Rodin Carlin is considering applying to compete in Formula 1. The team will develop its own power unit and guarantee seats for female drivers. The New Zealand company has experience making F1-like cars.

Carlin Motorsport is active in Formula 2, Formula 3, Formula 4 and the F1 Academy, among others. Robert Kubica, Kevin Magnussen, Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz, Sargeant Logan, Takuma Sato, Yuki Tsunoda and Sebastian Vettel, among others, raced for the team in the championship below the premier class. The British team has competed in IndyCar and Formula Renault, helped run Mahindra in Formula E and is now also partnered with Lewis Hamilton’s Extreme E team. Rodin Cars will become one of Carlin’s sponsors in 2022 and the New Zealand automaker will become the main shareholder this year.

From F4 to F2

“We build the whole car here and we guarantee there will be a woman in one of the seats,” Rodin Cars founder David Dicker told me. Motorcycle Sports from New Zealand. “We will be the only team to have a full junior programme. We are across the spectrum from Formula 4 to Formula 2 and no one else comes close to what we do. A lot of people will be very keen to get a team from New Zealand in F1. It would mean a lot to Formula 1.”

ALSO INTERESTING: Doornbos: “AlphaTauri has turned down a huge $800 million offer”

Own power unit

Rodin Cars has built the FZED bolide at Mount Lyford in New Zealand, a Formula 1-like car with a V10 engine. “We actually have a very interesting offer because we can make our own power unit,” continued Dicker. His company Dicker Data made a profit of 1.8 billion euros last year, so the money needed to start your own F1 team is there. “I’m sure no one else is considering applying to build their own power unit. We already have a fairly state-of-the-art facility. We already have all the equipment we need to build a car.”

Andretti and Hitech

“It would be good to bring the US team too,” said Dicker, pointing at Andretti. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they let Hitech in too. Oliver Oaks [directeur en teambaas van Hitech Grand Prix] is a good man. But the thing is again it’s the UK based teams and then the teams are not spread out. People outside England don’t care about other teams coming from England.”