FIA opens the door: these are possible new teams in F1

Where FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem earlier decided to open the door, the organisation revealed Thursday afternoon that it is launching a special application round for new Formula 1 teams. It gives various parties the opportunity to come up with their ambitious plans. But which teams seem to be eligible?

Andretti Global F1

No doubt there has been a dance of joy in Fishers, Indiana. For quite some time now, Michael Andretti has been trying to get his own Formula 1 team off the ground, but he has encountered resistance from the existing teams each time. Led by Toto Wolff (Mercedes), Andretti - already active in IndyCar and Formula E, among others - kept hearing from some team bosses that ten teams on the grid is enough. Actually, Wolff and co mean something else: they do not want to share the large prize pool, which is getting fuller and fuller due to Formula 1's success, with an eleventh or even more teams.

Yet with the FIA's announcement, it no longer seems to be a question of if, but when Andretti will start in F1. Investment company Guggenheim Partners has now been found willing to pay the $200 million entry fee, clearing a major bump in the road. Moreover, a new factory will be built in Indianapolis, where Andretti will make its own F1 cars. Preparations are reportedly already well advanced so that Andretti could start racing in 2024.

Calvin Lo

Starting a Formula 1 team requires money. A lot of money. Fortunately for him, Calvin Lo has no shortage of that. The Hong Kong businessman has assets of $1.7 billion, according to the authoritative Forbes. By 2026, he wants to use some of the money to have his own F1 team at the start of the Grand Prix.

Whether Lo is the person the FIA and current teams are waiting for remains to be seen. Whereas Andretti wants to join for sporting reasons, Lo does so mainly for business reasons. The businessman sees F1 as a good investment, now that the sport is immensely popular worldwide. In his ideal scenario, Lo starts up the team, a good foundation is laid to win races and then he wants to sell the team for a lot of money. The perfect sales pitch at the FIA does not seem to be this.

Porsche

For a long time, it seemed that Red Bull Racing and Porsche would team up in 2026. Negotiations fell through because Red Bull did not want to cede too much control to the brand, which is part of the Volkswagen Group.

Porsche, however, is not giving up. Talks are reportedly still ongoing with other teams, of which Porsche wants to become the engine supplier. The problem? More and more teams are factory teams. Mercedes-Porsche or Alpine-Porsche, that's a bit odd. Nor is it obvious that CEO Zak Brown would hand over half control of McLaren to Porsche. So only Haas and Williams seem to be realistic options. Those teams know that too, which makes their negotiating position ironclad.

Meanwhile, Porsche is only too keen to get into Formula 1. Setting up its own team, which has existed in a grey past, would therefore be the ideal solution.

Honda

What is true for Porsche is also true to some extent for Honda. The Japanese seem to regret dropping out of the sport after Max Verstappen became the world champion in 2021 with a Honda engine. In 2022 - besides another title for Verstappen - Red Bull also took the constructors' championship. At the back of the cars was a Honda-manufactured engine, but it was named Red Bull Powertrains. Ouch!

Honda has already signed up as an engine supplier for 2026. But which team should that be for? Will it be another collaboration with Red Bull after all? In that case, Honda will have a more limited role than in the past, as Red Bull will really build the engines in-house. Joining a small team like Williams undoubtedly does not meet the level of ambition Honda is aiming for. Therefore, the perfect alternative would be to come up with its own team.