Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes that adding an 11th team on the Formula 1 grid would be a safety concern for the sport.
Earlier this year, the FIA opened the formal process for new F1 teams, with the deadline closing at the end of June.
F1 has had 10 teams since 2017 and many of the existing squads are reluctant to expand beyond that figure over fears of what it would mean for the end-of-year revenue shares.
Andretti Global and Hitech Grand Prix are two known parties that have submitted applications to join the F1 field.
Wolff says his viewpoint over a new team on the grid is “pretty much unchanged” as he questioned the logistics of injecting another squad into the paddock.
“We have no visibility of who the applications came from, and what the proposals are,” Wolff said.
“I think all the stakeholders – and I think mainly the FIA and FOM – will decide on such a new entry, will assess if the proposal is accretive for Formula 1.
“What does it bring us in terms of marketing and interest, and whether they want to think about introducing that. Our position was very clear: buy a team.
“But you know, there’s a lot of consequences [of an 11th team]. When you look at qualifying sessions, I mean already now we’re looking like on a go-kart track, we’re tripping over each other.
“There is a safety concern: we haven’t got the logistics, where to put an 11th team. Here in Silverstone, we can accommodate the Hollywood people but on other circuits, we can’t.”
Wolff highlighted that “there is no mature sports league in the world, whether it’s a national football championship, or the Champions League, the NBA, the NFL, the NHL, where such situation is possible, where you say I’m setting up a team and I’m joining, thank you very much for making me part of the prize fund”.
When it was put to him that the NHL has expanded the number of teams in recent years, Wolff asserted that it was because all of the stakeholders were in agreement.
“The NHL has added teams and I’m very aware of it, because they have decided to do so, all the stakeholders,” he said.
“We have done that in the past when Formula 1 was on the brink of losing teams, because of bankruptcy.
“We increased the numbers of teams and nobody complained about that. On the contrary.
“We felt that we needed to make sure that we have 10 teams on the grid and not lose any. So these two factors are very different with the NHL to the current situation.”
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