F1 News: FIA President Doubles Down On Adding More Teams - "Have To"
Despite reportedly receiving backlash from the grid for potentially opening up F1 to more teams, FIA president Ben Sulayem has again doubled down on the subject by saying the sport will "have to open it up to other brands".
With F1 gaining incredible levels of traction around the world, but especially in the United States, it's no surprise that teams are coming out of the woodwork to show their interest in the sport. Most notable at the moment is the Andretti-Cadillac partnership that is showing, arguably, the most promise.
While Sulayem is very interested in opening up the sport to a maximum of 12 teams over the current 10, it's been reported that 9 out of 10 teams on the grid are against this idea due to the dilution of revenue. Specifically, they're asking for the dilution payment - paid by the entering teams - to be increased from $200m to up to $600m, arguing that the value of F1 has increased in a similar fashion.
Despite this, the FIA president doesn't seem to be slowing the train with him talking to the press on the subject at the Dakar rally-raid.
"In general, if we look at the sustainability of Formula 1, we have to open it up to other brands," he told the press.
"We can have up to twelve teams on the grid. An OEM will help make Formula 1 better and I see no reason for which we should not welcome new teams, especially the Americans.
"We have three races there already this year. We welcome any proposal to be one of the twelve teams. We accept good teams, even if they are small, as is the case with Haas.
"We hope that things will change and we will be able to have a proper eleventh team, we'll see what happens."
It comes as no surprise that there is obvious friction between F1 and the FIA, with Sulayem coming up against it as soon as he stepped into the sport a measly 6 days after the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
I find it strange that teams are fighting against this. Obviously, this battle comes from a financial standpoint, but from an outsider's point of view, there's very little else that could raise an argument, despite teams fighting on behalf of their history. After all, what does the likes of Williams, a truly historic team, actually bring to the sport currently?
The team once commanded some of the greatest drivers in history, but is currently left with no chief, no technical director, and no chance at even hitting the midfield. Its history has been flung out to sea with no raft and with little chance of real investment, the team is in a state of limbo. If anything, it's primed for a Porsche partnership or even a full rebrand.
Sulayem sees this, and if fans are lucky, he'll get his way. But this won't come without drama.