An 11th team will add value to the teams already in F1, estimates Zak Brown
While Andretti has passed all the tests conducted by the FIA, the team will now officially enter negotiations with F1. McLaren's director, Zak Brown, believes that if it is of quality, an 11th team will be beneficial to F1.
Andretti received the green light from the FIA this week to apply as a new F1 team starting from 2025. While Andretti was the only team to benefit from this approval, it is not certain that F1 will accept this new actor.
F1 teams are facing a dilemma. Decrease their income and welcome a new competitor, in the face of the potential increase in the spectacle for the fans. F1 itself in the person of Stefano Domenicali is not particularly in favor of a new actor.
For Zak Brown, however, the director of McLaren, welcoming an 11th team to F1 can be beneficial not only in terms of sport but also financially: « It has to be the right team with the right resources. If we assume that this is the case and they pay not 200 million, but 700 million euros in entry fees, then I will receive 70 million. If we lose 10 million per year because of this 11th team, I am covered for 7 years. Then, if we say it costs 700 million to enter and my team is worth what, 2 billion, it means it is now worth 2.7 billion. » he explains from a purely financial point of view.
« Then, since we can only be 12 teams, this means that there will only be room for one more team, and this will therefore generate more value for this 12th team. If we are 12, then we will be complete and each team will be worth even more. »
Zak Brown even goes further by imagining the contribution that an actor like General Motors could have by arriving in F1 with Andretti, in contention for this title of 11th F1 team.
« GM will undoubtedly use F1 as a promotional tool. They will do advertising or Paddock Club. We receive 70% of everything that comes in F1. So let’s imagine that they spend 100 million per season for promotion, we will have an additional 70 million to share. And this does not include all the sponsors they will bring in. So no, we don’t really dilute ourselves. »
He therefore concludes that if Andretti is capable, there is no reason to refuse: « I have not seen their offer but it is a quality racing team, and if they pay the entry fees, it is not a dilution of the value of our team but a supplement. »
