Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has signalled he would restart the expression of interest process for a 12th Formula 1 team, but only for the right candidate.
He named BYD and Geely as manufacturers who have already told him they want in.
Ben Sulayem launched the original process in 2023 despite resistance from existing teams, with Cadillac emerging as the sole successful applicant and joining the grid as F1’s 11th team this year.
Speaking at the New Economy Forum in Madrid, he explained the FIA’s thinking on grid expansion in blunt terms, tying it directly to F1’s need for more manufacturers on the American leg of the calendar.
“The FIA can open for a 12th team. But, ‘Do we need a team, Mr President?’ No, we don’t need a team, we need the team,” Ben Sulayem said.
“So now we have three races in America and the United States, and we have a manufacturer, we have Haas, but we needed an OEM.
“So I said, and even the promoter agrees that we need the team, and the team has to come from China.”
He said the interest had come directly from manufacturers approaching the FIA, with two Chinese brands already in the conversation.
“I had meetings with them, and they came and they said, we need to be in – one of them was BYD, and one was Geely,” Ben Sulayem said.
“And we said, ‘OK, we will open the expression of interest if you are coming’.”
But Ben Sulayem was equally clear that F1’s regulations would not be written around one nationality of manufacturer.
I had meetings with them, and they came and they said, we need to be in – one of them was BYD, and one was Geely.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem
“The regulations is not going to be affected only by Chinese manufacturers. We cannot do this. The regulations have to stay permanent, and it has to keep stability in it,” he said.
“I know the Chinese are leading in electrification, but is the only way to reach our target in electrification? What are we after? We are after a clean environment and clean air. So there are so many ways to reach it.”
He pointed to parallel work already underway across other categories as evidence F1 has options beyond straight electrification, and said he had been upfront with manufacturers from the start.
“Now we are opening to hydrogen, hybrid, electrification for the WRC in the future, and sustainable fuel,” Ben Sulayem said.
“So when I had my meetings, I was very, very clear. Why don’t you take a team to start with – that was with BYD; why should I be secret about it?.
“They said, ‘No, we want a team ourselves. Fine. Then come back with a serious offer that we can see that it’s going to work. And this is our regulations. I was very clear with them about the regulation.”
If BYD’s own proposition centres on a clean-sheet team rather than buying into an existing outfit, it is an approach that would need to clear the same threshold Cadillac met when it secured FIA approval by committing to build its own power unit, on course for a 2029 debut.
There are other considerations behind why introducing a Chinese team and OEM to F1 would work for the sport.
“We have a race in China. It’s huge. The manufacturers, we have also, we had a Chinese driver and the Chinese technology is there,” Ben Sulayem added.
“But it has to be on our terms and our regulations, which is fair for everyone. Because that’s also the responsibility of the FIA.”
