F1 | The Panthera Asia team relaunches and tests the waters for entering Formula 1

Last week the FIA has opened up the possibility of having new teams in the Formula 1 world championship. With the arrival of the 2026 regulations regarding the power units, which will be simplified and aimed at sustainability, the Federation and Liberty Media have already received the expression of interest from Andretti e Cadillac, who aim to enter the Circus in the next few years, but first they will have to pass a pre-established and particularly rigid process. Not only that, in recent years in fact the team asian panthera he has expressed his intent to enter Formula 1 several times, first by 2021 to participate in the new era that came into force and then only last year due to the Covid issue, which is probably why nothing more has been done about it.

In the last few days, however, the team leader benjamin durand, reached by PlanetF1 made it clear that there is the will, or at least the interest in the next regulatory cycle. Not only that, the Asian team raises the pressure for a collaboration with Calvin Lo, a billionaire from Honk Hong and who the team would like to involve in the Formula 1 project.
“We haven't spoken to him,” Durand said, but it's interesting to see his comments to the press, saying how the Asian market is not the center of attention right now unlike the United States, and so everyone is looking over there, to the west. , ignoring the east, and this is definitely a mistake, so we have a lot of things in common with Calvin Lo. I don't know what he has in mind, but we are open to everyone, and anyone who wants to bring us something to strengthen the Formula 1 project is welcome."

Again intercepted by PlanetF1, Calvin Lo seems to agree with Durand's vision, recognizing the great popularity that Formula 1 has been having around the world in recent years since Liberty Media took over, reiterating how these are exciting times and that everyone wants to be part of this sport. There are probably battles emerging to enter the Circus as the eleventh team, and after the decisive step of Andretti together with Cadillac, Panthera Asia could also have a chance, but compared to the Americans they seem to start with the underdogs of the forecast, but Durand himself thinks there will be no competition. Likewise, it is difficult to think that Formula 1 can go beyond the eleven teams on the grid (despite the maximum allowed being thirteen, ed.), given that the experiment implemented from 2010 to 2012, with the simultaneous entry of Virgin, Lotus and HRT did not bring the desired results in terms of competitiveness in the years preceding the turbo-hybrid era.