FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has set the deadline for the outcome of the possible entry of new teams in 2026, with the final verdict expected to come shortly after the summer break. The deadline, originally set for the end of June, has been extended to allow the federation to carefully analyze all the applications, with three to four teams seriously interested in joining Formula 1.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem is pushing ahead with the idea of adding new teams despite opposition from the existing teams.
“We have a contract, and it allows for a maximum of 12 teams, so we are not violating the rules,” said the FIA President to Motorsport-Total.com. “On the contrary, we are following the rules. As the governing body, the FIA must consider all the requests, and we have done that.”
“The expression of interest was the right thing to do. I know that some teams are not happy because I can see the financial impact on them. It’s about adding a team or acquiring an existing team. It’s not up to me to impose on the big teams. But what we have to implement is the process, the financial and technical due diligence.”
Despite opposition from the teams and skepticism from CEO Stefano Domenicali, the Arab President continues to pursue his idea of potentially expanding the grid to 24 cars.
Currently, the teams that have officially submitted an application are: Andretti-Cadillac, Hitech GP, Formula Equal by Craig Pollock, and LKY SUNZ.
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The deadline for the outcome of the possible entry of new teams in 2026 has been set.
“We extended the deadline because some teams asked for some time, and we don’t want to exclude them,” Mohammed Ben Sulayem added – “We have to be flexible. We haven’t finished yet because we have to be very cautious in making a decision. It’s an important process, and I don’t like to rush. The decision has to be very, very clear.”
When asked when a final verdict could be expected, Mohammed Ben Sulayem replied, “We are not far. I think between four and six weeks. We have to do things properly. We are talking about significant investments. We just have to wait for the next six weeks to see what the plan is. I have no doubt that FOM will make the right decision. They know what’s best.”
Lastly, according to Motorsport-Total.com, the FIA President reportedly stated that five to six applications have been submitted, three to four of which are very serious.
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