F1’s CEO, Stefano Domenicali, is still expressing reservations about the potential addition of up to two new teams to the grid starting from 2025.
In contrast, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem is advocating strongly for expanding the grid, especially to accommodate Michael Andretti’s Cadillac-backed bid.
“We’ll wait until the evaluation of the teams is finished and then we’ll see, but I have said it before and I say it now – how could we turn down General Motors? I don’t understand the negativity,” Ben Sulayem stated in an interview with formula.hu.
He also mentioned that Liberty Media’s CEO, Greg Maffei, is in favor of having an 11th team in the competition.
However, Stefano Domenicali, who oversees Formula 1 on behalf of Liberty, does not seem enthusiastic about making room for additional teams in the pitlane.
“There is a process that needs to be respected, and I don’t want to add anything to what has already been said,” said the Italian executive.
“For my part, I don’t think that this is a factor that generates interest, because the interest is still huge, and it is important to focus on the things that we think are key to the sustainability of the sport,” Domenicali added.
Domenicali’s stance appears to align strongly with the majority of existing teams who are concerned about potential dilution of their hard-earned value by allowing new rivals to join.
“In the past, there were too many ups and downs in the sport, when teams came and went, were rebuilt and ceased to exist,” Domenicali explained.
“Now that there is interest, we see the value of the current teams perfectly well. We have to take a lot of things into account during this process, and we want to do it right, and the decision will be made together with the FIA in the end.”
