Formula 1 only just made room for Cadillac, and two more automakers are already asking what it would take to get on the grid. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said at the New Economy Forum in Madrid that BYD and Geely have both approached the governing body about entering F1. That’s a long way from seeing either name on a starting grid. Neither company has a deal, and the FIA hasn’t opened a formal process to add a 12th team.

BYD, in particular, doesn’t appear interested in taking the shortcut. Ben Sulayem suggested buying an existing team, but BYD would rather start its own. His response was to ask the company to come back with a proposal that shows it can make the project work under the same rules as any other applicant. Cadillac’s route from the FIA’s 2023 call for applicants to its 2026 debut shows how long that road can be. Audi took a different path by taking over Sauber.

BYD has been talking about F1 for much of the year. Executive vice president Stella Li confirmed in April that the company had met with F1 chief Stefano Domenicali in Shanghai, but by July she was clear that there was no concrete plan. The more telling detail is that BYD wants its technology to have a role. There’s a big difference between paying to put your name on a car and having something you engineered help it go faster.

And BYD deserves some credit on that front. As we covered in our look at the Yangwang U9 Xtreme’s 312.65-mph run, the company’s luxury brand broke the 500-km/h barrier in an electric production car on a closed highway in Abu Dhabi. It was a one-way run, not a two-way average, and a top-speed attempt is nothing like racing wheel to wheel. Still, building an EV that can stay composed at that speed takes more than throwing horsepower at the problem. BYD has earned the right to be taken seriously in the performance conversation.

Geely is the less familiar name in these talks, though enthusiasts will know Volvo and Lotus from its orbit. The Lotus connection makes for an interesting bit of history, but it doesn’t tell us what a Geely entry would actually look like. There’s no announced team, engine program, or formal bid. For now, the fact that two Chinese automakers have made inquiries is more meaningful than trying to guess which badge might end up on the nose of a race car.

The engine rules might be the biggest sticking point for BYD. F1’s 2026 power units were designed around a roughly even split between combustion and electric power, but the balance is set to shift closer to 60/40 in favor of combustion for 2027 and 2028. Ben Sulayem also wants the next rules cycle to bring back V8s running on sustainable fuel with a smaller electric contribution. That V8 idea isn’t a settled rule, but it raises a fair question: How much would BYD get out of F1 if the sport gives its battery and electric-drive engineers less room to make a difference?

We’d like to see what BYD or Geely could bring to Formula 1, especially if either arrives with something more interesting than a new paint scheme. A Chinese team would give fans at the Shanghai Grand Prix a home entrant to root for, and another manufacturer with a different engineering background could make the grid more interesting. But the next thing to watch isn’t a teaser or a logo. It’s whether the FIA opens the door to a 12th team and whether either company puts a serious proposal on the table.