, who announced to the public on March 3, 2010 that he would not be competing in the 2010 season. Stefanović immediately organized a meeting with the leaders of the American team and wanted to unite Stefan Grand Prix and USF1, but met with strong resistance from both team owners, Peter Windsor in Ken Anderson, so the merger never took place.
At first it seemed that the Stefan Grand Prix was actually a joke, but it soon turned out that Stefanović had most of the things needed for a serious participation in Formula 1 arranged. Bernie Ecclestone is with the then Prime Minister of Serbia, Mirko Cvetković, also checked to see if he had Stefan Grand Prix secured funding and received the Prime Minister’s approval.
In early 2010, Stefan Grand Prix signed an agreement with Toyota, which withdrew from Formula One at the end of the 2009 season. Stefan Grand Prix bought the rights to use Toyota's chassis, transmission and engine, which the Japanese had ready for the 1 season, and hired some former Toyota engineers. For the vacancy they left at Toyota, Stefanović competed with Peter Sauber, to whom BMW sold (his former) team after leaving F1 and lost. Regardless of everything, the team showed its car, painted in red, which symbolizes Serbia, to the public at several events.
Stefanović later initiated a constitutional dispute at European Commission, due to discrimination in the process of selecting new teams, as priority should be given to those teams that intended to use Cosworth engines and which do not have their own production capacity (Campos, Virgin Racing in USF1 all fall into this category). For the Stefan Grand Prix, the vast majority of components would be manufactured by Stefanović's company AMCO, so the Serbs would be classified by the FIA as a manufacturer. Stefanović supported his claims with a similar situation that happened to a renowned person Breakthrough, which also declared its own production capacity. The Stefan Grand Prix also lured a former McLarn engineer into its ranks Mike Coughlan, best known for his involvement in the McLaren-Ferrari spy affair.
The race car they bought from Toyota was named S-01 by Stefan Grand Prix and the powertrain RG-01. For the first tests were agreed with Kazuki Nakajima, And on February 19, the car was presented to the public. The first tests were supposed to take place in Portimao at the end of February, but the then tiremaker in F1, Bridgestone, did not want to supply them with tires, as Stefan Grand Prix did not have a guaranteed place in F1. Stefanović talked seriously about the position of the first racer Jacques Villeneuve, Pastor Maldonado however, he was to serve as a test racer. Stefanović also talked about possible engagement with, among other things Ralph Schumacher in Karun Chandhok.
Stefanović's high-flying plans did not end with the said refusal. In fact, the opposite - in the following years it is in Old Pazov, about 25 kilometers from Belgrade, intended to build a 3,5-kilometer-long track that could host Formula 1 races in the future, and the center would also serve as the team's headquarters. Stefan Grand Prix.
Zoran Stefanovic he reiterated two years ago that he would v 2019 competed again for a vacancy in a Formula 1 race, but even this application was clearly not successful.
