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- Andretti Autosport wants to be 11th entry on F1 grid
- Steiner wants series to stick with current ten-team line-up
Haas Formula One boss Günther Steiner has said he expects the US$200 million fee for new entrants to the series to be adjusted to reflect the increased value of teams.
The Concorde Agreement signed in 2020 dictates that any new team must pay a US$200 million fee, which gets split evenly between existing entrants to offset the loss in revenue caused by splitting prize money between 11 teams instead of ten.
However, since the agreement was signed, Formula One has continued to go from strength to strength, particularly in the US, with ESPN reportedly signing a new lucrative TV rights deal in the States worth up to US$90 million a year.
“The dilution fund was set a few years ago, when the value of Formula One was different,” Steiner told Motorsport.com.
“I think one of the things will be, should we readjust it to current market rate, which is a lot more than that one? But I think that’s a very difficult process to do.
“But if you’re really honest, and you look at when we signed the contract in 2020, teams were going for a lot less money than these days.
“The sport has made a big progression in value. So at some stage it will be adjusted, but I don’t think that is the biggest issue.”
Formula One has previously proved a volatile place for new teams. In 2010, three new entrants – Lotus, Hispania and Virgin – joined the grid but soon hit problems. Hispania exited the sport just two years later, Lotus entered administration before completing the 2014 season as the Caterham F1 team, and Virgin underwent two name changes before collapsing in 2016.
Last month, Michael Andretti confirmed his Andretti Autosport racing outfit was targeting a Formula One entry by 2024, after seeing a bid for Sauber fall through last year. However, Steiner believes the current grid size works for the global motorsport series and that the stability and health of existing entrants should not be put at risk.
“You’ve got ten very good teams or good teams, they’re all stable,” said Steiner. “Why should we change something if it works like this? At the moment, we are in a good place.”