Lots of talk has been circulating around the paddock whether having an 11th team in Formula 1 would be a good idea. Michael Andretti has been pushing hard to try and get a spot in the paddock as the 11th team.
Andretti has made it no secret about his intentions of wanting to be on the Formula 1 grid (Image Credit: Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
What is needed to get into Formula 1?
To even enter Formula 1, $200 million must be paid as an entry fee to get into the paddock. However, a lot more money will be needed for staff, facilities, components and much more.
There has been a mixture of opinions around the paddock to what Andretti can bring to the paddock if he was accepted as the 11th team. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes that Andretti has to being extra value to the $200 million entry fee.
"If one is able to demonstrate that, then we should all be sitting on the table, and cheer for such an entry. But that hasn't been demonstrated yet," he said.
"The value of Formula 1 is that it's a limited amount of franchises. And we don't want to dilute that value by just adding teams."
Stroll urges Formula 1 to stick to 10 teams
Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll has urged Formula 1 to stick to 10 teams for the future. The Canadian took over Force India in 2020, renaming them Racing Point and then renamed them again to Aston Martin in the bid of becoming world champions.
Stroll has improved the Silverstone team massively with his investment into the sport, allowing for much better facilities and personnel to be working for the Silverstone team.
At the start of the 2023 season, Aston Martin had the second-quickest car and was Red Bull's closest challengers. However, the performance has dropped off more recently.
Speaking about the potential of Andretti becoming the 11th team, Stroll believes Formula 1 has "never been in a better place", resulting in the Canadian not wanting an 11th team.
"I think F1, at the moment, the business is on fire, the sport has never been in a better place, and I believe if it isn't broken, you don't need to fix it," said Stroll.
"So, I'm a strong believer that it's working really well with 10 teams right now, and believe that's the way it should stay."
Hamilton leaning towards positives of an 11th team
Seven-time word champion Lewis Hamilton gave his thoughts on having an 11th team on the grid during the media sessions at last weekend's Qatar Grand Prix.
“Yeah, I think it’s great. I think Formula 1… I’ve always felt there wasn’t enough cars on the grid.”
However, he would later on clarify his comments that he made about Andretti later on into the weekend. The Mercedes driver was asked by Autosport to clarify his comments.
“Firstly, it wasn’t that I support Andretti. I think from a driver’s perspective, it’s exciting to potentially see more cars. And then, the idea of an 11th team, we have over 2000 people in our team so that’s a huge amount of jobs."
Hamilton has urged Formula 1 to make a change on its current situation of having only "white-male owners" in the sport.
“At the moment, it’s all white owners. There’s a real lack of diversity from the top down. [It’s] all male and that needs to change. That’s my thought.”
There is room for more teams to join the paddock, as due to the Concorde Agreement, a maximum of 12 teams are allowed on the grid, allowing for a potential of two more teams.
The 2012 season in Formula 1 saw 24 cars on the grid, meaning that there was 12 teams that season. However, recently there has only been 10 teams on the grid, meaning 20 cars racing.
Would you like to see Formula 1 have more teams in their sport?
Nathan Hartley
Add comment
Comments