F1’s interest in attracting more brands that fall in love with the sport and come to stay has prompted the generation of several hypotheses to increase the number of cars on the grid. Alpine has its own way of thinking.
Since the renowned ‘Manor’ announce its goodbye to Formula 1 at the end of the 2016 season, following in the footsteps of Caterham shortly before, the premier class of motorsport has had ten teams on its grid continuously. This number has been questioned incessantly, with numerous proposals to increase it through different strategies.
The access of young talents to the ‘Great Circus’ has been on the table since the new F1 owners gave a twist to the ladder that culminates with 20 cars driven by the best: Oscar Piastri, current leader of the Formula 2 in the absence of two racing weekends, will not have a seat in F1 even if he ends up taking the title, it is evident that something is wrong with the system.
While leaders of the caliber of Toto wolff recently bet on introduce a third car per teamIn order to accommodate these young drivers from their respective programs, Alpine wonders if the $ 200 million fee that a team must face for wanting to enter F1 is the cause of the current bottleneck.
“It’s a tough question,” confessed Marcin Budkowski. «I will try to give a simple answer: it would be good to have more teams in Formula 1, I think we would all appreciate it, but they have to be the right teams and they must add value to the sport. That is one of the reasons why the anti-flight tax was imposed, to make sure that whoever comes is really solid and solvent from a financial point of view.
«Being able to lead a Formula 1 team, something that, as is known by all, means a very expensive business. Similarly, it was introduced to ensure that, when the Concord Agreement was negotiated, all teams were reassured that the pie was not divided into more pieces with the arrival of new teams in an uncontrolled way, “continued the executive director of Alpine.
Who has the key?
This setback has not been solved for years, with many pilots who end up thinking that the Economic factor is much more important than skill behind the wheel of a Formula 1, a controversy that flies over the paddock with excessive weight in certain occasions.
“It was a measure that was basically implemented to give confidence to the 10 existing teams, to assure them that they would be taken care of in case new teams arrived. Should it be removed? To be honest, it is a question for the commercial rights holder, Stefano Domenicali, but yes, more teams would bring more diversity to the sport, more drivers for sure, ”said Budkowski.
“I think it is a better solution than having three cars per team, as has been proposed in the recent past,” closed the Pole. For its part, Franz tost He asserted that “there have always been very few seats in Formula 1”, also taking the opposite side of Wolff. «I don’t see a third car, starting with who is going to finance it, “he said.
Finally, Laurent mekies, stressed that Formula 1 has and must have the best drivers on the planet in the future, thus advocating “having the opportunity to perform test»Referring to the promises that currently militate in lower categories. “This way we will make sure that we do not miss any of the young people who are to come,” he said.