FIA President Jean Todt has ruled out the possibility of a new team joining the Formula 1 grid in the foreseeable future despite reported efforts by a Chinese consortium for an entry as soon as 2019.

It was understood the group was hiring employees for their venture and had registered under the name of China F1 Racing Team Limited with Company House in the UK, where it is set to be based.

However, before a new entry is allowed, their application must be vetted by the governing body, who introduced more strict criteria following the collapse of all three teams that joined in 2010.

Commenting on whether any new outfit was being considered, Todt revealed in Monza: "[There is] not something I would describe as a very serious offer. When we see there a serious offer, as we did when Haas came to Formula 1, we understood there was some serious interest so we created a tender."

The demise of Manor at the beginning of the year meant the grid returned to just 20 cars, the number most see as the minimum, however, the Frenchman defended the quality of the current field, despite the significant gap between the top three and the rest.