Asian-based LKY SUNZ latest to announce intentions of joining F1 grid from 2025
LKY SUNZ is the latest project to express its interest in joining the Formula 1 grid.
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Pictured: F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2022
Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport. Over the years, some of the biggest automakers and teams have battled head-to-head to win the F1 world championship. The sport recently opened the doors for new teams to join the grid as early as 2025. There have been a couple of interested parties so far such as Andretti-Cadillac and Saudi-funded Formula Equal. Now, there seems to be another addition to this list.
LKY SUNZ is the latest entrant in the race to join the F1 grid. The Southeast Asian team claims to have secured funding from American investment group Legends Advocate Sports Group as well as a host of other investors from Asia. The team looks set to submit its proposal under FIA’s Expression of Interest for new teams opened by Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
The person behind this proposed F1 team is Benjamin Durand. Durand was the co-founder of the Panthera F1 team bid. Although this team ultimately failed to make it to the grid in 2019. Andrew Pyrah and Paul Fleming are two other big names associated with this project. The name, LKY SUNZ is derived from ‘Lucky’ and ‘Sun’. Lucky symbolizes the Asian heritage of the team. While Sun is a prominent part of many national flags in the region.
LKY SUNZ is aiming to have a full-fledged F1 facility in Southeast Asia. Although initially, the team will start operations from a European base. The proposed team plans on joining the pinnacle of motorsport in 2025/2026. A similar timeline was proposed by Andretti-Cadillac.
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LKY SUNZ to bring in youth culture while including diversity
Durand is convinced that the Asian team will provide a modern mix and cater to the youth. He said, “We are excited to see our investors share our vision of fusing youth culture and racing to create a team that will disrupt F1.” The Briton mentioned how LKY SUNZ could revolutionalize the sport with its new approach.
He explained, “The sport’s popularity has grown exponentially and every current stakeholder in the sport has been responsible for that. But our guiding principle is to bring something different into the sport to appeal to new audiences.” Durand was confident that his team will change the landscape by hiring personnel from a variety of backgrounds.
The LKY SUNZ co-founder continued, “By being the only team operating outside the traditional F1 corridors and developing bespoke programs to attract talent from underrepresented communities, we can bring a diversity of thought yet to be seen in F1.”
Moreover, Durand affirmed that LKY SUNZ would be a competitive racing team along with entertainment. He concluded, “We of course aim to be competitive on the track. But we also commit to entertaining fans off the track. To support our plans, we have already onboarded an impressive team of motorsport executives, music and entertainment industry experts, and creatives who will help bring this vision to life.”
Thus, LKY SUNZ seems to have everything going in its favor. The Asian team allegedly has the required funding to meet the expensive costs of Formula 1. Although, Durand’s previous bid failed to gain traction. He is convinced that this new project has all it takes to finally get an Asian team back on the grid.
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Armaan Agarwal
(2310 Articles Published)