FIVE NEW POTENTIAL FORMULA 1 TEAMS
A lot of rumours have been circulating that Michael Andretti's company, Andretti Autosport, wants to join the F1 circus in the near future. This got me thinking of how many other potential Formula 1 teams are actually trying to buy their way in by 2025? In this blog I’ll discuss what’s happening in the world of Formula 1 that’s rarely being spoken about in the media and how one of the five teams mentioned could end up becoming a reality. Recently the FIA and Formula 1 Management held positive talks with new power unit suppliers such as Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche about joining in 2025. No words have been spoken about it since then and that’s more or less another blog article in itself, but if all the dominos fall into place this could then potentially lead into a domino effect with new teams on the horizon.
For those who don’t know, you can’t just build an F1 team from scratch and enter a race like you could 10-15 years ago. Those days are over. When liberty media took control and ownership of Formula 1 they made it clear to any future teams and investors that you’ll need 200 million upfront as an additional fee before even starting a race team. Sounds a bit excessive right? Well not really because six years ago former F1 boss Bernie Eccelstone introduced a bunch of new teams onto the grid including the likes of Caterham, Manor F1, USF1 Team, HRT and last but not least HAAS F1, which ended up being the only team to financially survive the Bernie Eccelstone era of Formula 1. The other teams I mentioned survived a couple of seasons or didn't even last a year before going bankrupt or just went into liquidation after not being able to front the costs of running a race team in the long term. This is pretty understandable because running and buying an F1 team like Lawrence Stroll did (the newest F1 team owner and father of son and racing driver Lance Stroll) had to spend billions of dollars buying out an already existing team in Force India. Who later went into liquidation, which we now know as Aston Martin Formula 1 Team, because he didn’t want to start from scratch and spend an extra 200 million to get his son into Formula 1.
The real question is what is the future of Formula 1 going to look like? Will there be a chance of having twenty six or thirty cars on the grid once again like there was in the 80’s and early 90’s or will it only be just one extra team joining the grid by 2025. Now let’s take into consideration that budget caps have been introduced as of this year into Formula 1 so anything is possible for the future of the sport, but here’s some of my opinions on who’s got the best chance of making the grid by the time 2025 comes around.
I’ve done a lot of research on this subject, comments from team owners in this blog article are taken from reliable sources such as Autosport, THE RACE, Motorsport.com, The Inside Line and ESPN. Opinions on how the teams could enter Formula 1 are my own, but most of this information has been done with great detail and passion having spent my life living and breathing motorsports. So let's begin shall we...
1. PANTHERA TEAM ASIA
The unofficial concept of the teams logo
This new team planned on entering into Formula 1 by 2022, but nothing else has really been spoken about since it’s planned inception back in 2019. Not much is known about the Panthera, but they have spoken to a few news outlets such as Autosport and the YouTube show called ‘The Inside Line’, since then not much has been spoken about them since late last year.
The Panthera Team Asia co-founder Benjamin Durand told Autosport that the delay for his future race team and the current pandemic of COVID-19 has not put an end to the organisation's efforts to break into the Formula 1 paddock even though recent rumours think it has, but for the meantime the plan is to keep Panthera going and find a way into the sport regardless.
Durand commented recently saying "It has been quite a rollercoaster, but we are still alive — the project is not done." We were already aiming for 2022 before the current crisis hit and we are still looking for a way in.We have had a group of people working on the car, doing some preliminary work on the aero side, and continuing to work with investors," he said.
Benjamin Durand, who once ran the Russian-French based SMP Racing sportscar outfit, stressed that the uncertainty over the future of Formula 1’s technical and budget regulations mean that Panthera's plans remain fluid due to the uncertain times we are living in.
The team have spoken to free agent drivers, such as Nico Hulkenburg who brings in vital experience spending over ten years in the sport. Hulkenburg last drove for Renault/Alpine, Williams and Force India in his long standing career. The other driver mentioned was Guanyu Zhou who could bring in Chinese money along with support from Renault as a power unit supplier and the Alpine Junior Academy to boost the team's chances and profile of making the twenty car grid if all the domino’s had fallen into place before the pandemic hit.
Since then, Panthera co-founder Benjamin Durand is currently keeping a positive mind set on his team and prospects for the future. Durand spoke with grandprix247.com explaining that the current economic climate is far from helping his team reach any sort of progress into Formula 1. He also understands why the current ten teams on the grid were asking for 200 million dollars to enter as all the teams are wanting to stay viable for the future and long term activity of the sport. The latest on Panthera found through other news outlets is that they are currently holding meetings with their investors and backers to see what options they have left to join Formula 1 if their current economic route fails to get them onto the grid. Will they choose a different racing series all together like INDYCAR or WEC instead? Who knows, it’s motorsport after all.
The final two recent rumours that I’ve heard about Panthera and it’s co-founder Benjamin Durand in the paddock are about the year 2025 pending a new power unit supply. Not much more has really been said on that subject as engine suppliers talking to Formula 1 are on-going. Former Alpine boss Cyril Abiteboul stated last year before he got dropped by Renault that several teams have asked him if they would be ready to supply them with a new power unit in the future. Panthera could be one of these teams that has asked Renault about a power unit supply, but other than that we don’t really know any more information regarding this potential F1 team.
Panthera co-founder Benjamin Durand speaks with The Inside Line
2. SMP RACING
Former Williams Formula 1 driver Sergey Sirotkin who is apart of the SMP Racing stable
Following the reports of ex-SMP Racing director Benjamin Durand, as mentioned above, trying to enter Panthera Team Asia onto the Formula One grid. It looks like his former team of SMP Racing are also trying to find their way onto the F1 grid by 2025. SMP Racing has a much broader background and history compared to a lot of other teams trying to race into Formula 1. SMP Racing was founded by Boris Rotenberg who owns SMP bank, which is based out of Russia. The team has had a rich history in sportscar and endurance racing. The team is mainly built on Russian drivers, which includes over twenty-three current contracted drivers to the russian based squad. The team has also had the likes of former F1 drivers such as Jenson Button, Brendan Hartley, Mika Salo and Stoffel Vandoorne drive for them in WEC-LMP1 at the LeMans 24 hour. So, they are open to more than just Russian’s driving for them if this team ever does get off the ground in Formula 1.
In terms of drivers racing for them in F1, SMP Racing actually has a few current candidates in line wanting to drive for them including former FIA Formula 3 Champion and Ferrari Academy driver Robert Schwartzmann, Formula 3 standout Alek Smolyar and ex-Williams F1 driver Sergey Sirotkin, who are all waiting in the wings and have valuable experience if the team does need eligible drivers for its F1 roster in the near future. No comments have been publicly made by any staff members from SMP Racing, but the team certainly has the budget to compete in Formula 1 given the history of the Russian based squad. I’d say in terms of engine development and a power unit, the team would most likely use a Ferrari engine package because the team outside of F1 races Ferrari’s in it’s GT program and Robert Schwartzmann is a part of the Ferrari Academy. Whilst the other one that could be earmarked for them could be a Renault power unit as they are looking for more customers in Formula 1.
The SMP Racing Ferrari junior Robert Shwartzmann is an exciting prospect for current F1 teams.
Whilst other teams financially struggle to find the entry fee costs to enter F1, Boris Rotenberg won’t really have a problem setting up the team from a financial standpoint because Boris Rotenberg is great friends with Vladimir Putin, which means that SMP Racing in Formula 1 would be entirely boosted by the Russian Federation if this all does come about. The question remains though for liberty media: do they want potentially two Russian teams (SMP Racing and ‘Mazepin’ F1) on the grid in the future? Dmitry Mazepin has publicly tried to purchase the American team of HAAS F1 for his son Nikita Mazepin, so in the long term could we have two Russian teams on the grid if SMP Racing joins the grid in 2025. Crazier things have happened in the world of Formula 1 , but it certainly would be a massive turn of events in the F1 paddock if we had Americans who run Formula 1 with two Russian teams on the grid.
3. STEFAN GRAND PRIX
Owning your own team in F1 is obviously Stefan GP’s founder Zoran Stefanović's life dream.
Stefan Grand Prix is a proposed Serbian grand prix team owned and founded by businessman Zoran Stefanović. This team has made numerous attempts to compete in F1 since the year 1996 before trying to purchase the old LOLA team back in 1997. Both were unsuccessful attempts, but in 2009 Zoran Stefanović decided to try his luck once again and register a race team in the Bernie Eccelstone era of Formula One when he took over and bought most of Toyota’s IP for his proposed race team and to be honest his race team did actually come pretty close to entering in 2010, but much like the financial situation of the USF1 team it was pretty much a failed attempt at best as the FIA was not impressed with his future set up of the teams factory and facilities leading into the 2010 season.
IF, and that’s a big if, Stefan Grand Prix can get onto the grid it would actually help the logjam stated by RedBull director Christian Horner in the media recently to get more cars and drivers onto the grid in F1 because there’s so much immense talent waiting in the wings in FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 with nowhere to go at the moment. Having essentially a back marker team with limited funding like the Stefan Grand Prix team could put future champions on the map. The best scenario for the Stefan Grand Prix would be to team up with a racing academy or a future engine brand like say Porsche or Audi to become a junior team for them and help foster talent like Mercedes has done with George Russell at Williams.
This is a picture of how the mayor of Serbia Stara Pazova and Stefan GP founder Zoran Stefanović who promised to build an F1 racetrack in their home country - unfortunately not much has really been known since.
The Alpine Academy has the most potential in its junior ranks with the likes of Oscar Piastri, Christian Lundgaard and Guanyu Zhou, all who are without an F1 drive leading into the 2022 season. Not to mention other F1 teams who also have academy drivers log jammed in the lower ranks such as Ferrari, Mercedes and RedBull which could be beneficial to a small team like Stefan Grand Prix if it got off the ground. Imagine the possibilities if this team did take off the ground and it potentially had talented drivers from multiple academies racing for them as an example, you could have Callum Illott from Ferrari in one seat, whilst the other could be taken up by Oscar Piastri from Alpine. The hardest part for the Serbian businessman, Zoran Stefanović, will be to find the investors and sponsorship needed much like Panthera Team Asia. The only way I see Stefan Grand Prix making a real attempt at this project is when Formula 1 appears with brand new engines with different biofuels and smaller budgets for other teams being able to compete because at the moment it’s just way too expensive for a team like this to make the grid by 2025.
4. CAMPOS MIM RACING
Here is a concept design of the Campos Racing 2022 Formula 1 entry. The question remains will it become a reality who knows?
Campos Racing was actually once a part of the Formula 1 grid known as the HRT Formula 1 Team. The team was founded by the late Adrian Campos who died earlier this year. Before his passing he was setting up yet another bid to join the F1 grid with Monaco Increase Management, which is founded by CEO Salvatore Gandolfo, who looked after the likes of former Mercedes test driver Pascal Wehrlein and IndyCar star Alex Palou. The joint effort between both organisations could actually be quite a decent fully funded team if this all comes about with experienced drivers at the helm to boost their bid to get on the grid by 2025.
Adrian Campos had a successful racing career himself as he once was a F1 driver racing for the infamous Minardi team in 1987 (now known as Alpha Touri). Campos legacy still lives today with his FIA Formula 2 & 3 teams, nurturing drivers into the F1 scene, such as Jack Aitken, Vitaly Petrov, Alexander Rossi and Rio Haryanto onto the grid through his junior programs. Monaco Increase Management published a statement recently on the race from Salvatore Gandolfo suggesting that the team is becoming the most likely prospect of actually being viable money wise to make it onto the grid.
Gandolfo commented recently that the “Monaco F1 Racing Team Project” was the first to discuss a realistic entry with F1’s management and the FIA, “realising the potential of the new technical regulations that was initially supposed to come into force by 2021.We believe that the recent statements of the new F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, which suggest that the $200 million dollar entry fee for new teams could be waived, pushed a step forward in the right direction.We appreciate the open attitude of both Stefano and the FIA and are ready to take the necessary steps in order to have our application finalised in the process,” he said.
Campos Racing is one of the most prestigious teams in the junior formula ranks
It’s already known from the paddock late last year that F1 was open to adapting or even considered dropping the $200 million entry fee depending on the entrants' financial and business records, but MIM and Campos Racing have much more ground work to do if this $200M fee gets waived ahead of the other potential teams wanting to join the grid.
The links between both MIM and Campos Racing have a lot of history together in other joint ventures. Gandolfo, is actually a co-owner of Campos Racing and is the CEO and Founder of MIM, while Daniele Audetto is the Senior Advisor for Monaco Increase Management. He is also a former Managing Director at Super Aguri Honda, as well as a former manager at Ferrari during the mid to late 70’s. Audetto has previously worked for the likes of FIAT and the now defunct HRT Hispania Racing Team in Formula 1, which was initially run by Adrian Campos. So the depth of businessmen and former motorsport managers involved is a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, that's all the information I’ve gathered on Campos MIM Racing from various sources, but coming from an experienced background they are more than likely one of the teams with the most potential on joining the grid and personally one of my favourite future teams if this did all come about.
5. ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT
Here is a concept image of the Andretti Autosport F1 team, in my opinion it be great to have more teams and drivers from the United States of America in Formula 1.
Last, but not least we’ve reached the fifth and final team proposed to try and buy their way onto the Formula 1 grid - Andretti Autosport. Michael Andretti has his hand in nearly every pot when it comes to motorsport around the world. Andretti’s American team is involved in INDYCAR, Indy Lights, Formula E, IMSA and V8 Supercars with a total roster of 13 drivers combined on his payroll. News came about that Michael Andretti was trying to buy his way onto the F1 grid recently, but is currently trying to fit the bill and regulations to more or less avoid the $200 million entry fee into the sport, much like Campos MIM Racing are trying to do.
Rumours around the paddock are that Michael Andretti is currently trying to buy-out an already existing team such as Sauber, HAAS or even Williams for that matter, but not much has been said about his proposed plan to join the grid since then. Andretti only competed in one season of Formula 1 back in 1993 with McLaren, who he has close ties with including Zak Brown who is involved in Walkinshaw Andretti United and McLaren F1. Brown runs his own operations though including United Autosports, which has its own WEC and GT programme.He is also currently helping the McLaren brand explore options outside of Formula 1, so there won’t be any joint ventures as it would be a conflict of interest between the three organisations - McLaren, United Autosports and Andretti Autosports.
Currently, liberty media is trying to find American drivers to join the twenty-car grid and so far the only thing that's relatable to the land of the stars and stripes in F1 is Gene Haas and his current HAAS F1 team, which has no American drivers in his team. If anything, Gene Haas seems to be getting closer and closer to selling his entire operation to Russian billionaire Dmitry Mazepin. If Michael Andretti is smart enough to venture into the world of Formula One, HAAS F1 won’t be his option, so maybe he could look at teaming up with Roger Penske in some capacity who is a billionaire in his own right and has in the past even ran a Formula 1 team previously in 1974. The way I see it is Michael Andretti could team up with Roger Penske and become Andretti Penske Autosports, both who are billionaires in INDYCAR. Team Penske could pay the 200 million dollar entry fee for Andretti Autosports to enter and then the team essentially could be much like a Campos MIM Racing F1 bid and be a joint venture landing itself a spot on the 2025 grid.
In terms of American drivers migrating from Indycar to Formula 1, you could have guys like Colton Herta, Alexander Rossi and Josef Newgarden, all within the Andretti-Penske F1 merger being on the team and then maybe you could have an open seat for development talent like Formula 3 American standouts, such as Logan Sargeant and Jak Crawford from RedBull.
Speaking of RedBull, Andretti Penske Autosports could use power units from RedBull Powertrains (previously Honda IP) or maybe form an alliance with Renault/Alpine as they are in need of more power unit customers on the grid. The possibilities are endless, but the biggest hurdle for Michael Andretti will be finding a bidding partner and infrastructure to build a team from scratch if he can’t buy into an already existing team.
All though recent reports keep suggesting that Michael Andretti is currently wanting to buy into the already existing team and the team Sauber F1 keeps on popping up with their Alfa Romeo deal always being on short term deals, Formula 1 isn't exactly a sport for someone without significant financial resources to get into. This is because Liberty Media has made the sport to be franchised like the NFL (American Football) market, hence the $200 million entry fee, so it can subdivide that entry amount with the already existing teams as they are essentially all franchised teams nowadays.
There are a few possibilities for Andretti Autosport to raise funds and go public about his future intentions, but that would make them look weak from an outsiders point-a-view. The Andretti family already established a special purpose acquisition company called Andretti Acquisition to acquire the funds for such a project, so maybe something is currently going on behind the scenes. The company is apparently seeking $250 million, per the reports on motor authority, and has said it has not selected any specific acquisition goal target or engaged in any discussions with a target in mind. So the prospects of actually buying out a Formula 1 team for Michael Andretti or at least having a stake in a current F1 team are a far way off from it actually becoming a real thing in my opinion.
The man in charge of F1, Stefano Domenicali, stated during the month of April this year that having an influx of American drivers at the highest level of motorsport could be beneficial to the sport and in my opinion I think Michael Andretti is trying to help this situation. The question remains: could Michael and Mario Andretti be leading the forefront for this American F1 project? Stay tuned.
The current ten teams on the Formula 1 grid, is their room for one more? You decide…
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Honestly, in my opinion, there’s a lot of factors that both F1 and future teams need to look at if more teams are willing to join the sport. The subdivided $200 million dollar entry fee cap is a bit over the top and overwhelming for any entrepreneur looking to join. All these teams I’ve mentioned and done research on could be beneficial to the sport. Former F2 and GP2 Champions, such as Nyck DeVries and Davide Valsecche, are great examples as both drivers won their respective F2 & GP2 Championships. However, they couldn’t find a way onto the F1 grid because they lacked funds and there wasn’t any back marker teams on the grid at the time to accommodate future talent.
I think F1 needs at least two to three more teams on the grid by the time 2025 comes around. Out of the teams I’ve mentioned above only three stand: SMP Racing, Campos and Andretti Autosport. All could be in contention to be a part of Formula 1 in the near future. Whilst that could happen, other options might come from future car brands instead joining the F1 circus such as Audi, Porsche or Volkswagen having their very own team join the grid, much like Mercedes did back in 2010.
I don’t have a crystal ball or know anything more than what’s been reported online, but what I do know is we definitely need more cars and drivers on the F1 grid and fast. Because as far as I know literally no one from FIA Formula 2 is likely to make the step up into Formula 1 come 2022 and that's a sad state of affairs because there’s basically not enough seats to fill the amount of talent that’s out there at the moment. Anyway, that will do for another racing blog. I really hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it because I sure loved researching about this subject.
Until next time,
DH