Ex-Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer advising on new US F1 project

• 59-year-old left Alpine at last year’s Belgian Grand Prix
• US-based entry is not linked to Andretti

Former Alpine Formula One team principal Otmar Szafnauer has revealed he is advising on a new US-based entry to the series.

The American is currently serving gardening leave after he left the Enstone-based outfit after last year’s Belgian Grand Prix.

Speaking on the James Allen On F1 podcast, the 59-year-old revealed his hopes for returning to the Formula One grid in the future.

“I’m a competitor and the one thing that I like more than anything is the competition,” said Szafnauer. “So, to come back in a role where I can’t influence how well the team is competing, I don’t think I’d be interested.

“If it was a role where I could help develop, build, attract the right people to improve a team’s competitiveness, I’d be interested.

“But you know, there’s only ten teams. A lot of them have people in those roles already. So, I don’t know how many opportunities there are out there, but there’s also the 11th and 12th team possibility. So that might be something that would be interesting for me.

“I’ve been working with some organisations in North America that have the funding to start an 11th team.

“It’s not Andretti. Now we’re just putting some of those building blocks in place to make sure that we have everything that’s required in order to be successful to both start a team, but also get an entry. So, you know, that’s interesting too.”

Szafnauer did not confirm the identity of the US investors or how soon the potential team would be looking to enter Formula One.

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BlackBook says…

The topic of an 11th team in Formula One has been contentious recently, especially following the bullish attempts from Andretti Global to force its way into the series.

Despite ultimately proving unsuccessful, Formula One left the door open for a future entry in 2028, which could be a more realistic timeline for other hopefuls too.

With the series continuing to go from strength to strength, it is an attractive proposition for a new entrant, but Formula One will likely be reticent to disrupt the status quo with the 2024 season becoming one of the most competitive in recent memory.

Of course, once the new Concorde Agreement begins in 2026 and the anti-dilution fee – the price a new team must pay to join the series – is revised from the current US$200 million, Formula One’s attitude towards a new entrant could improve greatly.