Since Liberty Media, the FIA and the Formula 1 teams left open the slot for a twelfth team in the latest Concorde Agreement, candidates eager to fill that gap have kept surfacing. The latest is a familiar name to Formula 1 and to Fernando Alonso, the Romanian Otmar Szafnauer.
The former Alpine and Aston Martin team principal has become involved with the Van Amersfoort Racing Formula 2 outfit with a single mission: to promote it into Formula 1. To achieve this, he wants to lean on the Mexican Lawrence Stroll, a billionaire entrepreneur who has spent years investing in getting his son into Formula 1.
Szafnauer wants to land an F1 team for Rafael Villagómez
Otmar Szafnauer could be back in Formula 1 very soon. The former team principal of Aston Martin and Alpine has joined the Van Amersfoort Racing Formula 2 project with the aim of bringing it into Formula 1, while also overseeing the operation of the team in the lower category.
What lies behind Van Amersfoort’s push to rise to Formula 1 is a Mexican billionaire, a sort of Lawrence Stroll who has spent years investing with a single objective: that his son reach Formula 1. He has not succeeded by knocking on the doors of existing teams, so now he seeks to have his own.
It concerns Rafael Villagómez, a 24-year-old Formula 2 driver who, for now, has not had much success. He is in his third season in the Formula 1 feeder category and has only a couple of podiums in Sprint races, the first at Montmeló and the second at Losail. Reaching Formula 1 on merit seems almost impossible.
But his father, Rafael Villagómez Sr., is one of the richest men in Mexico, building a family fortune that began with mining and gradually expanded into other sectors. The Villagómez are already majority shareholders of Van Amersfoort, and now they want to push for entry into Formula 1.
In theory, there is a twelfth slot waiting for the ideal candidate. In recent weeks there have been strong rumors of a possible BYD entry into Formula 1. If a new team were to emerge, the FIA would have to open the bidding process for all applicants, and then choose the most suitable option.
We shall see whether Szafnauer’s connections are enough to open Formula 1’s doors to the Mexican Lawrence Stroll and his son, Rafael Villagómez.
Images | Aston Martin
