Carey: “Real interest” from new teams to enter F1

Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey says there is “real interest” from new teams to join the grid in the future – so long as proposed changes to the sport’s structure go ahead.

F1 bosses will meet with teams later this month to try and finalise their planned vision for the sport’s sporting, technical and commercial structure, with changes set to come into force for the 2021 season.

Speaking alongside Carey in a press conference on Friday in Melbourne, FIA president Jean Todt said that he would like to see F1 expand from its current 10-team grid to 12 teams in the near future.

“I feel that Formula 1 should have 12 teams. But of course it would cause problems, because if you have 12 teams with a certain revenue to distribute, you can imagine those who get less income would not be happy,” Todt said.

“Saying that, it’s better to have 10 strong teams, which is the case. I think now we can be satisfied to have 10 solid teams in Formula 1, so we simply need to secure these entries for the future.”

Carey said that appealing to new teams was one of F1’s “strategic goals” for the future through its formation of the 2021 regulations, and said he had already been contacted by possible entrants.

“I’ve had a number of - more on the team side than the engine side - potential new entrants that have expressed interest and enthusiasm if we provide a structure that they think enables it to be something they could enter more constructively,” Carey said.

“I do think there’s actually interest on the team side, but I think we have to finalise what it looks like so they can evaluate it accordingly. I think the opportunity is there.

“But I agree with Jean. I think priority one before we get two new teams coming in is to make sure it’s quality over quantity, and make sure we make the business as strong as we possibly can for the teams that we have in it. I think we can go a long way in doing that.

“I think on the team side, I think there really is interest if we can provide a framework that they feel from a business and a competitive perspective is attractive to them.

“But I think there is real interest.”

The most recent team to join F1 was Haas back in 2016, which was the last season to feature 11 teams on the grid, with the number of entrants falling after Manor’s closure ahead of the 2017 campaign.

Additional reporting by Michael Lamonato.