Williams to design F2 cars

Williams will design the cars while MSV has won the tender to supply chassis and engines as well as acting as a promoter for the series, which will replace the far more expensive GP2 championship from next season.

The cars will use a turbocharged 1.8-litre Audi engine and be built to Formula One-level safety standards. The first prototype car is due to make its testing debut in November of this year.

The championship is set to start in May 2009, comprising 16 races over eight events.

Performance levels have been designed to fit in between F3 and F1, with the FIA giving assurances that the cost per driver will be less than 250,000 euros - compared with GP2's estimated 1.5m euros - to enable those without substantial backing to compete.

"The objective is to make top-level international single-seater racing available to drivers who at present have difficulty in raising enough money to demonstrate their talent," asserted FIA president Max Mosley.

"Formula One and other major championships will benefit by being able to draw on a far larger pool of drivers, while competitors from countries which do not yet have an established motor racing structure will find it easier to make progress.

"We hope to reveal talent that might otherwise never have emerged and we look forward to seeing drivers coming into Formula One with super-licences gained in Formula Two."

MSV is run by Jonathan Palmer, who clinched the penultimate F2 Championship title in 1983. The company has extensive experience in supplying race cars and promoting motor racing events.

MSV owns and operates five circuits in the UK and has run the Formula Palmer Audi series for the last 11 years, in addition to being the commercial and organisational rights-holder for the British Superbike Championship.