Toto Wolff had recently brought forth the idea of F1 teams having 3 cars, something that would allow more drivers to race in F1 and could provide more entertainment to the fans(along with allowing Toto the opportunity to find a seat for Ocon).
The plan has and will be largely opposed by midfield teams, who already find it difficult to make their way to the podium, and if the top 3 teams have a total of 9 drivers, their podium dreams could very well be done away with.
Charlie Whiting feels that three driver teams could be an interesting option`on a personal note, but it wouldn’t find any supporters.
“My personal view is that it would be nice to have a few more cars, but honestly I think it’s very unlikely.” Whiting said, as quoted by Motorsport.com
“It’s fairly simple. The argument against it is if you’ve got a dominant team with three cars, then everyone’s fighting over fourth and not a podium place.
“If you’ve got three dominant teams with three cars, then you’re fighting over 10th. I can understand why everyone would baulk at that.
“It would be nice to have a few more teams capable of winning, of course, but this year it’s more competitive than it’s been since the beginning of this engine era.
“Equally if you have a more evenly competitive field, it’s a good economic model as far as one can see. This is why GP3 teams have always had three cars.
“Next year’s F3 the plan is 10 teams with three cars each, because it’s a good business model, because it enables the third car price to be lower. I would think that would work in F1 as well.” he added.
Along with the competitiveness of the midfield teams, the number of additional personnel required could also be an issue that the FIA would have to address, one that could be a very cumbersome process.
“The rules are based around two-car teams, so a lot would have to be looked at. They’re allowed 60 operational personnel,” Whiting said
“How many more would they need? There’s a big difference between what they’d need and what they’d say they need. We’d have to decide what’s the right figure. It wouldn’t be 30, it might be 10.” he added.
Whiting is largely hopeful that the new engine and commercial rules can attract new teams to F1, something that could add more spice to the sport come 2021.
“Getting new teams, as we know, is tantamount to impossible at the moment. But that’s something that we’re hoping will improve, of course, If everything works out as planned, with the revenue distribution and the cost cap.
“The car will hopefully be regulated where the non-performance parts are standard or prescribed, and the performance differentiating parts are team only, where you can’t get them from everybody else.
“A lot of the stuff that Haas currently buys from Ferrari will be prescribed or standard. However the suspension, brake ducts, air ducts, all of those are currently non-listed, so they are allowed to buy those, and there is a huge performance in them. That’s what we’re hoping, anyway.” he concluded.
