F1 chief Stefano Domenicali gives update on NEW teams joining the grid

Stefano Domenicali, Sky Sports, Australia — Photo: © LAT Images

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F1 chief gives update on NEW teams joining the grid

Stefano Domenicali has spoken on the issue of expanding the grid beyond 10 teams in the future

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Wednesday 14 June 2023 17:57 Updated: 18:28

Stefano Domenicali believes that Formula 1 does not need new teams added to the grid, insisting the current line up of 10 is enough for the sport.

With F1’s popularity rapidly rising, there has been a heightened interest in the amount of interested parties looking to get involved. As recently as 2010 there were 13 teams pencilled in to fill a grid – although only 12 managed to make the field that season.

However, since then while the sport has added Haas the field has also seen the loss of Caterham, Marussia and Hispania (the trio making their debut in 2010) to bring the total back down to 10 teams.

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Asked whether he thought F1 needed a grid expansion though, the F1 CEO admitted the sport was already at a satisfactory number of teams.

Haas have been the only brand new team to join the grid since 2010

“I don’t think so, that’s a personal opinion, I need to say that,” he told F1's Beyond The Grid podcast. “If you have a good show, 20 cars are more than enough.

“If you have two cars or two drivers fighting, the level of attention is mega. So if you have already two teams fighting, that means four cars, it’s just incredible. So can you imagine 20 cars, 10 teams are at the level where there is competition on track? It would be impressive.”

Door is open to new teams

However, Domenicali stopped short of ignoring any fresh approaches to join the grid but insisted they must bring a strong case to add value to the sport, with the former Ferrari chief admitting he had a duty of care to the current teams on the grid too.

“I would say let’s wait and see. My ‘no’ is not against someone wants to come in, I need to clarify that because otherwise it seems that I want to be protectionist, that is not the case.

“I want to see the right one and I need to also respect the ones that have invested in F1 in the last period, because we forget too quickly the respect.

“Now everyone wants to jump in the coach that is very fast. But we need to be prudent, we need to take the right decision, that’s what I’m saying.”