Motor Sport: Prodrive, run by former Benetton and BAR team boss David Richards, will enter Formula One in 2008 as a new 12th team on the starting grid.
The sport's governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), published their list of accepted entrants this morning with all 11 current teams on it as well as the British-based newcomers.
Twenty two teams had applied for the 12 slots in a championship to be run under new rules after the expiry of the existing commercial agreement at the end of 2007.
"Prodrive has the best combination of financial backing, technical capability and motorsport experience and is well known to the FIA through its participation in the World Rally Championship," FIA president Max Mosley said.
Mosley said the sport was unlikely to increase beyond 12 teams, the most since 1997, for reasons of safety and because it would be difficult to enlarge circuit facilities.
Richards controls the commercial rights to the world rally championship while his Banbury-based company run Subaru's world rally team, the Aston Martin Le Mans sportscar team and compete in Australian V8 supercars with Ford.
Richards led BAR, now Honda, to second place in the Formula One manufacturers' championship in 2004 and was principal of Benetton in 1998.
"This is wonderful news for everyone in the company," Richards said in a statement. "We have won World Rally Championships, British Touring Car titles and the GT1 class at Le Mans, and have been saying for some time that we would also like to be in Formula One with our own Prodrive team. We are now one step closer."