ART Grand Prix towards F1?
During the Strategic Group meeting, the entry of a new team in F1 was discussed. ART Grand Prix might be interested, but not under any conditions.
The co-owner of the French team ART Grand Prix, Nicolas Todt, explains to Motorsport that seeing the team move to F1 is not out of the question. However, the introduction of customer cars could represent an obstacle for the French team.
During the week, a meeting of the F1 strategy group took place, and aside from the return of fuel pit stops, the introduction of future customer cars was also discussed. However, this could represent a barrier to the entry of new teams into F1, including ART Grand Prix, which is already present in the GP2 and GP3 championships among others.
During the strategic group’s meeting, Ron Dennis reportedly showed strong support, as ART Grand Prix is a subsidiary team of McLaren. The French team has the same colors as the legendary Woking team and includes Stoffel Vandoorne, a driver backed by the British team and current GP2 leader, as well as the Japanese driver Nobuhara Matsushita, a protégé of Honda.
For now, Nicolas Todt does not wish to rush: « I have no comment to make. Coming to F1 could be a possible solution for ART, but only if it makes sense for us and if all the pieces of the puzzle are at our disposal ».
If customer cars do not appear in the future, ART Grand Prix could team up with McLaren as a technical partner, similar to how Haas F1 Team will do with Ferrari in 2016.
