Is Mazepin still behind Hitech?
The political battle that will decide the future shape of Formula 1 does not subside. As is well known, the FIA has launched a call for tenders for new candidates who want to enter the Circus in 2025, 2026 or 2027, but the teams are blocking, looking through Liberty Media to protect their income from an ever so rich pie. And now – in addition to defending themselves – they would have gone on to counterattack: as reported by Auto Motor und Sportthe teams would have shown some doubts about the candidacy of Hitech GP extension. According to the teams, Dmitry would be behind the acquisition of 25% of the team by the Kazakh businessman Vladimir Kim Mazepinfather of former Haas driver Nikita.
Mazepin is the former owner of the Hitech teamthen returned to the hands of the founder Oliver Oakes: it was banned from Formula 1 following the individual sanctions that the European Union imposed on the oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin after the invasion of Ukraine.
Federal President Mohammed Ben Sulayem he would have already given the go-ahead to the entry of Andretti and Hitech GP. Clearly, if it were ascertained that the Russian oligarch’s money was behind the Kazakh, the Emirate would be forced to exclude Hitech’s candidacy and also exclude him from the minor categories (he also competes in F2 and F3): it would be another misstep for the FIA number one, determined to win this battle that he himself believes he is playing “on his field” and not on Domenicali’s, despite the fact that there should be a dialogue between the FIA and Liberty Media on who to welcome to Formula 1.
The team wall
In addition to the one on Mazepin, the teams have been organizing a parallel “resistance” against for months Andretti. This too is linked to money and the fear of dividing the cake by 11 and no longer by ten, but “disguised” by concerns about safety and the added value of new entrances (despite Big Foot and son have the backing of General Motors and Cadillac). It is no coincidence that Frederic Vasseur and Toto Wolff advised them to buy an existing team, a feat which however only managed to Audi (after lengthy negotiations with Sauber) and impossible for smaller cabotage teams, however willing to pay the 200 million dollar entry fee. Andretti, again according to reports Auto Motor und Sport, would like to enter Formula 1 from 2025: in this case he would have to build two cars with two different power unit regulations and would also not be part of the current Concorde Agreement (which expires at the end of 2025). Without Liberty Media’s approval, it would not be able to redeem its prizes.
The candidates
There are five candidates for entry into Formula 1. In addition to Andretti’s team, there are Rodin-Carlin (managed by billionaire David Dicker), LKY Sunz (the team made up of former Panthera team members whose mission is to offer space and opportunities to the youngest), Formula Equal (created by former BAR CEO Craig Pollock with the aim of having equal gender representation in every aspect of the team) and H26 (the Hitech team project, which unlike the others not only races in minor formulas but would even tests in the former Mercedes wind tunnel at Silverstone). At the moment, and up to and including 2025, the maximum number of teams is 12.
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