Ferrari / Mercedes: a strange alliance to protect the future of Formula 1

The potential entry of a new team in Formula 1 seems like a state secret. An unsolved and unsolvable mystery, a Masonic agreement sealed in dimly lit rooms as tradition dictates in cinema. It has been talked about for months, even years, but the moment should finally have arrived, unless the information leaked by this enigmatic lodge is incorrect: FIA should soon announce the expressions of interest that were received at Place de la Concorde following the issuance of a regular, yet equally nebulous, tender.

The subjects that have submitted requests, according to the terms of the tender, remain secret until the official announcements are made by the federation. In general, there were four potential interested teams. The most concrete candidacy is that of Michael Andretti, who seems to have taken the right steps towards the top tier of open-wheel racing.

The project is ambitious, as there is a plan in place that includes an F1 team, an F2 team, and an F3 team. Michael and Mario want to do things big, which is why they have reached an agreement with General Motors that will support the consortium, under the Cadillac brand.

The other three candidates, more shrouded in mystery fueled by the confidentiality obligation that the FIA must observe before official deliberations, are linked to Panthera Team Asia led by Benjamin Durand, which can rely on Arab funds, HiTech by Oliver Oakes (who seems to have made some progress, leaving behind ties with the Mazepins, who are now banned from F1), and an old acquaintance in motorsport: Craig Pollock, backed by Saudi capital associated with Prince Khalid, who confirmed the feasibility studies for the F1 program.

New team in Formula 1: A matter of money
The exclusive circle of teams participating in the F1 World Championship still resists, despite the final decision approaching rapidly. The concerns are not entirely overcome. The access clause to Formula 1 amounts to 200 million to be paid in a single solution. In practice, 20 million per team, which in the long run, feels like a tasteless broth.

This type of fee will be valid until 2025 when the current version of the Concorde Agreement expires. Team principals would like to increase the participation fee to 600 million, which would guarantee much higher revenues for those within the magic circle of ten.

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The game is being played on this delicate passage. The teams have now realized that the entry of at least one new entity could materialize before the aforementioned deadline. And there is little they can do because it is precisely the Concorde Agreement that allows the introduction of other entities upon payment of a sum that is now considered inadequate.

When the document was drafted, Formula 1 was emerging from the pandemic crisis, and it was not believed that other parties had the strength to enter the circle of the top ten. But that phase of instability is over, and now there are entities that can relatively easily afford the $200 million contribution.

F1: The reactionary Toto Wolff, Fred Vasseur, and Christian Horner do not give up
This is where the team principals have changed their strategy and, aware of their impotence against the rules they themselves have accepted, they ask that any new group be able to generate value. This is a point that Toto Wolff, who can be considered the leader of the reactionaries, those who oppose any innovative push, has been emphasizing for some time.

The Viennese manager, realizing that he is about to capitulate, has insisted that the proposal of the new franchise be advantageous for Formula 1 in terms of marketing, public interest, and consequently, be able to generate profits to be shared among the ten sisters. Wolff is so determined that he has tried to play his last card: that of safety. Read it to believe it: “There is a safety issue: look at the qualifying sessions, even now we look like we’re on a go-kart track, we’re all stuck together.”

The solution? The new groups must buy an existing team. This concept has also been expressed by Frédéric Vasseur, who breaks Ferrari’s silence on the matter after a long time: “For me, those who want to enter must buy an existing team,” explained the French team principal, adding, “Today there is a great boom around F1, but we must bear in mind that a couple of years ago, the team owners made a huge effort. Entering now is more advantageous. I repeat: if this entry is really an added value for all parties involved, why should we oppose it? But it doesn’t seem to me that we’re at that point today.”

Nice words, but if the current teams do not sell, how is it possible to enter the magical toy? The positions of Vasseur and Wolff, as well as Horner, who had adopted the same interpretive line, are anachronistic and anti-historical, although understandable because no one wants to lose their acquired rights. And we’re talking about bundles of money to be divided. as explained by F1 expert Diego Catalano for FUnoanalisitecnica.

But Fred Vasseur and Toto Wolff do not care about this contradiction. Wolff did not hold back in his response: “There is no major sports championship in the world where it is possible to register an additional team and compete for the prize money. You have to do the groundwork and demonstrate the commitment that we have all put in for many years. If it brings us something, then we have to take it into consideration.”

“I am convinced that F1 is a league of franchises. As happens in the NFL, when someone arrives, they are asked what they bring to the table. This task falls to the FIA and the FOM, we can only comment from the outside. So far, no one has convinced the teams, but we have not seen the questions that have been sent to the FIA and Stefano [Domenicali], and they will judge whether these are positive for Formula 1 or not.”

Clear? Not yet? Fred Vasseur explains it: “The presence of a new team can make sense for F1 only if it has a huge contribution in every direction.”

In short, the antiphony is clear. The historical teams, the most powerful and politically influential ones, are fighting their final battle, the epilogue before the probable armistice which, by nature and history, is a compromise act in which they will give up something, opening the door to the eleventh team in exchange for other benefits. In other words, solid guarantees that the members of the agreement will be flooded with a substantial river of money.

That’s why, in conclusion, Andretti’s candidacy is the most favored because it has the support of a group like Cadillac and international recognition that will attract funds and sponsors. Good old Michael, fiercely opposed since the first day he expressed interest in F1, will become the first friend to receive affectionate pats on the back when the team dividend data arrives.