Grand Prix International

Grand Prix International (GPI) is an international sanctioning body for auto racing. Formed in 2025, the organization was created following numerous disputes between the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and teams of the Formula One World Championship, as well as the collapse of INDYCAR LLC following the death of Roger Penske and the resulting power struggle. Starting with the 2026 season, GPI became the new sanctioning body for Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Three, and Formula E.
== History ==
=== Background ===
The formation of GPI can be traced to the FIA-FOTA dispute, a series of political clashes between the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the now defunct Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) over proposed changes to the rules and regulations for the 2010 Formula One season. The origins of the dispute may be traced as far back as the middle of 2008 when regulations that would see the single biggest overhaul in the sport's sixty-year history were approved for the 2009 season. Early in 2009, FIA President Max Mosley put forth a proposal for 2010 intended to secure the future of the sport despite the financial crisis of 2007–2008. The proposal included an optional budget cap of €30 million (which was about $41.6 million in 2020), with greater technical and design freedoms allowed to teams who nominated to use it. This was a point of contention among the teams, who objected to what was essentially two different sets of rules within the championship.
In response to this, Ferrari filed an injunction with a French court in Paris in an attempt to stop the proposed regulations from being implemented. The courts ruled that Ferrari's objections were baseless; given its history and close association with the sport, the team had been awarded a technical veto a decade beforehand that would have allowed them to prevent any regulation changes they disagreed with, but the court ruled that as Ferrari had not used the veto at the previous meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council, they did not have grounds for a legal challenge.
Seven of the FOTA teams – Ferrari, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Renault, Brawn GP, Red Bull and Toro Rosso announced their intentions to withdraw from the 2010 championship by virtue of not submitting entries. At the time, Bernie Ecclestone believed a compromise with the teams may be possible, but on May 15, the FIA failed to reach a settlement with the teams.
The ten FOTA teams met on the weekend of the Monaco Grand Prix, where they unanimously decided to withdraw by the end of the 2009 season unless the budget cap rules were changed, citing their opposition to the "two-tier" system and the need for continuity within the rules from one season to the next as their reasons. However, Williams submitted an unconditional entry to the FIA less than three days later, claiming that they existed solely for the purposes of racing and that withdrawing was against their purpose as a racing team. They were subsequently suspended from FOTA while negotiations continued. Force India submitted an unconditional entry of its own on June 5. They, too, were suspended from FOTA for their actions. All of the remaining FOTA teams eventually submitted conditional entries for the 2010 season.
Concurrently to this, the FIA intended to open the 2010 grid up to three new teams, and received entries from fifteen interested parties, including Prodrive, Lola, USF1 and Brabham. The 2010 entry list was published on June 12, and included new teams Campos Grand Prix, Manor Grand Prix and USF1. The FIA also claimed that Ferrari, Red Bull and Toro Rosso were contractually bound to compete until 2012 and so included them on the entry list, and gave remaining teams Brawn, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault and Toyota one week to remove the conditions attached to their entries. As many as four provisional teams were said to be in negotiations with the FIA in the event of one or more FOTA teams withdrawing for 2010; whether over the budget cap, a downturn in their road car division or other extenuating circumstances, Renault were reported to have informed suppliers of a potential withdrawal at the end of the season.
On June 16, the FIA announced its intentions to continue ahead with the budget cap, now raised to €45 million (which was about $62.4 million in 2020) after talks with FOTA once again failed to find a resolution. Claiming that a solution had been put forth a week previously, the FIA accused factions within FOTA of sabotaging the negotiations, and further claimed that the organisation was attempting to gain control over the governance and commercial rights to the sport, a practice it declared unacceptable.
In the week preceding the British Grand Prix, the eight remaining FOTA teams wrote to the FIA, calling for an urgent compromise to the situation and requesting an extension to the deadline in order to negotiate a new Concorde Agreement. The letter made it clear that the FOTA teams were willing to commit until 2012 and supply new teams with technical knowledge and advice. The FIA replied within two hours, indicating that it was willing to deal with FOTA, but stated that the June 19 deadline would stand owing to obligations to the potential new teams and the inability to agree on a new Concorde Agreement in such a short period of time. Mosley's proposal would see the introduction of a budget cap, engine and gearbox rules remaining fixed and the allowance of tyre warmers which were previously expected to be banned for 2010. In addition, Mosley stated a willingness to review the FIA's International Court of Appeal and abandon a controversial appendix to the 2010 rules that would give the FIA the unconditional authority to set rules.
However, after a meeting at Renault's base of operations in Enstone, the eight FOTA teams announced their intentions to press ahead with a breakaway series, similar to the divisions in American open-wheel racing leagues between USAC and CART in 1979 (similar in that most "name" teams and drivers left for the new championship), or CART and the IRL in 1996. After threatening legal action, the FIA renounced its position, offering to talk with the teams. FOTA, however, disagreed, claiming that the decision had already been made and that they would not be changing their minds, though Red Bull's Christian Horner stated that he felt it was foolish to commit to everything too soon. Commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone later vowed to ensure the future of the sport, claiming that the ongoing issues between the FIA and FOTA amounted to "basically, nothing".
Overall, fan opinion polls at the time showed overall support for the breakaway series with a Sky Sport poll showing that 91% of Italian fans would support FOTA's potential breakaway series and a Network 10 poll showing more than 65% of respondents supporting the New FOTA series over Formula One.
The conflict came to an apparent head on June 24 at the meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris, with FOTA agreeing to remain within the championship and FIA President Max Mosley agreeing not to stand for re-election in October. However, the resolution was thrown into potential jeopardy just twenty-four hours later, with Mosley demanding FOTA in general and Luca di Montezemolo in particular apologise for misleading the media, suggesting Mosley to be a 'dictator' and that he would have no involvement in Formula One until he stepped down as President, no involvement in the FIA afterwards and that he was forced out of office.
On 8 July, the FOTA group of teams walked out of a meeting with the FIA about future rules. FOTA were informed that they were not entered for the 2010 season and could therefore have no input on regulatory discussions. It was later announced that plans for a breakaway series were still being pursued. However, on the weekend of the German Grand Prix, FOTA teams expressed confidence in ending the ongoing debate, stating their intentions to negotiate the terms of a new Concorde Agreement directly with CVC, the company that controls the commercial rights to the sport, with a resolution possibly being found in time for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Later that same day, Bernie Ecclestone announced that he would be involved in the process and vowed to have the sport's future secured with a new Concorde Agreement signed within forty-eight hours, ending the breakaway threat, and on July 15, it was confirmed that Max Mosley would step down from the FIA Presidency.
On July 6, an unnamed team made accusations against the FIA that new teams had been selected on the basis that they had no association with the current manufacturers. On July 12, unsuccessful applicants N.Technology filed a legal challenge against the FIA in Paris, claiming they had been informed that the only way to receive an entry for 2010 was to nominate the use of a Cosworth spec-engine when the team felt it stood a "real chance" of securing a deal with a current engine supplier. The case was heard on October 13, with the decision released on November 10, the French courts rejecting N.Technology's claims.
On the weekend of the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, the thirteen teams met with commercial rights holder CVC to discuss a new Concorde Agreement which would guarantee the sport's future until 2012. The FIA announced that it was willing to sign the agreement provided that all thirteen teams could agree to cost-cutting measures, but two teams – Williams and Manor – had raised late objections to the proposal. Proposed cost-cutting regulations include homologation of front and rear wings, a limit on the number of upgrades a team can introduce over the course of a season, a continuation of the in-season testing ban introduced in 2009, restrictions on the number of personnel able to attend a race, and the teams agreeing to completely close down their factories during the summer break.
On 29 July 2009 BMW Sauber announced they were withdrawing from Formula One at the end of the 2009 season. They cited "current developments in motor sport" as the reason for their decision . Three days later on August 1, it was announced that the FIA had signed the Concorde Agreement, thus bringing an end to the dispute.
Following N.Technology's lawsuit against the FIA, a complaint was made to the European Commission by Zoran Stefanovic, an aspiring team principal supporting N.Technology's claims that the FIA had required new teams to nominate a Cosworth engine if they wanted to join the 2010 grid. Stefanovic had intended to field a team to be known as Stefan Grand Prix and that he had explored the possibility of acquiring engines from a current manufacturer. His complaint to the European Commission claimed that the FIA demonstrated bias in the selection process and was in violation of anti-competition laws, and he requested that the selection process be carried out again.
Stefanovic had attempted to enter Formula One on two previous occasions, including an attempt to purchase the remains of Lola's disastrous 1997 attempt. He claimed that the FIA had not simply shown bias against non-Cosworth teams, but also against teams that would be classified as manufacturers, citing that new teams Manor, Campos and USF1 were forced to outsource the design of their chassis to other firms and design studios whereas Stefan Grand Prix had the support of Serbian aircraft manufacturer AMCO, and thus could build their own cars independently. This bias, he claimed, was supported by Prodrive's failure to make the grid; like Stefan, Prodrive would have the facilities to build their own chassis. Stefanovic, however, had the support of Mike Coughlan, the disgraced McLaren engineer.
Despite Stefanovic's planned action against, he announced his intentions to field a team in time for the season-opening race in Bahrain and compete despite not having a grid position in a move similar to the stillborn Phoenix Finance team and their failed attempt to purchase a grid position in 2002. Stefanovic cited the FIA granting a precedented fourteenth grid position to Peter Sauber's Qadbak Investments team as his inspiration, claiming that in the event that any one of the 2010 teams withdrew, the FIA may grant another special entry to Stefan Grand Prix. This was at odds with the FIA's assertion that in the event that a team were to withdraw, special provisions would not be issued.
In the end the budget cap rules did not enter into Formula One for the 2010 season and BMW and Toyota would ultimately leave Formula One, with BMW Sauber turning into just Sauber which ran cars with Ferrari engines in Toyota's former grid spot until 2018 when it became Alfa Romeo Racing. The other new teams that joined the grid in 2010 - Team Lotus, Virgin Racing, HRT Formula 1 Team would not survive for the rest of the 2010's even after the teams went through changes in ownership. in 2016 Haas F1 Team joined the grid, bringing Formula One into its current state of 10 teams which has remained stable since then. In 2020 Formula One teams agreed to introduce a new cost cap for the 2021 season which was initially set at $175 million before being reduced to $145 million for 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The new cost cap will also decrease as time goes on, and includes exceptions such as marketing costs, driver salaries, the salaries of the three highest-paid team employees, team heritage activities, finance costs, taxes, among other exceptions. The cost cap introduced in 2021 is thus twice as high in allowed spending than the cost cap proposed in 2009. Also in 2020, Formula One introduced a new $200 million franchise fee for new teams entering the sport which would be shared across the 10 existing teams in order to make teams show a multi-year commitment to the sport, offset the dilution a new team would cause to the existing prize fund totals that is split between all Formula One teams, and to protect the value of existing Formula One teams. Previous to this, the franchise fee required that new teams pay into Formula One, with the fee gradually returned to the team.
=== New disputes ===
The 2024 season saw a new dispute arise between the FIA and teams. Prior to the 2024 season, Formula One Management (FOM) rejected Andretti Cadillac's application to enter Formula One in 2025 or 2026, citing "lack of competitiveness", but opened the door for the team to enter in 2028, when a new Concorde Agreement would be negotiated and FOM could raise costs even more to ensure Andretti Cadillac would remain uncompetitive. Many sources said that most F1 teams were against Andretti joining, when in truth, every team was more than happy for more teams to enter the sport.
Leaked internal memos between FOM and Liberty Media soon revealed that both were conspiring to keep American teams and brands out of Formula One to avoid attracting certain groups of fans that could tarnish the "professional, high-class" image both were trying to present to prospective corporate sponsors (Haas F1 was to stay as a field filler to keep the field at 20 cars and avoid the perception that F1 was dying); specifically, both viewed typical American motorsports fans as "loud, boorish, drunken rednecks who like watching stock cars go around in circles", a clear denigration of NASCAR and its historically-southeastern fanbase. Teams were very unhappy that FOM was speaking for them, Liberty Media was applying damaging stereotypes to an entire country, and the FIA was doing nothing.
The issue of technical innovation (or lack thereof) was not well known to the public (though older fans long lamented that modern F1 cars were "cookie-cutter cars"), but on July 5, 2024, teams met at the Hilton Garden Inn Silverstone two days before the British Grand Prix, and voted unanimously to reform the FOTA. The organization presented a new Concorde Agreement proposal to remove the budget cap and loosen rules on engines, chassis, and aerodynamics, and allow more teams to enter the sport. The FIA, FOM, and Liberty Media roundly rejected the terms, stating that the current rules were in place to increase parity between teams, and that American teams would just get in the way and reduce payouts for teams.
Several days later, an insider at the FIA leaked proposed rule changes for 2025 that would reduce the budget cap to $100 million, and increase the franchise fee to $400 million, seemingly an attempt to further stifle innovation and keep Andretti out as retaliation for the FOTA's terms. Among the leaked rule changes included new changes for the 2026 that would require all constructors to conform to a strict template, similar to NASCAR regulations. A further leak alleged that the rule changes were being made at the behest of Liberty Media in response to Max Verstappen winning all but two races in the 2023 season, which was wrongly attributed to Red Bull's RB19 car (pundits agreed that the actual reason was Verstappen being a "generational talent"). The FIA went on damage control, stating that these rules were not set in stone, and the FOTA, wary of overplaying their hand, stayed mum on the matter.
Come the 2025 season, the FIA-FOTA war escalated once the rule changes leaked in 2024 were officially announced. The FOTA interpreted the rules as part of an overall plan to turn Formula One into a spec series similar to Formula Two, IndyCar, and Super Formula. Once again, the FOTA teams threatened to break away and start their own series, but this time, the FIA would not budge on the rule changes, and rumors circulated that the FIA was being influenced by money from Liberty Media.
=== Collapse of IndyCar ===
Around the same time as the FIA-FOTA war, Roger Penske, owner of IndyCar, passed away at the age of 88, leaving a power vacuum in IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A power struggle ensued between the Penske Corporation, the Hulman family, and the United States Auto Club (USAC), each with their own proposals for the IndyCar Series.
The Penske Corporation, now headed by Roger's son Jay, proposed keeping the IndyCar Series as-is, though this was met with skepticism after Honda had left the series following the 2024 season in favor of entering the NASCAR Cup Series.
The Hulman family, who had been part of the 1996 CART/IRL split, proposed pivoting away from road and street courses and back to ovals, but this was met with pushback from NASCAR, which for years had been accused of gatekeeping their ovals from IndyCar, and was now openly admitting that it didn't want IndyCar racing on International Speedway Corporation (ISC) tracks because it would take attention and money away from their own races.
USAC proposed an equal number of road courses and ovals, completely abandoning street courses, and renaming the series to the USAC Gold Crown Series. Of the three, USAC's proposal looked the most appealing, and NASCAR was receptive to the idea thanks to their partnership with USAC.
A joint antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR was proposed, but no terms could be agreed upon, as all three factions had seemingly-incompatible visions for IndyCar. The Hulman family and USAC both said that Penske Corporation should not be in charge of IndyCar because it owned an IndyCar team, Team Penske, and this represented a conflict of interest; Jay Penske countered that the spec nature of IndyCar meant that Team Penske was no better on the grid than any other team.
Meanwhile, the 2025 IndyCar season was abruptly stopped, as the lack of leadership meant no one knew who to take orders from. USAC attempted to sanction and organize the race at Gateway (which would have been the first IndyCar race sanctioned by USAC since 1997), but was sued by Penske Corporation, who still claimed ownership of the series. The suit was dropped after USAC agreed not to sanction the race, and the 2025 IndyCar Series remained on hiatus; indeed, bot the IndyCar Series and Indy NXT season were now facing the possibility of outright cancellation, and the fate of the 2026 season was called into question.
=== Formation of GPI ===
With multiple crises arising in the world of open-wheel racing, speculation ran rampant that both Formula One and IndyCar would not survive to the end of the decade, or at least look completely different. In August 2025, with the FIA still unwilling to negotiate with teams regarding the 2026 rule changes, and FOM and Liberty Media still unwilling to let American teams enter the sport, the FOTA followed through on its threats and broke away to form a new organization known as Grand Prix International (GPI), planning to run its first season in 2026. All teams, as well as Andretti Global, were fully committed to the idea, as were all tracks on the 2025 schedule.
In October 2025, GPI announced it had bought out INDYCAR LLC, as the three factions were locked in a stalemate. GPI settled the dispute by giving the Indianapolis Motor Speedway back to the Hulman family free of charge, having USAC sanction the new Formula Two America championship and any F1 races held in the United States, and allowing the Penske Corporation to field teams in their series. In an unprecedented move, it was announced that the Indianapolis 500 would become a Formula One race in 2026, and that the Monaco Grand Prix would be abandoned. The Australian, Miami, Italian, and Las Vegas Grands Prix were also moved to ovals (the Miami Grand Prix was held at a NASCAR-owned track, Homestead-Miami Speedway; reportedly, NASCAR did not hesitate in accepting the race, as they saw a Formula One race as a huge draw), and a new oval race was added at Michigan International Speedway.
Shortly after the formation of GPI, all Formula Two, Formula Three, and Formula E teams followed suit, leaving the World Endurance Championship as the FIA's premiere series.
== Series ==
=== Formula One World Series ===
The Formula One World Series is the highest class of racing in GPI. Originally formed by the FIA in 1950, the F1 World Series saw massive upheaval under GPI, including deregulating chassis and engine construction to allow for more innovation. The F1 World Series also has a more diverse schedule than it did under the FIA, with oval tracks being added to the schedule. Regulations were also changed to once again allow part-time and one-off privateer entries.
Grid sizes in Formula One are currently capped at 40, with 43 for the Indianapolis 500.
=== Formula Two ===
Formula Two is divided between a world series and several regional series. The category was similarly deregulated to allow for more innovations and for privateer teams to enter.
==== Formula Two World Series ====
The second-highest class of racing in GPI, the Formula Two World Series is, for all intents and purposes, the FIA Formula Two World Championship that traces its heritage back to the original Formula Two introduced in 1947. The series races on the day before Formula One.
==== Formula Two North America Series ====
The Formula Two North America Series (often nicknamed "Champ Car") was formed from the NTT IndyCar Series, and initially used the same specifications as the 2025 season (the Dallara DW12 with the Universal Aero Kit and a turbocharged Chevrolet V6 engine), before also being deregulated in 2027. The 2026 schedule for the Formula Two North America Series was the same as the 2025 IndyCar Series, sans the Indianapolis 500, which had become a Formula One race (there was much debate as to whether or not this made Formula One cars "Indy Cars"). In 2027, the schedule diversified to include races in Mexico and the Caribbean.
==== Formula Two South America Series ====
The Formula Two South America series races in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.
==== Formula Two Europe Series ====
The Formula Two Europe Series races in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Italy, and Poland.
==== Formula Two Asia Series ====
The Formula Two Asia Series races in Japan, South Korea, China, the Philippines, Thailand, and India. The series was at the center of a dispute when a race in Taiwan was announced, and the Chinese Communist Party threatened to ban GPI unless the race was cancelled.
==== Formula Two Pacific Series ====
The Formula Two Pacific Series races in Australia, New Zealand, and the US state of Hawaii.
=== Formula Three ===
Similar to Formula Two, Formula Three is divided between a world series and several regional series. Like F1 and F2, F3 was also deregulated.
==== Formula Three World Series ====
Formed from the FIA Formula 3 Championship, the Formula Three World Series is the third-highest class of racing in GPI. The series typically races on the Friday before the Formula One race.
==== Formula Three North America Series ====
The Formula Three North America Series was formed from Indy NXT (formerly Indy Lights Series), and initially used the 2025 Indy NXT spec (the Dallara IL-15 chassis with a turbocharged Mazda-AER I4 engine).
==== Formula Three South America Series ====
The Formula Three South America series races in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.
==== Formula Three Europe Series ====
The Formula Three Europe Series races in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Italy, and Poland.
==== Formula Three Asia Series ====
The Formula Three Asia Series races in Japan, South Korea, China, the Philippines, Thailand, and India. Like the Formula Two Asia Series, this series was forced to cancel a round in Taiwan.
==== Formula Three Pacific Series ====
The Formula Three Pacific Series races in Australia, New Zealand, and the US state of Hawaii.
=== Formula E World Series ===
The Formula E World Series was formed from the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. The series continues to use electric single-seaters, though in the 2026-27 season, the chassis and engine were deregulated, allowing other engine suppliers such as Tesla and Rivian to enter the series.
Category:Grand Prix International