Does Ben Sulayem's Tweet signal F1 help for Andretti and co?

F1

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem's surprise Tweet sent ripples through the F1 world – but will a 'new' application process for prospective teams actually give them a chance?

Team boss Michael Andretti stands in the pits

Michael Andretti is the most prominent name who wants in on the F1 world

IndyCar

A Tweet from FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem earlier this week gave the F1 world a bit of a wake-up call as it emerged from the winter break.

In writing “I have asked my FIA team to look at launching an Expressions of Interest process for prospective new teams for the FIA F1 World Championship” Ben Sulayem stirred up some excitement about whether or not the door is finally open to Michael Andretti – and indeed anyone else who might be waiting in the wings.

Ahead of any formal press announcement the Tweet also appeared to be another example of MBS flexing his muscles and reminding us of who is now in charge of the governing body, an approach that seems to be his style.

However, it has to be stressed that it’s not just up to Ben Sulayem – the F1 organisation also has a say regarding who enters the world championship, and thus even a successful jumping of the FIA hoops won’t necessarily guarantee an entry.

FIA President Mohammed ben Sulayem

Tweet was reflective of Ben Sulayem’s presidential approach

Grand Prix Photo

It’s worth looking at the last two similar calls for expressions of interest, launched respectively on December 11th 2013 and May 28th 2015, on Jean Todt’s watch. Both took place at a time when there were doubts about the survival of some existing teams, and thus there was extra motivation to look for new entrants.

On the first occasion the deadline was tight, and it allowed little more than three weeks, including Xmas, for a prospective candidate to get their act together – unless of course they were already fully prepared.

Indeed a couple of weeks after registrations closed Gene Haas went public and formally announced his well-advanced plans to enter in 2015, and it was obvious that he’d been working on the project for a while and that the process was at least in part motivated by him lobbying the FIA.

A couple of other prospective teams also applied – Stefan GP and the Romanian-backed FRR/Forza Rossa project – but only Haas was to make it to the grid, and then in 2016 after postponing a year.

Those concerns about the survival of existing teams were realised when Caterham failed at the end of 2014, dropping the field to 10 teams for a season.

Caterham of Andre Lotterer in F1 at Spa

Apart from Haas, most new teams have failed in F1

Florent Gooden / DPPI

The May 2015 process that followed was a response to that, and came after a crisis meeting of the F1 Strategy Group had failed to find a way forward that would help existing teams, for example by introducing a cost cap.

There was a slightly longer lead time of 33 days from launch to closing of registrations, but on this occasion there were no credible bids, and thus no new entries resulted. After all with so many teams clearly struggling and looking for investment why would anyone start from scratch? It was a buyer’s market…

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Haas’s belated arrival then boosted the field to 11 once more in 2016, but at the end of the year Manor failed, and we dropped back to 10.

At that stage the futures of several teams were still in doubt, notably Sauber, Force India and Williams. However the 2017 season saw the arrival of Liberty Media and the start of massive changes.

Some six years later, and with a new Concorde Agreement in place and the sport benefiting from the Drive to Survive effect and a global surge in interest, the picture is very different.

The cost cap has massively reined in spending, and teams that were struggling have long had well-funded new owners. Team values have risen, and should anyone wish to sell, they can name their price, as Sauber owner Finn Rausing did with Audi.

In other words the risk of teams failing and the entry falling below 10 has long gone, so adding a new entry is about bolstering what we have, rather than a form of safety net.

In the eyes of most observers two extra cars on the grid, and thus two more opportunities for drivers, can only be a good thing.

FIA-president-Mohammed-Ben-Sulayem-talks-to-Mercedes-F1-boss-Toto-Wolff

Toto Wolff has been amongst most hostile to idea of new teams

DPPI

However, the prospect inevitably creates some tension among the existing entrants. The new era of financial security means that the current teams are doing very nicely in terms of their share of the income from an ever-increasing F1 pot, and for obvious reasons there’s little appetite for an expansion that will hit their bottom line.

“The likelihood is that the process will be a copy/paste of 2013 and 2015”

It’s why the current Concorde Agreement includes a “dilution fee” of $200m that new entrants have to pay, and which is split among the 10 teams.

The problem is that since that figure was agreed F1’s income has risen, and $20m per team looks like a drop in the ocean. The incumbents realise that they now have even more to lose should an 11th team arrives and claim a slice of the pie – and they also know that any new team is potentially joining the party at just the right time and with bright financial prospects, and thus can perhaps afford to spend a bit more up front to earn an entry ticket.

So what will Michael Andretti and anyone else who responds to the MBS offer have to do to impress the FIA?

Aside from any Concorde-related clauses such as the dilution fee the likelihood is that the process will be a copy/paste of 2013 and 2015.

In the earlier cases the formal announcements noted that “by way of indication only” the factors to be considered were as follows:

a) the technical ability and resources of the team;
b) the ability of the team to raise and maintain sufficient funding to allow participation in the championship at a competitive level;
c) the team’s experience and human resources;
d) the FIA’s assessment of the value that the candidate may bring to the championship as a whole.

All of that is eminently sensible, and is designed to weed out those who are clearly not capable of doing the job, or cannot afford to, even in the cost cap era.

From what we know Andretti has a good package, especially in terms of the financial support he’ll need just to pay the dilution fee.

His frustration at not having a formal shot at an entry prior to this week is thus understandable.

“I think that it makes a lot of sense to all of us,” his father Mario told Motor Sport last year. “And we’re all looking for the long term, in every way, they know darn well of our commitment, we do nothing else but this.

Mario Andretti with Zak Brown

Whilst McLaren’s Zak Brown has been supportive, Mario Andretti has spoken of his son’s frustrations

McLaren, Alex Penfold

“So I’m proud of Michael that he wants to have this in his repertoire for the rest of his career as a team owner.

“Michael’s plans are really interesting, from every standpoint, what he is willing to do, be part of the feeder series, F3, F2, like he’s doing in the States, and facilitate some American youngsters who probably wouldn’t have the opportunity to come to Europe, in his team. So he’s thinking this thing through.”

Asked how optimistic he was that his son and his backers will get it together Andretti Sr added: “There are many moving parts, but they’re moving in the right direction. There’s a lot more going on, obviously, that evolves. And the resolve is there. We all understand what needs to be satisfied.”

The biggest hurdle Andretti faces remains the fourth requirement outlined earlier. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has long made it clear that any new entrant has to add value to the sport, and that’s generally defined as a new manufacturer, despite the credibility that comes with the Andretti name.

From the archive

“I think today in the actual status of F1, it’s not a problem of quantity, where we can see a step of increasing the value of F1,” Domenicali said last summer when asked about Andretti’s entry bid.

“It is a matter of understanding really, not only the ones that have a bigger or louder voice, but there will be other people, because Andretti was quite vocal about his request. There are others that have done the same, in a different way.

“So the evaluation is not only with Andretti, the evaluation is with others that are respecting the silence on trying to be more productive on proving who they are, and respecting the protocol we have put in place.

“As I always said I don’t believe that it is today the problem of having more teams that will give more value to the to the championship.

“But there is a protocol that has to be fulfilled. And everyone, Andretti included, is following that. So this is the situation today. I don’t see any changes. And I don’t want to say yes or no.”

Domenicali’s ambivalence about new entries is clear. It now remains to be seen what F1’s take is should Andretti and/or any other candidate emerge from the expressions of interest process with FIA backing.

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