The FIA has officially opened up the selection process to find a new candidate team to join the Formula 1 grid in 2016 or 2017.
Prospective entrants are required to register their interest by June 30th, only then will the FIA release more information to interested parties. Final and full applications are due by September 1st ahead of a final decision on September 30th.
In an attempt to avoid a similar scenario to the collapse of HRT and Caterham, the FIA says it will only select a candidate based on “the overall long-term interests of the championship”, adding that each will “undergo thorough due diligence”.
The FIA’s key selection criteria includes:
a) the technical ability and resources of the team
b) the ability of the team to raise and maintain sufficient funding to allow participation in the Championship at a competitive level
c) the team’s experience and human resources
d) the FIA’s assessment of the value that the candidate may bring to the Championship as a whole.
An additional team would boost the grid to 24 cars with the addition of the Haas F1 Team, however the FIA added that it wouldn’t necessarily select a candidate if no entry is deemed suitable by both the FIA and commercial rights holder FOM, no additional team will be selected.
