McLaren CEO Zak Brown Uses Quick Maths To Justify 11th F1 Team

Posted on September 22, 2023 | by Dre Harrison One of the longest-running 2023 stories is the debate about whether F1 needs an 11th team or not, with Andretti the likely favourite to have a bid accepted – on the FIA side of the process, at least. The likely real battleground as to whether Andretti will make the grid will be on the commercial side of F1’s management and whether the sport’s current 10 teams agree. While some team bosses like Toto Wolff and Fred Vasseur, at Mercedes and Ferrari respectively, have been resistant to the idea, Zak Brown as McLaren’s CEO has kept a more open mind.  In a recent interview with Motorsport-Total, Brown used some interesting maths to potentially justify an Andretti F1 bid… if the sport more than tripled its anti-dilution fee for an 11th team to $700million instead of the current $200m. Calculator’s ready folks… “It has to be the right team with the right resources. Let’s assume for a moment it is,” said Brown. “If they pay the right franchise fee – which is not $200million, let’s say it’s $700million – then I get $70million. The dilution of an 11th team is about $10million a year. So, if I get $70m, it will be covering me for seven years. Then if it costs $700m just to enter, it’s created $700million more in franchise value. So, whatever I’m worth today, pick a number… $2billion, now I’m worth $2.7billion.” Brown added: “Also if you have an 11th team, the scarcity is even greater because there’s only room for 12. As soon as there’s 12, now you’re sold out, so that drives the demand up.” But Brown held back from fully endorsing a bid from Andretti – whose team boss Michael Andretti, pictured below with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, is a business associate of Brown’s – or anyone else. “I don’t know enough about Andretti’s bid to have a view on whether they should or shouldn’t [be accepted]. No one’s seen the bid. “But if someone’s prepared to pay the right franchise fee, it’s a quality racing team, we know who they are and where their money is from and they’re bringing an OEM [a manufacturer] and they’re paying the right fee, then I don’t see it as diluting. I see it as additive.” So Brown’s certainly not against an expansion if a bid ticks a lot of financial boxes, but whether the maths checks out, or the other teams agree, remains to be seen. Calculator’s down, class… If you were a team boss, would you want an 11th team in the paddock?