Will the FIA’s new F1 team entry “process” annoy Toto Wolff and Mercedes?
This is the first time that the FIA or F1 have indicated they are keen to expand the current 10-team grid.
F1 hasn’t welcomed a new team since 2016 with Haas.
Before that Lotus, Virgin and Hispania joined the grid in 2010, albeit unsuccessfully, failing to score a single point during their respective stints in F1.
This is good news for prospective entrants such as Andretti Global, who have been most vocal about joining.
“I have asked my FIA team to look at launching an Expressions of Interest process for prospective new teams for the FIA F1 World Championship,” Ben Sulayem posted on Twitter.
The news could annoy some team bosses in the paddock, including Mercedes’ Toto Wolff.
Wolff expressed concerns about an additional 11th team ‘diluting’ the sport.
“If a team comes in, how can you demonstrate that you’re bringing in more money than it’s actually costing: because the 11th team means a 10 percent dilution for everybody else,” Wolff said last year.
“So, if one is able to demonstrate that, then we should all be sitting on the table, and cheer for such an entry. But that hasn’t been demonstrated yet. And that may sound a bit dry, because it comes down to the numbers, but the value of Formula 1 is that it’s a limited amount of franchises. And we don’t want to dilute that value by just adding teams.”
