Plans for a brand new Formula 1 team that would see an equal gender divide across its workforce have been revealed.
Craig Pollock, founder of the British American Racing team that competed in the early 2000s, is spearheading the project called ‘Formula Equal’.
Pollock wants to start up a new team amid the current boom in interest that F1 is enjoying and has pledged to provide equal representation from the cockpit to the boardroom.
“Our ambition to deliver and build opportunities and pathways for women to get to the very top level inside motorsports,” Pollock told CNN.
“The concept and the idea was to try and build a Formula 1 team, 50 per cent male, 50 per cent female, which is extremely hard to do if you have an existing Formula 1 team; it’s a lot easier with a clean sheet of paper.”
A 2016 survey by the FIA showed that 6.5 per cent of drivers, 16 per cent of institutional employees, and 19 per cent of volunteers in European motorsport were women.
With its plan to have a 50-50 divide between male and females, Pollock says there will need to be a deep search to ensure equal representation.
“We know that we are going to have to go through our academy systems,” he said.
“We know we’re going to have to build it up because there are not enough women at the moment who are trained up to the level of Formula 1 and they’ve got to earn a place in there at the same time.”
The FIA, the sport’s governing body, has officially launched the process for new potential teams to join the grid.
There are believed to be a number of interested parties in forming an 11th squad, with Andretti Global being the most vocal.
However, there has been resistance from existing F1 parties over fears what a new outfit would do to its revenue shares.
When asked by whom the project is being funded by, Pollock said: “We are in intense discussions with I would just say a Gulf area country.
“I’m not really in the position to talk about that and be fully open about it at this present time – that will come out in the very near future.
“And I just hope it’s going to work because … it does take a lot of money.”
Early speculation is that Saudi Arabia could be backing the team.
Saudi Arabia held its first F1 race in 2021 and says that it is open to hosting more than one event annually going forward as it boosts its involvement in F1.
Should the process be successful, Formula Equal would look to make its debut in 2026.
