Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc (R) and Ferrari's Spanish driver Carlos Sainz Jr (L) compete in the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah on December 5, 2021. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has suggested that there could be more F1 teams in the near future
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has asked the governing body to check for potential teams who could join F1 in the near future. F1 has been a 10-team championship since 2016 and Ben Sulayem has indicated that he intends to expand the grid in the upcoming years. The green signal from the President himself means that the concerned authorities can now officially start the process of inviting applications from interested parties.
“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 revealed on Twitter. However, the inclusion of a team is a time-consuming and complicated process. A new entrant would have to be approved by the FIA and also reach an agreement with F1 itself regarding commercial rights which is pretty tricky. It remains to be seen how soon this plan gets materialised.
Let us take a look at some of the reactions from F1 fans on Twitter.
“You can’t even regulate the teams you currently have”, trolled a fan.
“I think this is where the focus is wrong. @F1 has 10 teams currently and 2 more new teams to come soon, @WRC is where the FIA should focus, We only have 3 Teams in the WRally1 category, and huge pool of talented drivers with not enough seats. Skoda and Citroen should step up”, wrote another fan.
“Please don’t crowd up the grid and make it look like NASCAR..please F1 has a heritage that would get diluted with a larger grid. May be you can move out 2teams and bring in 2 new but do not increase the teams..keep it a sport not entertainment”, read a tweet.
“Most important, is that potential new entry candidates, have high financial colateral for potential team ownership. Fund reservation must be high at least 3 annual budgets. Without that i would not accept new entry”, tweeted another fan.
Another fan wrote: “As long as they are treated better than the previous 3 new teams great. 12/13 teams is enough.”
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