FIA Sets Hefty Application Fees, Entry Requirements for Prospective F1 Teams
The FIA has outlined that it is seeking any interested team to join Formula 1 in 2025, 2026 or 2027.
A tentative deadline of April 30 has been set for formal applications to be lodged.
A fee of $300,000 required, and the FIA expects to make a decision on those applications by June 30.
Formula 1’s governing body, the FIA, has formally launched an application process for prospective new teams to join the championship.
Michael Andretti’s organization, now aligned with General Motors through its Cadillac brand, has been the most vocal of the interested parties, but it is understood there are several candidates who have adopted a more discrete approach.
The FIA has outlined that it is seeking any interested team to join Formula 1 in 2025, 2026 or 2027.
And bring your checkbook.
A tentative deadline of April 30 has been set for formal applications to be lodged, with a fee of $300,000 required, and the FIA expects to make a decision on those applications by June 30. It stressed that in the event of no applicant being considered suitable by the FIA, and/or commercial rights holder Liberty Media, no new team will be selected.
Under the current Concorde Agreement—the deal which binds together the teams, the FIA and Formula 1 (Liberty Media)—any new team on top of the initial application fee also has to make a $200 million payment commonly known as the anti-dilution fee.
The current Concorde Agreement expires in 2025 and it is understood the existing teams are striving to substantially raise the $200 million fee due to the recent growth of Formula 1. Existing F1 tTeams have so far been resistant to new entries over fears their finances will be adversely affected by new squads taking an additional share of revenues.
Per the regulations the Formula 1 grid is capped at 24 cars, fielded by 12 teams, meaning there is only scope for two new entries at most.
The application process will include aspects such as the technical ability and resources of the team, its ability to raise and maintain sufficient funding, and a detailed business plan for the first five years of its project.
Candidates will also have to outline sustainability ambitions and how it plans to achieve a net-zero carbon impact by 2030.
All applicants, including individuals involved in the ownership, control or management of the team, will be required to undergo due diligence checks. The FIA says that Liberty Media "may also may also impose additional selection criteria/conditions," which will be advised during the application process.
The FIA outlined that ‘The overall long-term interests of the championship, involving all stakeholders, will determine which candidates are selected together with the applicable regulations and governance arrangements’.
“The growth and appeal of the FIA Formula One World Championship is at unprecedented levels,” said FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
“The FIA believes the conditions are right for interested parties, which meet the selection criteria, to express a formal interest in entering the Championship.
“For the first time ever, as part of the selection conditions, we are requesting that candidates set out how they would meet the FIA’s sustainability benchmarks and how they would make a positive societal impact through sport.
“The process is a logical extension of the positive acceptance of the FIA’s 2026 F1 Power Unit Regulations from engine manufacturers which has attracted Audi to Formula 1 and created interest among other potential entrants.”
Formula 1 has not welcomed a new team since Haas, which joined in 2016. That was also the last season to feature a grid of more than 10 teams.
The application process comes at a time of strained relations between the FIA and Liberty Media, following a spate of flare-ups, most recently over Ben Sulayem’s public warning against a mooted valuation of the championship.
