Billionaire businessman Lo seeks to enter new F1 team in 2026

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In the round-up: Billionaire businessman and Formula 1 fan Calvin Lo says he is looking at potentially financing a new team to enter into Formula 1.

In brief

Billonaire Lo is keen to finance new F1 entry

Lo, a 45-year-old Canadian businessman who has connections with Williams owners Dorilton Capital, sayshe is actively investigating the possibility of financing his own Formula 1 team, either by purchasing an existing team or setting up a new entry.

“In the last few years, I’ve been approached by many players in the F1 world, from teams to highly aspirational potential team owners or investors,” Lo told the Daily Star. “We’ve been looking at a current team and that’s how the idea of starting a new team came about. There are a lot of opportunities right now. I believe we’re going into a new era of a younger audience, a newer fanbase. Accessibility seems easier than before.

“We would be very fortunate to be involved, in whatever capacity. With a current team, that would be faster. Realistically, to get the car on the grid [with a new team], it would be 2026. That’s a short period of time, a very tight timeline.”

FREC reveals 2023 calendar

The Formula Regional European Championship has revealed its calendar for the 2023 season, featuring three pre-season test in Barcelona, Paul Ricard and Monza.

The season will begin at Imola in late April, before taking in the Circuit de Catalunya, Hungaroring, Spa-Francorchamps, Mugello and Paul Ricard. Following a break over August the season will then resume at the Red Bull Ring, then return to Monza before finishing with the final two rounds in Zandvoort and Hockenheim. A total of 12 teams will participate in the championship, each fielding three cars.

This year’s championship was won by Ferrari junior driver Dino Beganovic, racing for Prema. Beganovic will move up to FIA Formula 3 with the team for 2023.

Fisichella returns to single-seater racing in Adelaide

Three-time grand prix winner Giancarlo Fisichella returned to single-seater racing for the first time in 13 years when he took part in the first race of the Tasman S5000 series around the Adelaide Street Circuit in support of the final round of the Australian Supercars championship.

The 49-year-old, who raced with teams such as Jordan, Benetton, Renault, Force India and Ferrari over 14 seasons in Formula 1, finished fourth in the first of three races around the Adelaide circuit. Nathan Herne won the race ahead of Joey Mawson and Cooper Webster.

Fisichella previously had entered into the S5000 round at the Australian Grand Prix in 2020 and completed qualifying for that round before the event was cancelled due to the onset of Covid-19.

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Comment of the day

With Audi announcing a new, dedicated building in their motorsports complex in Germany for work on their Formula 1 power unit for 2026 after hiring over 200 people, @Tifoso1989 thinks there’s someone else the German manufacturer should bring onboard…

The logical move now for Audi now is to hire someone with the necessary experience to oversee the development of their PU. Binotto has been involved forever in F1 engine development and was already responsible for the KERS system when it first come up in 2009. He has been the head of PU department since 2014 and led the renaissance of Ferrari. He was also involved in the writing of the 2026 engine regulations and surely has an idea of Ferrari development plans.

Audi hiring Binotto is a no-brainer for me but it must be in a technical role and preferably limited to PU development.
@Tifoso1989

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Riise, Speed Damon, Colm and Rick!

On this day in motorsport

  • Born on this day in 1932: Gaetano Starrabba, who largely raced in Italy, picking up a couple of top six finishes in non-championship grands prix, and retiring from his only world championship start at Monza

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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15 comments on “Billionaire businessman Lo seeks to enter new F1 team in 2026”

  1. Another Canadian billionaire? What can possibly be bad about it…

  2. You can tell it’s the off-season when we’re scraping the trough of the Daily Star for content.

  3. Interesting, but probably not until 2026.

    I agree with the COTD that Binotto would be a good choice for Audi’s PU side.

  4. Does Lo have a kid who will be driving?

    1. Hahaha my thoughts as well

    2. That would be a new…

  5. Reports last year suggested Lo was Dorilton as far as F1 was concerned.

  6. The only credible news about a new F1 team is one that point to a US car manufacturer backing the entry.
    F1 already has its “USA” team. They wouldnt waste a new franchise “only for money”.
    Dont get me wrong, FIA loves money, but in a purely financial play, they will say “hey, why dont you just buy a part of a team.”
    So, to make up for the aggravation of sharing revenue, FIA will have to get something more meaningful in terms of a strategic partner. If the Andretti name isnt enough to justify a new team, they will require GM or Ford to write cheques and to build car/engines themselves.
    The rest is some financial guy/gal trying to prop up their own name.

    1. Ok, The rumours of Ford coming to F1 is getting louder…. Not sure if they can afford F1 but the name is heard in some channels.

  7. Coventry Climax
    3rd December 2022, 15:42

    I’m absolutely touched by Mr. Lo’s so apparent, blatant and deep running love for motorsports.
    I’m sure he’ll be a fine asset to and fit right in with the likes of Domenicali, Brawn, etc.

  8. I think it would be great if we had a genuinely new team, and one which was quickly competitive. If Lo can prop up the finances in the formative years, it should mean the team is less dependent upon the whims of sponsors. Another team would help the engine manufacturers too, by giving them another customer. When F1 was struggling to find people to build engines a few years back, extra teams would have been a problem, but now we have Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull Honda, and Renault, and it seems reasonable that each engine builder could be required to support up to three teams. What I would like to see though is that the regs mandate a fixed price per engine that engine builders have to stick to when supplying third parties.

    Out of interest, can anyone tell me offhand if the $150m budget cap is per car or per team?

    1. When F1 was struggling to find people to build engines a few years back […] but now we have Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull Honda, and Renault.

      I’m words nothing has changed except for marketing names.

    2. Out of interest, can anyone tell me offhand if the $150m budget cap is per car or per team?

      It’s per team.

    3. It’s $300m if you have two teams, and it turns out it wasn’t really a ‘cap’, just like the ‘limit’ on ICE usage.

      1. True, but even with the slight breach, red bull spent roughly half what they used to spend; ferrari and merc probably even less than half.

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