Formula 1 is currently considering new teams to join the world championship network, but many team principals are not happy about this, including Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. The deadline for formal applications with the FIA ended last May and the sport’s governing body is aiming to make a final decision this month. The approved teams will then negotiate with the Formula 1 Management, the owners of the commercial rights to the championship, to secure their spots.
Current teams’ concerns revolve around F1’s prize pool being diluted by an additional team for revenue sharing. Group bosses want to be involved in the application process and have a say if a group is allowed to participate. However, Wolff added an additional concern to the mix, safety. According to Motorsport.comI said:
“Our position is very clear – buy team. There are a lot of consequences when you look at elimination sessions. I mean now we look like on the go-kart track we’re tripping over each other. There is a safety concern. We don’t have the logistics to deploy the 11th team.”
The Austrian concern is totally hyped. Formula 1 regulations allow up to 13 teams. Garage facilities at F1-approved races are built with those regulations in mind. The track can be overcrowded in the first part of qualifying, but the format can easily be changed to ease congestion.
Wolff will then go on to try to compare F1’s current situation with other team sports, stating:
“There’s no mature sports league in the world, whether it’s the national football championship or the Champions League, the NBA, the NFL, the NHL, where that kind of situation can happen, where you can tell. ‘I’m just setting up the group and I’m going, thank you so much for making me part of the prize fund. You have to qualify, you have to go through the ranks, you have to show the commitment to win the championship that we’ve made over the years.”
That’s not how the process works in North American leagues. This is a franchise system in which new owners pay an expansion fee for the league and participate in the draft to build the roster using players from existing teams. Wolff acknowledged that the NHL had allowed the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken to participate but stated that all hockey stakeholders wanted that to happen.
Formula One management and teams have established a similar anti-dilution fee for new entries, but the teams appear to want more power to close the paddock gate. F1 has also eliminated spoilers in its path series, like the Prema Powerteam and the ART Grand Prix. Both teams had more than 50 championship titles combined but never made it to F1. Hitech Grand Prix, another multi-category youth team, submitted an application along with Andretti-Cadillac’s heavily criticized effort.
