Monaco F1 Racing Team is to prepare for a Formula One debut! Its headlines like this that kept on spamming my inbox a few days ago. Salvatore Gandolfo the men behind Monaco F1 Racing Team is not new in the Formula One. In 2019, he, together with late Adrian Campos, made plans to debut in 2021 on the grid. Will Monaco F1 Racing Team debut in 2022 or 2023? If they don’t need to pay the 200 million dollar fee there is a small chance.
Last week Stefano Domenicali openly questioned the 200 million dollar fee a new team had to pay if they want to enter the Formula One. There are occasions we should stop looking only at the money. As quoted. Will the fee disappear in the Formula One eventually, I really don’t know. I truly hope so. As there is a budget cap in the Formula One. This fee was only introduced to keep the current teams happy.
Perhaps you already heard of the name Salvatore Gandolfo. He is the CEO and founder of MIM (Monaco Increase Management). It’s a management company that has several drivers under their wings. Drivers like David Vidales Ajenjo (F3), Alex Palou (Indycar) and Pascal Wehrlein (Formula E) are under contract.
It is good news that a new team is interested in the Formula One. How serious is the attempt from Monaco F1 Racing Team to appear on the grid? To answer this we have to take a small trip back in the past. In June 2019 it was known that Adrian Campos and Salvatore Gandolfo were working on a comeback of the team on the grid.
To be honest, I’m not sure if it was a comeback of Campos Racing. The intention was to debut an all-Spanish F1 Team in the Formula One. Campos was supported by MIM. At that time, it seemed the project made progression by hiring personal and, according to them, have several meetings going on with potential partners. In June 2020, Gandolfo told several media outlets that the project was still alive and kicking, besides Covid-19.
I was not really surprised when all F1 sites published the same story “Monaco F1 Racing Team” to take the 11th spot on the grid!? This is the reason I did not publish it. I prefer to do some research no my own. Therefore, I questioned myself its great they published this announcement, which is far from certain they will even come that far. What is the concrete evidence that they are seriously? Like who would be the drivers? Who will be willing to supply them with engines? And so on and so on.
To answer a few question we have to go back again to June 2019. At that moment, several names were published. Peter McCool was announced as Chief Aerodynamics. Ben Wood was announced as Technical Director. While Daniele Audetto was said to become the team manager. I’m not sure if Audetto would fit the role as team manager as he is already 77 years. As far as im aware off Ben Wood currently works for the Haas F1 Team. Probably the drivers would come from the MIM pool.
There is another issue, which engine manufacturer is willing to supply the team? We all known that Red Bull Racing has a little bit of an issue regarding the engines. Will they take the Honda engines and keep on developing themselves? We know that Ferrari and Mercedes won’t supply new teams with their engine. For now, the only option will be Renault. However, I’m not sure if they are willing to supply a new team. There is a chance if Renault supplies them that they like to see a French driver in one of their cars. Assumable from the Alpine pool.
Will they establish themselves in Monaco, because of MIM? Or will they, like most of the team, establish themselves in England or perhaps in Italy? There is another option open kinda-ish. The rumours go that Alfa-Romeo is to leave the Formula One. Especially with the news that they are looking at Formula E. It would mean that the Sauber name re-appears on the grid. Perhaps they could make a deal with the team. However, it seems that Monaco F1 Racing Team wants to stay on their own feet. Which would mean they would build up their team from scratch. An option I would not suggest.
Then there is the same problem as with Panthera Team Asia F1. There are no social Medias created so far. If you really want to debut in the Formula One it should not be that problematic to create some social channels. It is lots easier to communicate with the community and with your potential fan base. However, on the website from MIM Gandolfo published a statement on the 8th of February. Still I have more trust in Monaco F1 Racing Team than I have in the Panthera project. Especially as Panthera doesn’t feel legit. My last research in them did not result in the happy news. It felt like they given up and won’t appear on the grid after all.
However, to daydream a bit, wouldn’t this be amazing? Monaco F1 Racing Team, Panthera Team Asia F1 and the Russian SMP Racing would appear on the grid in 2022 or 2023! It would mean three new teams and six new drivers. Racing would be much more interesting, the grid is filled with 26 cars and probably there is some more action on the track. Sadly, I’m afraid that Monaco F1 Racing Team will end up as attempts like China F1 Racing Team Limited. An excellent addition to my Unraced F1 Database!
