Yesterday’s announcement from Andretti and Cadillac that they intend to submit an entry to compete in Formula 1 is expected to be the first of several.
An F1 spokesperson said yesterday there is “great interest” in the series at the moment. However it is unlikely any new teams will arrive before 2026, when F1 will introduce new power unit rules and changes to the chassis regulations.
In addition to the Andretti-Cadillac entry, other potential entrants have emerged in recent years.
Former SMP Racing managing director Benjamin Durand founded a project with Michael Orts called Panthera Team Asia F1, details of which emerged in 2019. The pair set up a temporary headquarters at Silverstone and brought former F1 designer Tim Milne on board. They originally hoped to enter F1 when new technical regulations were introduced in 2021, but these were postponed by a year due to the pandemic, and the FIA did not commence a tender process for new team to enter.
Another new F1 hopeful emerged during 2019. Monaco Increase Management Group CEO Salvatore Gandolfo announced plans to enter under the name Monaco F1 Racing Team. The team was to use the facilities of junior formula team Campos and MIM-run drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Alex Palou were named as potential drivers.
More recently Canadian billionaire and motorsports fan Calvin Lo has spoken of his desire to set up an F1 team.
For now all potential entrants are awaiting further details of the entry procedure FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem indicated would take place earlier this week.
“The FIA is exploring the Expressions of Interest process and we will provide a further update in the near future,” Ben Sulayem said yesterday. “Any Expressions of Interest process will follow strict FIA protocol and will take several months.
