Brown: No reason not to expand F1 grid if new teams pay "fair" fee

The FIA announced earlier this month that it was appealing for expressions of interest from potential new F1 teams, with a view to expanding the grid to 11 or 12 teams as early as 2025. 

Andretti Global is currently the most vocal party looking to join the F1 grid in the future, securing a partnership with US automotive giant General Motors for its entry proposal. 

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But the reaction from the current teams and F1 itself about Andretti’s plans and potentially expanding the grid has been lukewarm, amid concerns of the impact on prize money payouts and the stability of the existing field.

Although any new team would have to pay a $200 million dilution fee that would be split between the existing squads to make up for the drop in prize money, there are concerns this figure has been set too low under the Concorde Agreement.

The topic is set to be discussed in next week’s F1 Commission meeting, with some parties thought to be looking to at least triple the figure under the next Concorde Agreement.

McLaren Racing CEO Brown called General Motors an “unbelievable automotive manufacturer” and noted Andretti’s history in motorsport.

Michael Andretti

Photo by: Mark Sutton

He said he would be happy to see the grid expand, so long as any newcomer could be beneficial to F1 as a whole.

"Our general view is that so long as a team is additive to the sport, whether it’s an 11th team and/or a 12th team, and can help make the pie bigger, drive greater awareness and we all get more sponsors, we get more media deals, and they pay what’s a fair franchise fee, which all sports have, then I see no reason for them not to join,” Brown told Autosport.

“It’s ultimately up to the FIA and Formula 1 to determine whether they tick all those boxes of criteria.

“But assuming they do, then very welcome to race against them.

Andretti Global chief Michael Andretti hit out at the existing teams for showing “greed” in their response to his plans last month, a comment F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali recently said he thought was “not smart” to have made.

Haas F1 boss Gunther Steiner said last week he saw “no upside” and “just risk” in possibly expanding the grid, noting the current stability of the series. 

But Brown said he was not surprised by the reaction, saying: “I’ve found some Formula 1 teams are very short-sighted in their view on not taking a longer-range view of what are things that can grow the sport, and they kind of think about the here and now.

“Unfortunately, I’m not surprised some of our competitors are quite short-sighted in their thinking.”