Formula 1's expansion conversation is about to get a Chinese chapter. BYD, the Shenzhen-based EV manufacturer that overtook Tesla as the world's largest electric vehicle producer in 2024, is reportedly studying a Formula 1 entry — and according to fresh paddock reporting from DailyFuelUp, the project is being weighed as either a from-scratch 12th constructor or a buyout of an existing team.
The pitch, attributed by DailyFuelUp to BYD vice-president Stella Li, is that competing in F1 would let the company test its powertrain and energy management technology against the best in the world. That framing — racing as engineering R&D rather than marketing — is the same logic Audi used to justify its 2026 entry and the logic Honda has historically cited for its own returns to grand prix racing.
The complication is the route in. Building a new team from scratch carries the same problem Cadillac just spent two years solving: the cost cap, the entry fee, the political resistance from existing teams to diluting prize money across one more shareholder, and the engine supply question that Cadillac has had to outsource to Ferrari until its own GM-badged unit is ready. DailyFuelUp puts the all-in cost of standing up an F1 operation at around $500 million per season, with the additional drag of having to lean on US Congress-level political pressure — as Cadillac did — to force the gate open.
The alternative is the one being whispered about more loudly in the paddock: a buyout of Aston Martin. Lawrence Stroll's team is having its worst season since rebranding from Racing Point, with the AMR26 routinely qualifying outside the top ten and Adrian Newey's first 2026 design unable to extract performance from the new ground-effect-meets-active-aero regulations. The FIA has just signed off on an extra ten percent ADUO dyno allocation and a $19 million funding lifeline for the team, in what was effectively an admission from rival manufacturers that they cannot afford to let Honda's first works engine project collapse the way McLaren-Honda did a decade ago.
For BYD, an Aston buyout would mean walking into a fully-licensed team with a Honda works engine deal already in place — the same shortcut that made the Stroll family's 2018 acquisition of the old Force India team viable. The risk is reputational. Buying into a team currently slower than several F2 cars in qualifying is not the entry narrative a brand-conscious EV giant would normally choose.
DailyFuelUp also noted that Stella Li's comments about benchmarking BYD technology against the F1 grid have so far stopped short of confirming a binding plan. The vice-president's wording, per the report, kept both the constructor and acquisition routes on the table. There has been no formal confirmation from BYD's corporate communications team and no entry filing with the FIA.
What the rumour does confirm is that the next wave of F1 manufacturer interest is now squarely Chinese. The grid has already added Audi for 2026, Cadillac for 2026, Honda back as a works supplier with Aston Martin, and Ford as Red Bull's powertrain partner. A Chinese OEM entering — whether through the front door as a constructor or through Aston's back door as an owner — would close one of the last major automotive markets still missing from the F1 manufacturer board.
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*Originally published on [News Formula One](https://newsformula.one/article/byd-f1-entry-china-aston-martin-buyout-rumour-2026). Visit for full coverage.*
