Ben Sulayem has noted that it was the FIA’s duty to open up an entry process as the Concorde Agreement allows for up to 12 teams, and he’s insisted that he was fulfilling the rules by so doing.
The governing body is still reviewing the packages presented by the potential newcomers.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has always insisted that an 11th entrant would have to add value to the sport, an opinion echoed by current team principals across the paddock, and also backed by Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei.
"I think there's little daylight between Stefano's and my view, which is we have 10 great teams, and we're very excited about what they're doing,” said Maffei in a call with Wall Street analysts.
“There was a process to add more teams, but the bar is very high. And it's unclear what value an 11th team would add. And there is a lot of uncertainty among the other teams about an 11th team.
“The FIA and we have had productive discussions about all this. Do we agree on everything, every moment? No, we discuss it, and we hopefully work things out."
Domenicali insisted that an agreement will eventually be reached with the FIA on an 11th team, suggesting that an answer would come next month.
"The FIA started the process, as is their possibility,” said the Italian. “We are waiting for the final conclusion.
“But as always in this discussion, we'll find agreement together, because as [Maffei] said the value of the teams and value of the business today is very, very strong.
“That decision, that information, will come very, very soon, I would say within the month of September."
Domenicali also noted that talks about the next Concorde Agreement, which will start in 2026, are already underway.
"I would say today, conversations are really going ahead, because the momentum of sport is really great,” he said.
“Of course, we're not in a rush. But I would say that all things are heading to a positive conclusion for these discussions, both with the teams and the FIA.”
