Zach Brown: Contribution for new teams should be increased

The topic of new teams that may appear in Formula 1 in the future remains very relevant, especially because of Andretti Cadillac, Michael Andretti’s project, which has been much talked about lately.

In particular, Formula 1 president Stefano Domenicali accused the American side of trying to draw too much attention to his project, saying this is “not a very smart tactic”.

“No one can pressure us to make a decision just because someone is shouting the loudest,” Domenicali told Sky Sports.

At the same time, at the beginning of February, the FIA ​​announced the official launch of the procedure for accepting applications from new teams to enter Formula 1, and this is already a real opportunity for Andretti Cadillac, but it is not a fact that it will be easy to take advantage of.

McLaren Racing CEO Zach Brown has made it clear that the agenda for the next meeting of the Formula 1 committee, due at the end of February, will include raising the fee to be paid by organizers of new teams when apply for participation in the World Championship. Currently, this amount is $200 million.

“I have not discussed this with other teams yet, but the matter is on the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the Formula 1 committee,” he said. – I think the question of the right contribution will ultimately be decided by Formula 1 and the FIA. When we introduced the provision for such a contribution almost five years ago, F1 was in a very different position.

So I think they should discuss this issue and decide on the amount they find acceptable. I mean, a championship franchise is very expensive. And this is more of an investment, and not just a fee, because the value of these franchises, if not yet in the billions, then, of course, will reach this level in the near future.

Personally, I’ve always tried to make this whole pie bigger, but I’m less interested in a bigger piece of the pie that doesn’t get any bigger.

And if the arrival of a new team helps us get better TV deals, get more sponsors and if they pay an appropriate entry fee that matches the current cost of Formula 1 then we are ready to see the increase in the number of participants to support. the championship to a maximum of 12 commandos.”