Tracks like Miami may not have enough room for F1 to add new teams – Horner

2023 Miami Grand Prix

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Formula 1 teams would be “like turkeys voting for Christmas” if they supported new entrants coming in, says Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

He also cast doubt on whether some venues have the infrastructure to accommodate additions to the existing 10 teams.

The FIA opened applications for new teams to join the grid earlier this year. Among those who have declared their intention to apply are Andretti Cadillac, Formula Equal and LKY SUNZ.

However the 10 teams have long resisted any expansion of the grid, fearing the payments they receive from F1 owner Liberty Media will be reduced if they have to be shared with other competitors. “The issues remain the same as 12 months ago,” said Horner, “both fiscally – what is the incentive for an existing team or franchise to accept an 11th entrant – and then ultimately, who pays?”

“If it dilutes the income of the 10, it’s like turkeys voting for Christmas,” he said. “Why would they do that?

“Are Liberty prepared to pay and fund an 11th team, are the FIA prepared to reduce their fees to help accommodate it? So, you know, there are all the financial aspects.”

Any new entrant is required to pay a $200 million ‘anti-dilution fee’ which would be shared between the existing teams. However F1 has held discussions over increasing this in light of the interest from potential newcomers.

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However Horner believes some tracks on the current calendar, including the new Miami International Autodrome which holds this weekend’s race, lack the space for more than 10 teams.

“With the way that the sport has now developed, if you look at the pit lane, for example, here or somewhere like Monaco, Zandvoort, or some of the circuits that we’re now racing at, where would we be able to accommodate an 11th team?

“I think that in itself, just operationally, where do we put the motorhomes? Where do we put the support? Where do the trucks go? I just think it would be an incredibly difficult thing to be accommodated with the way that the sport has currently evolved as well.”

Although some of those circuits hold events including more competitors, each is allocated less space within the pit and paddock than F1 teams have.

The FIA is expected to confirm soon which if any teams have been chosen to enter F1 from 2025 or later. Both the governing body and the commercial rights holder must approve any new entrant, but the existing teams have no say in the process.

“Our opinion is being asked but we’re not part of the process of choosing a team or not,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.

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“The opinion that we have expressed is that it’s very difficult in Formula 1 to perform. It has taken us many years to be where we are. We’ve gone through really difficult times where Formula 1 wasn’t the blockbuster it is today.

“Therefore whoever enters the sport, I think it would be beneficial for all of us if they can really bring something new to the show, if it can help us to increase our audiences or if there is lots of marketing dollars that are being invested, similar to what we have done over the years. Red Bull and Mercedes, sitting here, I mean, hundreds of millions.

“If that were the case, I think we need to be all open-minded and say how can we contribute to making that happen? But again, we’re not part of the governance. And so I would very much hope that we find someone, if we decided to go for another team, that somebody can really leverage what we have today and make it even greater.”

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2023 Miami Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...
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20 comments on “Tracks like Miami may not have enough room for F1 to add new teams – Horner”

  1. Accommodating 12 teams was possible most recently in 2010-12, so 11th would be equally fitting.

    1. Fred Fedurch
      7th May 2023, 11:48

      There are 21 pit stalls/boxes at Interlagos. There is absolutely no room at the end of the pit and the entrance would need millions of dollars of fill and excavation (30 ft. drop) to add one stall at best. Go on Google Street Maps. The entire track and access roads behind the pits are on it.

  2. Good a reason to ditch Miami, thanks Christian

    1. And Monaco. Nice one.

    2. My thoughts exactly. As an American, the track is an embarrassment. We have plenty of actually great tracks though.

  3. “I think that in itself, just operationally, where do we put the motorhomes? Where do we put the support? Where do the trucks go? I just think it would be an incredibly difficult thing to be accommodated with the way that the sport has currently evolved as well.”

    It takes up to 300 trucks to move F1 in Europe. Here’s an idea for ‘net zero’ – put a cap limit on the number team trucks and motor homes, similar to the cost cap. The space issue is solved and we would be getting a major reduction in exhaust emissions and fuel usage. In fact, have the number reduced season by season…..

  4. Considering F1 used to have 13 teams/26 cars with more trying to pre-qualify back in the days when pit/paddock facilities were smaller, more cramped & less organised I see no reason why having the same number of teams/cars would be a problem today given the better facilities on offer & how many of the permanent venues also host GT/Sportscars that have far larger grids.

    I also maintain the view that teams should have zero say or influence on if there are more teams or not. That should be left in the hands of the FIA & F1 as they are supposed to be the people running the sport with the teams/drivers been competitors who over time will come & go.

    If the FIA and/or Liberty want 11, 12, 13 or even more teams on the grid then it should be there decision & if existing teams don’t like it then tough, Go race somewhere else and get far less exposure & far less money.

    1. I also maintain the view that teams should have zero say or influence on if there are more teams or not.

      They don’t. The process is outlined in the FIA F1 Sporting regulations.

      Where it becomes a problem is with the money from the commercial rights. About 10 years ago Manor had an entry, but wasn’t part of the Concorde “definitely not a cartel” Agreement. Only with some last minute back and forth did they eventually got in before the season started.

      There are a lot of teams in F1 who don’t have the means to win, nor have they shown, via their lack of investments, the intent to be winners. Compare Aston Martin to pretty much every other team except the Big Three. They’re at least serious. The rest, not so much. Those teams are subsisting to a large degree off the guaranteed income from the commercial rights, which they definitely do not want to share.

      It used to be that the slower, smaller teams had tons of small time sponsors. The Minardi cars were infamous for being covered in stickers back to front. Now? There’s no need. Even teams dawdling around in P16 are guaranteed a huge end of season paycheck.

  5. Everything is a reason for not adding new teams with these guys. Geez…

  6. Looks like they’ll have to modify the track or leave the venue then!

  7. The teams don’t get to say how many teams are in F1. The Sporting Regulations outline the process.

    Hopefully one of the prospective entrants drags the whole Concorde Agreement into a courtroom; it looks like a cartel, it smells like a cartel, and – as evidenced by Horner once more – talks like one too.

    And as an aside, F1 had no problem with 12 teams less than a decade ago.

  8. Horner and his comments are really getting old and he and Toto are quickly making their stance obvious and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand their motivation, less money to go around for them, always boils down to money, always has. All this other talk of course is just to find some sticking point for outsiders to be like yeah you know he does have a point.

    I don’t know the structure of how other major sports leagues work around the world, the NBA for instance in the US or Premier League in the UK for Football (Soccer) but do teams in those respective leagues have this much say over how many new teams the league owners can add or who those would be?

    1. First: F1 is a business, teans are in F1 to make money if they don’t they won’t last long.

      Second: Teams have no say in the number of new teams admited, and that information is in the article.

      Third: in most profesional sport leagues teams have more influence in the decisions than in F1, this is a carry over from the time Bernie was the comercial rights holder and Max Mosley was in charge of the FIA. And better not talk about the years when Balestre was in charge of both FISA and FIA.

  9. So you only allow 20 to compete in Miami. There were many years when there were only 20 spots in Monaco. Up until the mid 80’s. There were also a lot more teams then. This is a very dumb comment from Horner.

  10. Formula 1 teams would be “like turkeys voting for Christmas” if they supported new entrants coming in, says Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

    Yes, precisely why Formula 1 teams should not have any say in anything to do with the sport.

  11. BLS (@brightlampshade)
    6th May 2023, 19:19

    Is this Christian offering for Red Bull to sit out some races if there isn’t room. That’s one hell of a statement for their advantage if they’re happy to sit out a few races each year!

    1. I’d rather read what LKY SUNZ have to say than unChristian (although it’s a PN IN ASZ putting it back into English)

  12. You could give up your place!

  13. Think of the motorhomes! What a wild whinge.

  14. Did Mercedes (as a fresh standalone modern team) or Red Bull or newer teams like Haas have to justify what benefits they’d bring to the table? F1 was running big well before them. They got in through the legal doors to get a place on track. The sport is bigger than ever because of technology and social media rather than the quality of racing or their presence. They are just some of the cars on the track and have been more successful in the championships then others. Even if they leave like Merc or other manufacturers did before, F1 would still continue.

    They say they are racers but over time, they’ve become more business than sport. Toto even calls it a show here. He’s right, F1 feels like the Monaco of the motorsports world. No good racing most of the time, only there on the calendar because of glamour and historical glory.

    It seems there’s no good reason of late to be a passionate F1 fan anymore. Thankfully there’s plenty of other more authentic motorsports worthy of my time and attention.

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