Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey has been warned against allowing two new teams into the sport in the coming years.
The Liberty Media chief admits to attracting interest from several entities and would like to shape the 2021 regulations to help new entries and boost the current grid of 20 cars.
“It is one of our strategic goals,” he said in Melbourne, “we want to make the sport more attractive to potential new entrants.
“I’ve had a number of potential new entrants that have expressed interest and enthusiasm if we provide a structure that they think enables it to be something they could enter more constructively.
“But I think we have to finalise what it [F1] looks like [in 2021] so they can evaluate it accordingly.”
However, using the example of HRT, Manor and Caterham, who joined in 2010 under the pretence of a budget cap only to all collapse by 2016, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner is wary.
“I always go quality over quantity,” he said last weekend.
“We’ve got 10 teams that are in pretty decent health at the moment compared to previous years and I think that as we saw when the grid is expanded, none of those teams that came in a few years ago are still here today.
“In Formula 1, the cost of entry is so high it’s virtually impossible unless you’re an OEM or multi-multi-billionaire and sometimes not even that’s enough,” Horner added.
“I think we’ve got a good balance at the moment. I would prefer that we look after what we’ve got and have good quality and a closer grid than just inviting more entries for the sake of filling the grid shot and being more cars to lap.”
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Renault F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul agreed, although was more accommodating to the idea of 24 cars on the grid.
“I think that what’s important is the number of teams that are competitive and can really directly contribute to the show and can pretend that they are expecting to win,” he said.
“But if there is a business model which is sustainable for twelve competitive teams, I think that that should be what is looked at.”
