Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has revealed that teams are turning down offers worth “almost billions” to give up their place on the grid.
The popularity provided by the Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive and F1’s expansion in the United States has witnessed the sport exponentially grow like never before in recent times.
Subsequently, Audi has been attracted to enter as a constructor for the first time in its history in 2026, with the American automotive giant Ford also partnering with Red Bull for the new engine regulations.
Meanwhile, the American Andretti outfit has also persistently proposed its intentions, despite objections from the present teams over the current entry fee figure.
Speaking via the official F1 website, Domenicali has disclosed that the demand for a place on the F1 grid has resulted in teams being offered obscene numbers.
“If you look what has happened in such a short term, talking about the value of one team, that was not many years ago – I would say two years ago when the new Concorde Agreement has been signed – when there was the talk about what is the value of a team that has to come in F1, there was a number put on the Concorde Agreement that was £200 million. Which seems unreachable, because there were teams in the past that were sold for £1.
“Now the market is offering almost billions to teams and they are refusing that. Can you imagine that?
“So that gives you the perspective of what we are building as an ecosystem. We are building important structure, important dynamics of which the more everyone is growing, the better and the stronger is the business platform which we are all working in.”
Despite the FIA opening up an Expression of Interest process to enable potential entries to submit a formal interest, Domenicali believes the current 10-team grid suffices.
“I don’t think so, that’s a personal opinion, I need to say that,” he continued. “If you have a good show, 20 cars are more than enough.
“If you have two cars or two drivers fighting, the level of attention is mega. So if you have already two teams fighting, that means four cars, it’s just incredible. So can you imagine 20 cars, 10 teams are at the level where there is competition on track? It would be impressive.
“I would say let’s wait and see. My ‘no’ is not against someone wants to come in, I need to clarify that because otherwise it seems that I want to be protectionist, that is not the case. I want to see the right one and I need to also respect the ones that have invested in F1 in the last period, because we forget too quickly the respect.
“Now everyone wants to jump in the coach that is very fast. But we need to be prudent, we need to take the right decision, that’s what I’m saying.”
