Jose Maria Lopez and his advisor Felipe McGough have spent a second day with Bernie Ecclestone in London, as the F1 boss tries to sort out a 2010 seat for the Argentine driver.
Lopez was told by Peter Windsor earlier this week in Charlotte that US F1 would not make the first race in Bahrain. Having made commitments to his sponsors the former GP2 driver immediately began looking for an alternative, and travelled to Europe with McGough, his father, and his touring car team boss, former F3 driver Victor Rosso.
Meetings have taken place today and yesterday as Bernie tries to broker a deal that will presumably see Lopez join Bruno Senna at a reorganised Campos Meta team.
A close associate of Lopez told me today: “US F1 hadn’t finished the car and we had promised everyone that we would be in the first race in Bahrain. That’s why Felipe decided to reorganise everything, because we can’t miss Bahrain. The only thing we want is that ‘Pechito’ drives in F1. Everything else is not important for us.”
Chad Hurley’s advisor Parris Mullins is also still in the loop, and it remains to be seen whether the YouTube founder brings some much need financial support to the Campos project. There has been no response from US F1 to yesterday’s revelations that both Lopez and Hurley have left the team.
Adam Cooper's F1 Blog 
wow…. its all picking up speed! interesting friday it seems. i’ll keep a watchfull eye on your twitter feed for further updates
Once again Bernie is involved in a situation that seems out of place.Why would Bernie be so interested in finding Lopez a seat? other good F1 drivers out there with no help from BERNIE. Perhaps just another way for bernie to drive a stake in the heart of USF1. after all we are one of his favorites.
I don’t think there’s anything sinister here. To be fair Bernie generally helps anyone who asks. In this case Lopez’s manager is also the main man for F1’s TV coverage in Argentina, so someone Benie knew well required help – and don’t forget Carlos Reutemann is backing Lopez, and he remains one of the drivers Ecclestone respected most. He’s also always keen to have a variety of nations represented on the entry list, for obvious reasons.
Thanks Adam for your insights on this subject, here in Argentina expectations are really high on watching Lopez on a F1 car, as he is one of the best drivers seen in local seasons for the last years…