Racing
© Jonathan Borba
BYD is pushing ahead with plans to explore a Formula 1 entry as a standalone constructor, with vice-president Stella Li holding talks with Christian Horner as the prospect of a 12th team begins to look more concrete.
The key shift is that BYD’s reported preference is not to buy into an existing operation, but to build a new team of its own. That places the Chinese manufacturer on a very different path from the speculation around investment in current outfits and turns attention toward whether Formula 1 could eventually open the door to another new entrant.
Horner has emerged as a central figure in that possibility. Multiple reports say he met Li several times over two days in Cannes shortly after she confirmed BYD’s interest in an F1 project. BYD’s own footage from its Cannes Night event showed Horner attending as a guest, adding visible weight to the suggestion that the talks were more than casual paddock chatter.
Li has already confirmed contact at the top of the sport. After meeting Formula One Group CEO Stefano Domenicali in Shanghai, she said BYD was discussing the possibility of joining the grid. “We are always in close contact,” Li said. She added: “I like Formula 1 because it’s about passion and culture, and people dream of being in Formula 1,” while describing a potential entry as an opportunity to “put our technology to the test.”
That does not mean a BYD-backed project would have an easy route onto the grid. Any new entry would still require support from both the FIA and Formula 1, and Domenicali has already made clear that FOM will set a high bar. “We’ll only evaluate a bid of great significance because I think we’re already at a point with no more room; logistically, we’re at the limit,” he said last September. He also warned that, with team values rising and investor interest growing, Formula 1 must be prudent about protecting what it has built.
The FIA has sounded more open, particularly if a serious Chinese manufacturer were involved. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem told select media including PlanetF1.com that “If there is a team from China, let’s say, and FOM approved it, and I am 100 per cent they will approve it, wouldn’t it make more money with China coming in? I believe, yes.” He also stressed that any expansion could not be done for its own sake, saying: “It will be the right team.”
That leaves BYD’s talks carrying significance beyond simple curiosity. Li has confirmed interest, Horner is now free to return to Formula 1 in any capacity, and the sport’s two governing sides have already sketched out the test any such bid would face. If BYD wants to turn its discussions into a formal application, the project would need to prove it is not just new, but valuable enough to justify a 12th place on the grid.