FLOYD ON F1: Another shot in the arm for potential new teams

Last weekend was a torrid one for F1 organisers in Montreal, Canada, with inclement weather and an uncooperative CCTV system.

Even so, the Canadian Grand Prix’s results proved interesting.

Once more Max Verstappen and the RB19 proved it’s going to be a difficult combination to beat this season. But Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton provided some good entertainment in the last few laps.

Alex Albon got the nod for driver of the day. To see him hold off the opposition and secure seventh place was an absolute joy and a deserved result for the Williams team.

Rain in Austria in two weeks’ time might offer another opportunity for the midfield to surprise us all.

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F1 and the new teams

Attempting to follow the future of F1 is somewhat similar to gazing into a crystal ball with the assistance of a recently qualified soothsayer whose prescription spectacles have yet to arrive. If this appears somewhat strange, then read on.

F1’s CEO Stefano Domenicali recently said that current teams are rejecting offers to purchase by would-be entrants. Offers apparently worth billions of dollars, such is the growth of the sport’s financial status since the takeover by Liberty Media.

Wow! That’s impressive, particularly as I cannot recall reading of any such offers. In fact, I am not aware of such quoted figures, not even close, ever being tendered in the history of the sport.

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Door remains shut

Since then, Domenicali has voiced his opinion regarding the recently closed “Expressions of Interest” and application process for F1 hopefuls. Honestly, it “ain’t looking too good” for the likes of Cadillac and the Andretti organisation.

In a Beyond the Grid podcast the Italian said: “I think that in my role, I need to consider the sport can grow only if the majority of all the teams can grow. That was one of the fundamentals of this budget cap to give credible financial stability to the value of the franchises of the team.”

He continued: “And the more you are able to have a competitive field, the more you may have interesting races, the more you can create the interest of the sport and that’s for sure, very, very important.

“Therefore, it is important that we give the sustainable financial stability for each of them to make sure that everyone can do that.”

Exclusive club

So it appears the end result of all this discussion could produce an exclusive club that is unlikely to increase beyond 10 teams on a future grid, a view Domenicali appears to support.

But I have to pose the following question. If the outcome is to retain the status quo, what was the point in offering the possibility of new teams entering F1?

Preparing the documentation for such an entry is no mean task, so why even tempt newcomers when “the club” membership is already closed?

The next race at the Red Bull Ring takes place on 2 July.