A new F1 team, why now?

The announcement that the FIA are looking for a new team to enter F1 in the next couple of years could be seen as interesting one, and really asks the question, why now?

You have to take a look at the sport now, where we have a number of struggling mid-field and backmarker teams who struggle to make ends meet from year to year, and a handful of factory-backed teams who hold the majority of the wealth and power.

Rumours have suggested that a number of these teams are up for sale including Lotus and Toro Rosso, although little has come of a sale. You would have thought that this would be an easier way into the sport – just buy a new team rather than setting one up from scratch, but then some people like that challenge.

We already have Gene Haas coming into the sport next season with the new American team, heavily backed by Ferrari with a Dallara chassis. You only have to look at Caterham, HRT and USF1 to see before them what the success rate is of these new teams, currently 1 in 4, but only just thanks to the late rescue of the Marussia team.

You have to assume that a team is looking to enter, but really who could that be?

ART – as a Honda/McLaren ‘B Team’

ART has long been established as a front running team in GP2, the feeder series for F1 and has seen many champions pass through including Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. They have also had strong links with McLaren, and are currently running in their new space grey colourscheme. ART also have two McLaren/Honda backed drivers headed by Stoffel Vandoorne.

A B Team would help them with development, which you could say has been the problem with Honda supplying just one team on the grid this season, and there has been a president given the Honda + Super Aguri combination nearly 10 years ago.

The question is could something be set up for next year?

Audi / VW

It’s not untrue that the sport wants Audi to join, it would be a big plus for the sport. Even Bernie Ecclestone said he would stand down if it would help get them in, given their former boss wasn’t a fan of the F1 matriarch.

Following several denials over the last few months you would have to say an entry is unlikely, although not impossible, but Red Bull would dearly like to untie themselves from Renault and form an alliance with VW.

Forza Rossa / Stefan GP

At the last tender for an F1 team, which was won by Haas, two further applications were logged for entry, both their hearts in the Balkans. Forza Rossa was backed by former HRT boss Colin Kolles and was for a time linked with Caterham and a buyout of them, but that project looks to have died, although not formally cancelled.

Stafan GP has been trying to enter F1 since 2010 when he bought the Toyota chassis. He has never been successful with his entry though, and will be interesting if he will try again in 2015.

Whoever a new team might be, customer cars is surely something they are going to want to see.

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