Michael Andretti’s efforts to enter a team in Formula 1 provoked further criticism from current competitors as US politicians began to apply pressure on the series.
This week six senators called on the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to look into F1’s refusal to admit Andretti, whose application to enter as an 11th team was approved by the FIA last October.Andretti’s father Mario, the 1978 Formula 1 world champion, visited lawmakers in Washington earlier this month to lobby on behalf of the team and intended engine supplier Cadillac. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said he was “surprised” at their approach and defended F1’s resistance to expanding the grid.
“We’re US-owned, we have five Fortune 500 companies on our car, and I think that this isn’t about anything to do with Andretti being American or anything like that,” he said. “It’s purely down to the business model that is Formula 1.
“Liberty have created that model, I think the approach that they bought by opening the sport as well and bringing a new fandom and new fans into the sports, they have to be commended on.
“I was surprised to see that Andretti have gone down this process but hopefully if they really want to find a way onto the grid they will find it and but I think the most natural solution is for them to acquire an existing franchise should one want to sell.”
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Andretti has twice attempted to purchase teams: Force India, which was bought by Lawrence Stroll’s consortium and is now Aston Martin, and Sauber, which is being taken over by Audi prior to the German manufacturer’s arrival in the series in 2026. Although F1’s rules allow for more than 10 teams, Horner is not alone among the rival bosses who disagree with Andretti’s attempt to enter a new one.
Sauber team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi said he agrees “fully” with Horner. “I think that Audi shows the right path to come to Formula 1.
“Of course Cadillac is a big player and it qualifies this project as a potentially good project. But there is a way, that is to buy into an existing team.”
Alpine team principal Bruno Famin said F1 must be “very careful not to dilute and to preserve the value of the championship and for the teams as well.”
“There are two ways, they buy a team or they bring enough value to the championship to compensate.”
Peter Bayer, CEO of Red Bull’s second team RB, does not believe the possibility of an antitrust investigation over F1’s rejection of Andretti’s application is a cause for concern.
“Not really,” he said when asked in yesterday’s FIA press conference, “because I think, as we’ve mentioned before, there are very clear procedures.
“The FIA has done a technical analysis. Formula 1 has then analysed the commercial potential, and that’s sort of, I think, the environment we are currently dealing with.
“I certainly believe that, you know, the sport has done a lot to reach out to the United States. We have three races in the US. We [RB] have two American sponsors. So I think the sport as a whole is embracing the United States, but has nothing to do with what we’ve just heard.”
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Axel
25th May 2024, 9:17
The more articles I read of team principles and Liberty Media justifying the refusal of Andretti, the more I want them to come in and wipe the floor with everyone. I like that we don’t have to worry as much about teams going bankrupt if they don’t perform, but if it means that no teams can enter the sport turning it into some sort of motorsport Super League I don’t know whether it is worth it….
roger norman
25th May 2024, 9:27
The impression I get is in order to be a F1 team principal you have be a BS artist. They all know about the Concorde Agreement, they all know they signed it, they all know that the current version allows for two new teams and a dilution fee of $200 million for each new team, and they all know their comments on the issue are complete crap. They need their sorry behinds sued off.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
25th May 2024, 23:25
They won’t. F1 run by finance companies now, and they will control demand + supply to the Nth degree. They will make it impossible to compete without paying an extortion rate, in order to be ‘valued’ at X, and able to compete. Its all protectionism. The best thing teams like Andretti can do is create their own racing series, and hope the FIA don’t black ball them, much like the ‘live golf’ thing.
The best thing the average consumer can do is stop paying for F1. And let that series devalue itself until it becomes more honest.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
25th May 2024, 9:28
I have heard it said (it may just be the F1 gang making excuses) that Andretti’s attitude is causing problems.
Rumour has it that Andretti act as though they are the greatest team on Earth, and F1 should be grateful that they are willing to race in the series.
Considering that most, if not all, of the team bosses and FIA seem to consider themselves to be something special then they won’t like being treated that way.
Personally I would love to see them enter, especially as it means we get another engine manufacturer on the grid.
SteveP
25th May 2024, 10:14
“Entitled” was the one word comment from my wife. In another thread the comment was made that of a group (post DTS F1 fans) the poster noted that none of the group recognised the name Andretti, so the name alone isn’t anything of commercial merit. That leaves the Cadillac PU as the “added value” so FOM pointing at an entry for 2028, when said PU is allegedly going to be ready, would seem reasonable.
As I’ve said elsewhere, me too, but that is conditional on the package actually including the Cadillac PU isn’t it?
MichaelN
25th May 2024, 12:07
That’s quite a claim based on one anecdote. Andretti is huge in American motorsports.
And by that standard, one wonders why Dorilton Investment, Kick, Haas Machine Tools, VISA app, and Alpine are even allowed on the grid.
AlanD
25th May 2024, 12:46
Michael, when I read Steve’s comment, my immediate thought was Haas, closely followed by Alpine. Then I read your reply and can’t even think which team it was that was rebranded as Visa, or “V card” as the BBC comentators seem to call it, which is itself strange as they have no qualms about using other sponsors names. On the other hand, we’ve had highly recognisable names used in the past, at one point we had two teams both called Lotus, and people quickly decided the name was meaningless.
Osnola
25th May 2024, 13:20
Vcarb
Dave
25th May 2024, 13:14
It’s about the prize money and what these teams think they’re worth. The think the Anti-dilution fee should be a 1 billion, which is comical. The “current” Concorde agreement calls for 200 million. They just trying to hold them up untill new Concorde agreement.
grat
25th May 2024, 17:54
F1 is always banging on about wanting to expand their American presence. I assure you, any motor racing fan in the US knows the name “Andretti”, which has significantly more draw than “Kick”, “Sauber”, “McLaren” (Although they’re doing well in IndyCar) or “Williams”. And let’s not talk Visa Cash App.
The fact a group of supposed motorsports fans are unaware of Andretti, merely demonstrates how insular and parochial they are.
The amount of ignorance displayed by Europeans about anything on this side of the planet is shocking.
George
25th May 2024, 19:23
What are u talking about. McLaren is worldwide while andretti is known as a ex champ in F1 ( it’s only known in USA for racing). McLaren and F1 go together almost as much as Ferrari and F1.
SteveP
26th May 2024, 7:29
Nope, it just demonstrates that a chunk of the current target market (post-DTS “fans”) don’t know anything that doesn’t pop up on Tik-Tok/Twitter/Facebook etc. so, in marketing terms “Andretti” means nothing to them.
If your target audience doesn’t relate to the name, you need another, and that comes with Cadillac. Unfortunately, that component isn’t going to be ready for use until 2028.
I would suggest that the Tik-Tok effect is largely generational rather than geo-locational.
BTW. Those of us old enough recall Andretti (Snr), but Jnr – let’s just say that 1993 wasn’t a good year.
S
25th May 2024, 10:02
Apparently ‘the right path’ is the only path into F1, as far as the existing cartel members are concerned – and that involves so much money that it would make absolutely no business sense whatsoever to any race team. What a surprise.
I’m not sure what more Andretti could do to satisfy the cartel… They’ve passed the FIA’s tests, they’ve agreed to pay the $200m extortion fee AND they’ve even gone off and found a global automotive manufacturer to satisfy everyone’s extravagant whims.
They’ve already done more than most of the teams that are, or have ever been, in F1.
Given the constant ramping up of a demands along the way, is it any surprise that the Andretti’s are getting a bit frustrated? They are human, after all – apparently unlike everyone already in F1.
F1 has needed a kick up the backside for a long time, and hopefully Andretti’s lawyers and the US politicians are the ones to do it. Just a couple of years in F1, and Andretti will have got all their legal fees back in commercial payments even if they finish last in the championship.
Mayrton
25th May 2024, 10:04
Well, ehh no! That is exactly what is wrong with Formula 1 these days and a clown like Horner would say such thing indeed. With that he blatantly indicates he is missing the whole point of a sport and why we go racing.
No, they don’t want to play with the poor kids. The poor kids can’t play. It is such an inconvenience:
Who cares? Again, money is an enabler, not the goal in itself you arrogant bunch of spoiled etc
value? Financial value you mean? I want sportsmanship value, I want racing. I am ok sometimes teams struggle financially, it is part of the game. Some come, some go. It is about building the fastest sports car and getting the best driver to race in your chassis. F1 is in a worrying place under Liberty media.
SteveP
25th May 2024, 10:28
It’s been a rich man’s playground for an awfully long time.
Frank Williams was the last of the “poor” people to play the game, and he had long since lost any claim to being poor when the family sold to Dorilton.
A star-spangled Alpine engined chassis would provide so much of that, wouldn’t it?
Or maybe they should just quietly aim to be there when the PU is ready in 2028.
roger norman
25th May 2024, 11:24
If they’re acting that way ( which is at the very least debatable), they’re not acting any different than the current teams on the grid.
roger norman
25th May 2024, 11:30
McLaren is doing better than Mercedes with their engine in the car. Ferrari is doing well with their engine, Haas isn’t. That’s how it works. It is not an indicator of how Andretti/Cadillac will do.
SteveP
25th May 2024, 12:53
Thanks for reminding me, a bad chassis also slows you down.
So, as well as contemplating arriving at the grid with a PU that is at least 15bhp down on the worst of the rest they also would be arriving with a chassis that is designed by either people who haven’t done this before (or not recently), or outsourcing to a company that has, but doesn’t produce top of the line chassis. Then rush to join.
Far better to arrive in 2028 with a custom designed PU, and use the testing opportunity of 2025-2026/7 to refine the chassis. (IIRC until they enter they can spend and test as much as they like, sort of like Haas did)
roger norman
25th May 2024, 13:20
I think you’re presupposing Andretti/Cadillac can’t find ways to get more out of an engine down on power. A bad chassis slows you down, and a good one can speed you up. Good aerodynamics can mitigate other weaknesses in the car. The possibilities are endless. Andretti/Cadillac already have a model in the wind tunnel. They want to enter in 2026 because they believe that will be better for them. I’m going to trust their judgement. The reasons (excuses) F1 are giving for not approving A/C’s application are to put it bluntly: Flimsy. It is no wonder that the US Congress wants DOJ to investigate. F1, FOM, and Liberty Media has taken what should have been a simple decision and turned it into a melodramatic joke.
SteveP
25th May 2024, 16:30
I’m basing my judgement on Red Bull having ditched it because they couldn’t get enough power out of it, and their chassis was designed by that guy no one knows: Adrian Newey.
I presume you’re basing your judgement on Andretti as a name.
As many agree, the congress reps are particularly interested because it’s an election year. Of course, Andretti made major efforts to let them know that the “rejected” Cadillac PU isn’t actually going to be ready until 2028, didn’t he?
Sin’s of omission…
roger norman
25th May 2024, 17:15
Red Bull did stop using it, but as I recall, they won some championships while using it. I don’t think it’s that bad. They will also have Pat Symonds consulting, and Cadillac I am sure will take that engine apart to see if they can’t make it better. They will also learn from it to help with their engine development. The fact that it is an election year in this case I think has been over played. Congressman Jordan (who I don’t agree with on almost everything) happens to be a F1 fan. Constituent services is important whether it’s an election year or not. This is an American team being jacked around by a European racing series that really ought to know better. There’s is more than enough money to go around, if they divvy it up in the right way. I’m not basing my judgment on name recognition alone. There is history and pedigree that goes with the Andretti name. That plus Cadillac’s involvement makes me believe that they’ll succeed if given the chance. All of the above is why I think 2026 is better than 2028.
SteveP
26th May 2024, 7:34
Nope, they won with the previous iteration of engine spec. That was largely dependent on the blown diffuser, and Renault, as I recall, claimed the engine required the blown diffuser to remain cool enough to operate at full power without blowing up.
You appear to disagree with the people who make it, they know and acknowledge that it is down on power relative to the other engines in use.
S
25th May 2024, 12:26
He stopped being ‘poor’ back in the 70’s, and his team won the championship in 1980 – only three years after being founded…
And Andretti are a lot better prepared than that.
Well, it wouldn’t take anything away, would it…
Andretti may achieve pretty good results in their first two years using the Renault engine – no doubt Alpine’s problems aren’t all in the back of their car.
Remember, Red Bull won four championships with ‘inferior’ Renault engines.
Jere (@jerejj)
25th May 2024, 10:10
Yeah right.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
25th May 2024, 10:15
Even if they don’t end up competing, I love that they are making the current teams angry. F-them… Andretti wanted to take the right path and they didn’t allow them. They were willing to pay the money currently required, and would bring more “value” than Haas does. Big name in motorsport, a real American team.
They closed those doors and they aren’t opening them. What other chance does Andretti have other than playing the dirty game?
roger norman
25th May 2024, 11:32
You’re absolutely right.
MichaelN
25th May 2024, 11:59
There is no “great strength and health” in F1. The”bailout” mentioned have simply been made permanent, and only after Force India and Sauber threatened to drag FOM in front of the EU Competition body. There are three to four teams who are hopelessly uncompetitive and sustain themselves on the money shoved their way to keep the real players out of court. That’s not a “model” Liberty has created, it’s just been the only feasible way to fill the grid with more than 10 cars after Toyota, BMW, Ford, Renault (briefly) all left.
Also, teams are not “franchises”. They’re competitors. And the F1 rules allow for 13 of them. The sooner this ill-conceived Concorde Agreement lapses the better. Much of this is Todt’s fault, who gave FOM and the teams far too much say.
MichaelN
25th May 2024, 12:00
Also, aside from Horner these three guys have scored a collective 28 points all year.
Hilarious.
Osnola
25th May 2024, 13:23
But..but.. Horner said he did “not score”
To his spice girl..
roger norman
25th May 2024, 13:55
Yeah, but did he say he didn’t want to?
AlanD
25th May 2024, 13:01
One reason I like the idea of Andretti in F1 is that I feel it is more likely to be an enduring name than most of today’s grid. Take McLaren, you cannot imagine them rebranding themselves as Volkswagen, for example, or Aldi Shopping App, no matter how much money is thrown at them. Similarly, when you look at the Andretti name, it isn’t just that the driver himself was successful, but that they’ve been racing for years and years under that name. In F1, I have completely lost track of which team was which two years ago, or what they will be called next year. I think it makes it easier for people to say they are fans of Ferrari, Red Bull, Williams, etc, when there is continuity of the name for many years.
Don
25th May 2024, 13:50
So what are they supposed to do? Ridiculous.
stefmeister
25th May 2024, 13:52
As far as i’m concerned there’s no sporting reason not to allow additional teams to enter. The grid capacity is still 26 cars I believe so there’s no reason to block at least 3 new teams.
I’d even be fine going above 13 teams/26 cars & having some drivers failing to qualify, Would create a bit of extra jeopardy into the weekend & let’s not forget that this some drivers failing to qualify was part of the sport for longer than it hasn’t been.
I don’t think there should be any commercial considerations at all. If a team has the facilities & fund to build 2 cars (Why not return to allowing single car teams also?) with 2 drivers willing to drive them then let them join the party.
There are no downsides to me. More teams equals more cars for fans to watch as well as more competition and more opportunities for drivers, mechanics, engineer’s, designers & sponsors.
MichaelN
25th May 2024, 14:12
The little lie that nobody is allowed to say is of course that running an F1 team is still absurdly expensive, and that other than for the big three or four teams, proper team-funding sponsorship deals are hard to come by.
Not every team spends to the budget cap, and since FOM sent a collective 1.2 billion to the teams last year, it’s a reasonable guess that this pays for a lot (if not all; Haas) of the budget of backmarker teams. Just look at how much prime real estate on the liveries is given to suppliers, or even the team name itself. This is very much a different game than the early 2000s.
So the second that pay-out is reduced to accommodate extra teams, there’s going to be major issues for the business models of multiple teams. The Sauber/Force India EU case was very much about orchestrating a guaranteed pay-out so these teams could live off the money generated by the public’s interest in the better teams. The current grid is very much the result of that. Half the teams are perennially underperforming, barely have any noteworthy sponsors, and are essentially subsidized by FOM to fill the grid.
roger norman
25th May 2024, 14:59
What passes for an F1 business model is clearly broken. It’s not just financial subsidies for the back markers or rejecting Andretti/Cadillac’s bid after FIA approved it. Greg Maffei and Liberty Media, and Stefano Domenicali and FOM have somehow managed to almost turned the average GP into the motorsports equivalent of professional wrestling.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
25th May 2024, 23:30
The honest thing to do would be to have teams insured and appraised and they field cars at a test event before the beginning of the year. Top 13 teams get admitted to play that year, the other teams get told to do something else. That would be something. But that level of competition, would make people like liberty media very scared, because too much money is invested in certain brands, and the presumption that the ‘team’ will be around and be too big to fail.
knightameer (@knightameer)
25th May 2024, 14:02
Haha the irony.. Alpine talking about a new team not bringing any value in terms of competitiveness.. themselves being on their 3rd 100 race plan.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
26th May 2024, 1:16
Ahah, absolutely, alpine have been consistently embarrassing after 2006, especially for a team with their resources.
John Cousins (@drone)
25th May 2024, 15:38
My god. The attitude of the other teams and Liberty sickens me to the core. Disgraceful behaviour. It’s becoming less of a sport by the day. Maybe when Newey retires and has some time off, he can create a new Formula of racing series that isn’t selfish, arrogant and pretending to be woke at the same time. Something pure, raw, and inviting to true Motorsport teams and fans.
Yeah, I get it’s business, but the balance is all wrong… it’s moved way to far in the wrong direction. I want some more teams and variety. The existing teams just want more money and it’s ruining the sport more than the horrifically obese, overly quiet, plastic tyred cars.
Andretti doesn’t bring value? What the heck is Alpine then?
I also hope that Liberty and the other teams are somehow sued under some form of international anti-competitive behaviour law. How can it legally be a called a sport and governed by a sporting body if you meet the criteria to compete but aren’t allowed in because of some stupid clique? Hopefully Andretti do continue the legal avenue and finish what Force India threatened all those years ago. I want to see the arrogant clique squirm a bit more…
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
25th May 2024, 23:31
the last thing guys like Toto and Liberty want are more engine manufacturers and political diversity.
f1andrea
25th May 2024, 17:05
Absolutely ridiculous how they are trying to say all stupid things to justificate, when they are totally wrong. The right path is to get OK from FIA and they got it, stop. But as Lewis said 4 years ago, “cash is king”. Totally unfair from F1 and teams, they have to be punished from some court
SteveP
25th May 2024, 21:29
I’m afraid you are mistaken. The process has two gateway points:
1. FIA approval
2. FOM approval
They passed the first and got a “try again for 2028” at stage 2, which, possibly not coincidentally, is when the GM PU is really available (according to info from GM)
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
25th May 2024, 23:33
that makes sense, forcing the teams to spend 12-13 million a pop for the power units, all these finance guys have it pegged, their budgets, their inflows and outflows, these guys cant afford a disruption in supply/demand.
S
26th May 2024, 7:24
There is, in fact, only one ‘gateway’ into F1, and that is guarded by the FIA. Passing that allows a new team to participate in the entire championship and even win it.
FOM is not dissimilar to a group of protesters gluing themselves to the road to prevent new team traffic flowing into F1.
They have power only over who makes money from F1 and how much access they get to official media.
The 2028 thing is not so much about the engine as it is about the Concorde Agreement – which, surprise surprise, will not include a $200m extortion fee but a much larger one. They may even reduce the maximum number of commercial participants from 12 to 10, just to make sure that Andretti or any other additional team won’t be allowed to make any money from F1.
And the more FOM play this game, the more the relationship between Liberty and the FIA breaks down.
SteveP
26th May 2024, 21:29
If that were true, which it is not, then there would have been no referral to FOM.
The 2028 “thing” is that the GM “Cadillac” PU that Andretti tout as their added-value, won’t be ready until 2028.
I would suggest that knuckling down to the task of getting the chassis prototypes built and tested, and getting a working prototype PU tested while they are outside the competition rules would be a better use of their time than stirring up politicians with weak arguments that there are restrictive practices keeping the non-existent GM PU out.
George
25th May 2024, 19:30
Let Andretti in but increase the introduction fee to $500million. This will compensate all the teams and discourage other from getting a entrants then flipping after a year for $1 billion.
Only genuine racing teams will apply.
P.s. isn’t Haas racing American even if they are based in Silverstone. Andretti F1 will be UK based aswell so they will have the same setup or am I imagining that
W. Wade
26th May 2024, 3:10
Liberty Media is trying to pretend that they are the NBA or NFL and they aren’t. They already have the ticket master lawsuit and F1 will be next.