The Formula One grid could expand with the arrival of another team in the next couple of years; and that team could be coming from an unlikely place, namely China.
According to Autosport, a sports car racing team called Bronze Fortune Limited that’s based in the UK and run by a French lawyer, has reincorporated under the name China F1 Racing Team Limited.
Though there’s no official confirmation from the FIA, the name change suggests that a new team is in the works with backing from a Chinese company, and might already have been approved by the sport’s governing body.
“There are always rumours, but we have had some interest from some teams,” said FIA president Jean Todt in Geneva last week. “At the moment we have 10 teams and the idea is to have up to 12 teams. So we have an opportunity, if we have one or two strong newcomers it could be possible.”
The Chinese team wouldn’t be the first to put its country’s image on the grid. Force India has done the same since taking over the Midland/Spyker team (née Jordan) in 2008. There was a similar effort to put a USF1 team on the grid in 2010, which eventually materialized six years later by the Haas team that started from scratch. You can rest assured, however, that like Force India and Haas, the prospective Chinese team would base the core of its operations in the UK, as only Ferrari, Toro Rosso and Sauber are based elsewhere, though still in Europe.
“First we need to check ourselves the request. It’s going through a kind of audit to see who are the potential buyers,” said Todt. “And then, once you are sure that there is a real interest, and once you’re sure that people are able, like was the case with Haas, for example, then we make a tender.”
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