BYD’s long and winding road towards the F1 grid

{"text":[[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":7.45,"text":"So it all comes down to the final day of the season. Tomorrow, Tottenham Hotspur can avoid relegation with a draw against Everton, preventing them from becoming arguably the biggest team ever to drop out of the top flight. "}],[{"start":19.9,"text":"Spurs’ plight has gripped football fans this season. But it has also overshadowed the troubles over at West Ham, who will be relegated if they fail to beat Leeds. West Ham are — by several measures — a big club. The east Londoners rank 20th in the Deloitte Money League, just four spots behind Italian giants Juventus. The club has spent more on transfers in the past five years (€815mn) than Aston Villa, Bayern Munich or Atlético Madrid, while the team’s home ground, the London Stadium, is the second largest in English club football. "}],[{"start":53.5,"text":"Relegation would hit West Ham’s finances far more severely than Spurs. TV money, which drops precipitously upon exiting the Premier League, accounts for 57 per cent of West Ham’s revenue, compared to just 29 per cent at Spurs. "}],[{"start":67.65,"text":"West Ham also have a leadership vacuum. The club’s split ownership — with no single party holding a majority stake — was held together for years by chair Karren Brady. Such a system can work, as seen at Crystal Palace, where Steve Parish is the ultimate decision maker despite only owning a small slice of the club. Brady announced last month she’d be leaving West Ham. Karim Virani, named as the club’s “interim chief executive”, is likely to have a very busy summer. "}],[{"start":96.4,"text":"This week we’re asking if BYD are on the way to the Formula 1 grid. Plus, we take a deeper look at the “spygate” scandal rocking English football. Do read on — Josh Noble, sports editor"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":108.75,"text":"BYD’s long road to F1"}],[{"start":111.8,"text":"Chinese carmaker BYD and Christian Horner are both weighing up the best point of entry to Formula 1. The former Red Bull Racing boss headed to Cannes during the film festival to meet with Stella Li, BYD’s executive vice-president. "}],[{"start":126,"text":"As the man who led Red Bull to six constructors’ championships, Horner knows his way around the F1 track. His expertise could be critical to BYD as it increases its interest in joining the pinnacle of motorsport. "}],[{"start":139.6,"text":"Horner, who was axed from Red Bull last year after a downturn in performance, is keeping his options open, but he could do worse than BYD. The Shenzhen-based carmaker made a $600mn net profit in the first quarter of the year. That was 55 per cent lower than the equivalent quarter of 2025, but bear in mind that F1’s operating profit in 2025 totalled $632mn."}],[{"start":164.6,"text":"In many ways, BYD is a great fit for F1. It’s a company that wants to put its brand on the global stage, while F1 has a growing profile in BYD’s home market."}],[{"start":174.7,"text":"F1 is making up for lost time in China. Due to the country’s strict pandemic lockdowns, F1 did not race there for five years until its return to Shanghai in 2024. Yet somehow the fan base grew. F1 estimated in December that it now has more than 221mn fans in China, nearly double the total figure for Europe."}],[{"start":197.04999999999998,"text":"That explains why China was the biggest international market for F1: The Movie, the $630mn blockbuster released in partnership with Apple last year and starring Brad Pitt in the lead role. "}],[{"start":208.89999999999998,"text":"But there are peculiarities about BYD’s interest in F1. There’s space on the grid for a 12th team, but the application process is time-consuming and costly. Cadillac F1 paid hundreds of millions of dollars to compensate existing teams ahead of joining the sport this year. The team is 10th in the constructors’ championship, highlighting how difficult it is to become competitive in F1."}],[{"start":232.45,"text":"An alternative route would be to buy into an existing team. Outright sales are rare, although minority positions do trade hands. Would BYD really be satisfied with anything but majority control of a team? "}],[{"start":246,"text":"But there are more fundamental questions around whether the world’s largest EV maker really fits. F1’s new regulations mean cars now have a 50:50 split between internal combustion engines and electrical power. However, the backlash from the drivers means motorsport authorities are in the process of changing the formula, so to speak. That means the electrical component will fall in favour of the internal combustion. "}],[{"start":271.8,"text":"Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of the FIA, which governs the sport, is in favour of reverting to naturally aspirated V8 engines with sustainable fuel as soon as 2029. The V8s, which are far louder than the current power units, would have “very, very minor electrification”, he said recently. "}],[{"start":291.1,"text":"BYD does have a range of hybrid vehicles, but the direction of travel in F1 looks awkward for a carmaker with such clear battery-powered credentials. Formula E, the all-electric racing series, would dearly love to have the Chinese carmaker on the grid, but it lacks F1’s global pull. "}],[{"start":309,"text":"Perhaps the marketing power of F1 — and the chance to join an exclusive club for the rich and powerful — outweighs the imperfect fit of BYD’s product and the way F1 cars are to be powered. But whatever the potential route, it’s unlikely to be quick."}],[{"start":323.85,"text":"Spying, lawfare and the finality of results"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":327.65000000000003,"text":"Football is awash with legal cases these days, but few have been as captivating as the “spygate” scandal in the Championship, English football’s second tier. "}],[{"start":337.3,"text":"In short, Southampton admitted sending a member of staff to film opponents’ training sessions on multiple occasions throughout the season. This came to light after Middlesbrough alleged they were being spied on by Southampton ahead of a play-off semi-final earlier this month, triggering the English Football League to open an investigation. Southampton went on to win the match and book a place in what is widely regarded as the richest game in football."}],[{"start":363.95,"text":"But the EFL this week took the unprecedented step of expelling the team from the play-off final as punishment for breaking league rules on spying. Instead Middlesbrough will face Hull City later today for a spot in the Premier League and at least £200mn in additional revenue. "}],[{"start":382.34999999999997,"text":"Our inbox has been bombarded with notes from law firms, who think the EFL has opened the floodgates to further litigation. Southampton players may look to sue the club for depriving them of potential promotion bonuses. Clubs that finished just outside the play-offs or who were relegated after losing to Southampton could also claim their league position was affected by cheating. Even Hull might well argue they should be promoted by default. "}],[{"start":407.15,"text":"The bizarre case also raises some more philosophical issues. It comes a few weeks after the Confederation of African Football decided to award the African Cup of Nations to Morocco, despite the team losing the final in extra time to Senegal. CAF judged that Senegal had forfeited the match by leaving the field of play for about 15 minutes in protest at a refereeing decision. "}],[{"start":432.15,"text":"In other sports, changing the outcome of a competition after the fact is not unheard of. Doping cases have led to several Olympic champions being stripped of medals later on. At the Paris Olympics in 2024, there was even a medal ceremony for athletes who had “won” medals in the months and years following previous editions of the games. "}],[{"start":451.95,"text":"In football, the tradition has typically been that past wrongs lead to future-facing sanctions. Transfer embargoes, docked points, fines, even relegation. "}],[{"start":461.8,"text":"But as the law creeps ever more into football, could we be in a new era where past results are still open to revision? Crystal Palace won a place in the Europa League last year by winning the FA Cup, but had their spot stripped by Uefa due to rules on multi-club ownership. Similarly, Club León were booted out of the Club World Cup by Fifa before the tournament kicked off. "}],[{"start":483.85,"text":"Football authorities seem to be taking a harder a line on the rules, and appear more willing to nullify sporting outcomes if they believe lines have been crossed. The advent of video-assisted refereeing has made it harder to celebrate goals in the moment. Could league titles and cup wins be next?"}],[{"start":501.75,"text":"Pep departs after decade of trophies"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":505,"text":"Pep Guardiola announced his decision to leave Manchester City this summer, having guided the club to six Premier League titles and one Champions League win during a trophy-laden decade in charge. "}],[{"start":515.7,"text":"Aside from winning cups and league titles, Guardiola helped transform the way English teams play football. He also set a new record for the most points per game of any manager, pipping legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":529.7,"text":"Guardiola guided City to the pinnacle of football, and will leave as the club’s longest-serving head coach with 593 games under his belt. The Spaniard said on Friday: “Don’t ask me the reasons I’m leaving. There is no reason, but deep inside, I know it’s my time.”"}],[{"start":545.5500000000001,"text":"Highlights"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":546.45,"text":"Doug King, owner of newly promoted Coventry City FC, is a commodities trader aiming to challenge sheikhs and billionaires on the football pitch. Read our profile of him here."}],[{"start":558.0500000000001,"text":"Donald Trump’s shadow looms over the upcoming World Cup. Can the US national team make the nation — and its president — proud to be American?"}],[{"start":566.9000000000001,"text":"Curaçao could hardly afford to travel to games when it first fielded a national football team in 2010. Now it’s headed to the World Cup. Simon Kuper explores how the smallest country ever to qualify for the tournament did it. "}],[{"start":580.8500000000001,"text":"LIV Golf has offered its players equity in a restructured league as the heavily lossmaking competition races to raise up to $350mn in fresh capital after Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund withdrew its hefty financial support."}],[{"start":595.9000000000001,"text":"As athletes gather in Las Vegas this weekend for the inaugural “steroid Olympics” backed by Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr, drugmakers are scrambling to promote a new generation of performance-enhancing drugs for everything from health to vanity."}],[{"start":611.45,"text":"Sir Ben Ainslie believes “sailing’s going primetime”. In an interview with the FT, the Olympic sailing great discusses the rapid rise of SailGP, the overhaul of the America’s Cup’s 174-year-old governance structure and efforts to turn elite sailing into a more commercially viable global sport."}],[{"start":630.4000000000001,"text":"Final Whistle"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":632.0000000000001,"text":"Honestly, where do we even start this week. With Arsenal players crashing the dawn celebrations outside the Emirates after being crowned English champions? Or the reaction in Brazil to Neymar being picked for the World Cup? How about Unai Emery’s giddy chanting at Aston Villa’s Europa League victory parade?"}],[{"start":650.2000000000002,"text":"We’ve gone further afield instead, to bring you the moment 38-year-old centre back Stopira was named to the Cabo Verde squad for the World Cup, becoming the first player for Portuguese second-tier side Torreense ever to make it to the biggest stage in global football."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":673.4000000000002,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1779603394_2659.mp3"}