F1 boss plots comeback with brand new team

Otmar Szafnauer and Christian Horner at F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain in 2022 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

F1 boss plots comeback with brand new team

He might have to wait a little while...

Chris Deeley

Wednesday 15 April 2026 22:57

11 teams on the F1 grid? Rubbish. We want more! We want 12! And, apparently, a former team principal wants that too.

Otmar Szafnauer was in the paddock for some time with Racing Point and Alpine, among others, and is now CEO and managing partner of Van Amersfoort Racing in F2 – with ambitions for more.

The Romanian-American team boss revealed that he and VAR owner Rafael Villagómez Sr. were looking at fighting Cadillac to be the 11th team on the grid, and told GPBlog that they want to take up a place alongside them as Team 12 if the opportunity arises.

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The ambitious pair are also looking at the possibility of an IndyCar team, Szafnauer revealed, with Prema potentially on the menu as their well publicised financial issues continue.

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Szafnauer revealed: “The owner and I were looking at potentially collaborating on a Formula 1 team, which could still happen if there's something interesting either for sale or the 12th team opens up.

“I developed a relationship with the owner when we were looking at starting the 11th team, but then Cadillac got it. And now, when they open up the possibility of a 12th team, we want to do that too or buy into something."

“Through all that discussion, he said to me 'well, look in the meantime, why don't you come help me at Van Amersfoort', because he just bought Van Amersfoort a few years ago and expanded it.

"So I said 'okay, I'll come and help you with Van Amersfoort. But for me to do that, I don't want to just be an employee. I'd like to be your partner'."

It's unclear whether the appetite currently exists among the 11 teams to add a twelfth to their ranks, with owners typically reluctant to give up a slice of their revenue – with prize money and the like being split an extra way with an added team.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has also warned that expanding to a 12-team grid would introduce serious logistical issues, with some pit lanes and paddocks already tight on room.

“We have to be cautious,” he said last year. “We’ll only evaluate a bid of great significance because I think we’re already at a point with no more room – logistically we’re at the limit."

F1 Otmar Szafnauer