The FIA has confirmed a 12th F1 team will not be joining the grid next year after no new teams emerged as successful candidates from its tender process.
The new Haas F1 team is still set to bolster the grid to 11 teams next year, but the earliest another new team could join is now 2017. The FIA opened a tender process for new teams earlier this year in the interest of the sustainability and future success of the championship, but after vetting two potential candidates the governing body believed neither were suitable for a place on the 2016 grid.
"We can confirm that the FIA received two candidate Formula One team applications for vacant grid slots," an FIA spokesman said. "We subsequently put these through our comprehensive diligence processes.
"Unfortunately none of the applicants were able to meet the FIA's criteria for new teams despite being granted every opportunity of doing so, and we now consider this round of applications to be closed."