Andretti not only 'new team' for Formula One: 'Many requests'

Andretti suddenly emerged as a candidate to start a new Formula One team, but Formula One is not so keen on it. Stefano Domenicali hopes above all that the current ten teams will come closer together.

Andretti knocks on the door

For years, F1 has relied on the same ten teams that will also be on the grid in 2022. The name and owner has changed once with some teams over the years, but it is still the same organization. In the past there were many more teams active in F1 and with the interest of Mario and Michael Andretti a big name is knocking on the door of F1.

''There's not only Michael Andretti. He is maybe the most vocal one, but we have more than four or five requests to consider an extra team to be a part of Formula 1,'' said Formula One's CEO in conversation with Sky Sports' Martin Brundle. However, the top man of the premier class of motor racing does not see the point in just welcoming new teams.

Not more teams in F1

''I have to be very honest, today F1 with 10 teams, with the competition on the track, is very, very solid. There's complexities that need to be considered if other teams can be added. Therefore I don't think it's the most important element to grow F1, to be honest,'' Domenicali also alludes to the prize money that would then have to be divided between an additional team.

The Italian also points to the title race in 2021 as an argument for not allowing more teams. ''At the end of the day, with two drivers and two teams fighting - the interest [in F1] was at the top. If we have, as we hope this year, more teams and more drivers to fight, that's more than enough,'' the former Ferrari chief concluded.