‘Monaco F1 Racing Team’ project wants to enter championship

A project under the name ‘Monaco F1 Racing Team’ wants to enter the Formula 1 world championship.

The Monaco-based firm Monaco Increase Management, which is headed by businessman Salvatore Gandolfo, previously outlined plans to join the F1 grid in association with Campos from 2021 in line with the introduction of a new set of regulations.

MIM’s bid suffered a setback when F1 was forced to delay the major rules overhaul because of the coronavirus pandemic, but in a statement issued on Monday, Gandolfo reaffirmed the project’s desire to join the grid.

Gandolfo said new F1 CEO’s Stefano Domenicali’s recent comments that the sport is potentially prepared to waive the $200 million (£146m) entry fee - which has proved a stumbling block for interested entries in the past - represented “a step forward in the right direction”.

“The current Monaco F1 Racing Team Project was the first to actively discuss the possibility of an entry with the F1 governance, as early as 2019, and to set up a structure accordingly, realising the potential of the new technical regulations that was initially supposed to come into force in 2021 (and was subsequently delayed because of the pandemics),” Gandolfo said.

“We believe that the recent statements of the new F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, which suggest that the entry fee for new teams could be waived, represent a step forward in the right direction.

“We appreciate the open attitude of both Stefano and the FIA and are ready to take the necessary steps in order to have our application finalised.”

Following Campos’ previously failed bid to enter F1 in 2010, Gandolfo and the late team founder Adrian Campos initiated the new project, aligned with backing from MIM.

MIM was founded by Gandolfo in 2018 and is linked to current Porsche Formula E driver Pascal Wehrlein and IndyCar racer Alex Palou, both of whom were named as potential drivers when the project announced its initial F1 intentions back in October 2019.