Formula 1: Spanish team rumored to join in 2021

There are rumors that a Spanish team linked to Campos Racing will make the move to join Formula 1 ahead of the 2021 season due to the sport’s major rules overhaul.

The major rules and regulations overhaul that is slated to follow the 22-race 2020 Formula 1 season has garnered much attention across the sport and its fans in recent months.

Perhaps most notably, it has garnered attention among potential new entrants to the series.

A new team linked to Campos Racing has been rumored to join Formula 1 ahead of the 2021 season, as Campos Racing team owner Adrian Campos and co-owner Salvatore Gandolfo may seek to take advantage of these new rules and regulations, most notably the new budget cap, to field a Spanish team.

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Campos Racing were founded in 1997 and are based in Valencia, Spain. They currently compete in Formula 2, Formula 3 and the Euroformula Open Championship, and they previously competed in Auto GP, World Series by Nissan, the Spanish Formula 3 Championship, the GP2 Series, the GP2 Asia Series, the GP3 Series, the World Touring Car Championship, the World Touring Car Cup and the Superstars Series.

Should the team enter Formula 1, they would likely do so with financial backing from Monaco Increase Management, which was founded by Gandolfo. According to Motorsport, Gandolfo says that there is “the financial solidity required by the FIA to make this project a success”.

Here is what Gandolfo had to say about the matter, according to Motorsport.

"“With the new budget cap, the new distribution of incomes and the new technical and sporting regulations, there is a great opportunity for smaller teams to compete and ultimately to make the FIA Formula 1 World Championship more interesting and balanced again.”"

The team have already named Pascal Wehrlein and Alex Palou as potential drivers if they do enter Formula 1 in the 2021 season.

Wehrlein drove in Formula 1 in the 2016 and 2017 seasons and attempted to get back into the sport for the 2020 season with Haas, but Romain Grosjean ended up retaining his ride with the sport’s newest team. It is worth noting that Campos supports the Mahindra Formula E team, which is where Wehrlein competed this past season.

Palou, meanwhile, currently sits in third place in the Japanese Super Formula 1 Championship driver standings in his rookie season. He previously drove for Campos Racing in the Euroformula Open Championship, the Spanish Formula 3 Championship, the GP3 Series and Formula 2.

The team have not publicly discussed a potential engine deal, but they are reportedly in advanced stages of negotiations with not only potential engine suppliers but potential teams with which to form a partnership.

With all things considered, Renault engines would make the most sense for the team. As of now, Renault are only slated to supply engines for themselves after McLaren, currently their lone customer team, announced that they would be switching back to Mercedes engines ahead of the 2021 season.

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Will this Campos Racing-linked Spanish team join the Formula 1 grid ahead of the 2021 season, and if so, who will their drivers be? How many, if any, new teams will these new rules and regulations bring to the sport by that time?

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