Team bosses worried about the arrival of new teams in F1

With the probable arrival of Andretti in 2024 as the 11th team on the grid, as well as the interest of the Volkswagen group through its Audi and Porsche brands, which wish to join Formula 1 from 2026, F1 could find itself a few years ago with a grid made up of more than ten stables.

Although the enthusiasm of the public has been there for a few years, especially with the American market increasingly fond of Formula 1, some team managers do not necessarily see the arrival of new teams in a good light. , in particular because it will be necessary to share the income with more people. Christian Horner, director of the Red Bull team, is therefore worried about the current economic model which risks being shaken up: “Well, obviously you know of course that for the current signatories of the Concorde agreement, it makes perfect sense to say that the ten teams or the ten franchises have intrinsic value and that you dilute it by increasing the number of ‘teams’.

« You know, theoretically, that should be a problem for Liberty Media to solve if they want new teams coming in. And if we increase the number of teams beyond ten, fiscally, the question will always arise as to how this will affect the distribution of income. So money will ultimately be an important factor. »

“At the end of the day, I think it’s a question for the promoter, because if he wants more teams, he obviously will have to reduce his revenue share, because it would be unfair to expect other teams to they indirectly pay for newcomers. So there will always be a conflict. »

Frédéric Vasseur, Alfa Romeo team manager completes the words of Christian Horner. The Frenchman is indeed not opposed to the arrival of a team provided that it is a sustainable project: « If we have a new team coming in, with mega added value for the championship, that might make sense. But as Christian has already said, we don’t need to welcome a new team, to endanger two or three teams on the grid. I think that through the Concorde agreement, we touch on these points, and in the long term, it will be up to the FOM to decide what they want to do. I think we have enough possibilities to find a partnership with an existing team on the grid, rather than welcoming another one. » Vasseur said.

Finally, Guenther Steiner, the Haas team principal, is also on the same wavelength as his counterparts, the Italian relying on his own experience with a Haas team which appeared in 2016 after the liquidation. of Manor Marussia F1 Team.

“I think Christian and Fred explained it very well. And just to add to that, as a company I think, first of all, we currently have ten stable teams, which for a long time wasn’t possible in F1, or wasn’t happening in F1. Now, for five years, everything is quite stable. It is very good. » Steiner said.

« And why would team number 10 say ‘we’re diluting our value to bring in someone new’, how would that get us anything? » You know, we’ve been here a long time. So like they said, if FOM wants to hand out more money or something, that’s another discussion… but just to have more teams, more doesn’t mean to be better. So I totally agree with what Fred and Christian said. »

As a reminder, the Concorde agreements, created in 1981 and regularly reviewed, are a set of contracts and regulations defining the economic, administrative, commercial and regulatory structure agreed between the FIA, F1 and the teams.