Otmar Szafnauer has a group of "serious people" ready to finance a 12th team in Formula 1, as well as a car manufacturer "in place that wants to join".
The ex-Aston Martin and Alpine F1 team principal revealed during the recent Miami Grand Prix, at a business forum co-hosted by The Race, that he's been working on proposals for a new Formula 1 team with the aim of being first in the queue should a new tender process launch.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Race's new Team Principal Podcast, Szafnauer said he'd been working on these plans "quietly in the background for over a year".
"The finances are in place," he said. "What I can tell you is that the financiers are serious people and they have the financial wherewithal to be able to fund a Formula 1 team.
"The car manufacturer that also wants to join Formula 1's in place.
"It's just a matter of the timing being right to actually get the opportunity to start the 12th team.
"And perhaps in the near future, there might be some for sale."
Szafnauer wouldn't be drawn on who his investors are, or which manufacturer has agreed to back his project. (Sorry, we did try!)
But he said his investors are open to purchasing one of the existing 10 teams, should one become available, so long as "the asking price or the transaction price is a reasonable one for both sides".
"It's difficult when people aren't selling," Szafnauer added. "And I understand why - there's a new Concorde [agreement] coming [for 2026-30], that's all been agreed.
"And thereafter, there are nine owners and they all have different outlooks on life, on Formula 1, on how long they want to be in, on the reasons they're in.
"So hopefully, and in the not too distant future, some of them will say, 'You know what? I've had my time in Formula 1, perhaps it's a good time to sell'."
How long and how much would it take?
Szafnauer reiterates he wants his return to the frontline of F1 to be as a team co-owner - in the style of Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, who is a 33% shareholder of that team, alongside Mercedes parent company Daimler and INEOS, the chemicals company owned by Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe.
Szafnauer estimates a difference of between "10% and 30%" in costs between starting a team from scratch versus purchasing an existing one, depending on the sale price agreed and the money required for investment in that team versus the so-called anti-dilution fund any new teams now have to pay and the necessary capital expenditure required for a start-up.
If Szafnauer and his investors build from the ground up rather than shortcut their way onto the grid by purchasing an existing team, they are also reliant on a process that hasn't yet begun.
F1 and the FIA has yet to state any desire to welcome a 12th team onto the grid, let alone green-light a formal application process.
Szafnauer says it's not realistic to be ready any earlier than 2028 or 2029 "if you don't start hiring tomorrow", and the most obvious juncture would be in line with a change of engine regulations - which has been predicted to come in with the end of the next Concorde in 2030.
But Szafnauer predicts the basic hybrid engines that underpin the current rules as well as the 2026 ones will remain in place beyond that timeframe and believes it's possible to join the grid "mid-regulation" if necessary.
"I think with the resources I've put together, within a short time, I could be competitive," Szafnauer added.
"I would hire the right individuals. I think I can get them to come. The car manufacturer that will produce a powertrain will be very competent.
"And the financial backing that I've been able to put together means that we would have a new windtunnel, new R&D facilities, new factory - a little bit like what Lawrence Stroll did [with Aston Martin].
"That probably takes two to three years from a standstill - but in those two-to-three years, if you put the right people together, you can also develop the simulation tools you need to be competitive, then within three-to-four years be competitive.
"When I was at British American Racing, in year two [2000] we finished tied fourth in points in the world championship [with Benetton], and we started from nothing - three employees. I was operations director then, so I remember what it took to do that.
"I don't know when or if the process for a 12th team will open up, but if it does, I want to be ready. And if it opens up relatively soon, then '28, '29 would be a fair timeline to get racing."
