Martin Brundle, the former Formula 1 driver, and now respected sport’s pundit, believes it would be great to have 12 teams on the F1 grid.
Martin Brundle, the former The topic of having an extra team on the F1 grid is not a new one with Michael Andretti, son of 1978 F1 Champion Mario, fighting to have his own team for some time now, but lately the matter has been put into the spotlight with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem directing his team to launch a process to induct a new team to the sport, a step the governing body made official on February 2, 2023.
Ever since Ben Sulayem announced his plans for new teams, Andretti-Cadillac announced their plans for a joint F1 venture but didn’t get any enthusiastic response except from the FIA boss.
The fact remains that having a new team in F1 depends on how much money this new entrant will pay to be part of the franchise, a fact Red Bull boss Christian Horner shed light on.
However, Martin Brundle personally believes have up to 12 teams (24 cars) on the grid is the right thing for F1 when asked about the topic.
“Getting more teams in is a logistical thing as well as a financial aspect. You know, will they fit in the pit lane, the paddock, on the grid?” Brundle told Sky Sports F1. “How many cars do we need? I think 24 cars will be great personally, we’ve got 29 races this season, 23 grands prix and six sprint races with 20 cars on the grid.
“I don’t think it’s quite enough of a show, personally, and opportunity,” the 63-year-old added.
Ford joining Red Bull an interesting one
Brundle was speaking in the aftermath of the Red Bull 2023 F1 launch event the team held in New York, where they also announced a collaboration with Ford in the power unit department from 2026 onward.
Commenting on the Ford news, Brundle said: “If you look at the Ford thing, it’s a halfway house really – it’s an interesting one.
“Red Bull had Infiniti on for a while, then it had Aston Martin on the side of it for a while before Aston got their own team, so this is a branding thing.
“What I find most interesting here is all of the world’s car manufacturers are totally focused on electric cars, EVs, coming up,” he pointed out.
“And yet if you look at the Ford announcement today, they love the idea of the technology, sustainability, sustainable fuels and the opportunity and then, basically, eyeballs – the number of people who are watching Formula 1 now who are not watching other formula with just battery power, for example.
“So it’s interesting that they’re even wanting to be involved in Formula 1, but it’s just the might that it has at the moment. So they’re coming in in different ways. Overall, it is really good news for F1,” Brundle concluded.