Brawn wants 13 teams on the grid

Formula 1 managing director Ross Brawn has said he would like to increase the number of teams on the grid, as he believes more teams would be better for the sport.

Only one entirely new team, Haas, has joined the grid since the 2010 influx of three new teams, none of which are still active on the grid after amassing only three points between them in six years under their various guises. Haas, which joined the grid as close to a Ferrari customer car as the laws allowed them, have fared better than the 2010 trio since they joined in 2016.

They bagged 29 points last year and achieved eighth in the constructor championship, and so far scoring 15 points this year again lying eighth in the standings.

But Ross Brawn has expressed his desire for there to be more teams joining the grid, and believes that the old economic system under Bernie Ecclestone was not helpful to smaller teams and for prospective teams joining the sport, as it had a large proportion of the prize money going to the larger teams such as Ferrari and Mercedes. This even prompted the likes of Sauber and Force India to complain to the EU in 2015.

"Our goal is that in the future we have 12 or even 13 teams," Brawn said. "This can be achieved if we can adjust the economic model, The position of all the teams must be strengthened commercially. We want to achieve a more equitable distribution of income, although it won't be easy."

Sam Gale