Jean Todt has confirmed that interest has been expressed from new teams in joining Formula 1 in the future, however, will not issue a tender until he can be sure that there is real interest from the team in joining the F1 grid.
Jean Todt confirms interest from new teams in joining F1
The current F1 grid stands at only ten teams, making up a field of 20 drivers – the lowest number since 2009. This low number is a result of the financial collapse of Manor earlier in 2017, with the team entering liquidation before the start of the season and failing to attract a buyer.
Speaking at the FIA Sport Conference in Geneva, Todt confirmed that interest has been expressed by a number of teams to join the Formula 1 grid in the future while he announced that he would like the field to grow by a further two teams.
“When we feel it is time, we will be able to make a tender. At the moment we have ten teams and the idea is to have up to 12 teams,” announced Todt. “So we have an opportunity, if we have one or two strong newcomers it could be possible. There are always rumours, but we have had some interest from some teams.”
“First we need to check ourselves the request (for a new team),” Todt said. “It’s going through a kind of audit to see who are the potential buyers. If it’s a big manufacturer, it’s easy, if it’s a privateer, you need to be more careful. And then, once you are sure that there is a real interest, and once you’re sure that people are able, like it was the case with Haas, for example, then we make tender.”
Although interest has been expressed by a number of teams according to Todt, he admitted that the current field is not set to grow in 2018, stating that “It would be foolish to think that a new team would be ready in eight months”.
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