Biggest problem still unsolved
FIA clears the way for Andretti to join Formula 1
October 3, 2023, 7:52 a.m
Andretti is getting ready to compete in Formula 1 from 2025. The world association FIA has given its approval to the US team – but the ten other racing teams are highly skeptical. And Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali doesn’t sound particularly enthusiastic either.
After the FIA’s green light, Michael Andretti’s US project still faces a really tough course. The son of racing driver Mario Andretti has to convince potential rivals and also Formula One management. In the crucial phase of the application process, Formula 1 management will examine whether 60-year-old Andretti and his planned team can increase the value of the sport. Andretti can now start discussions about economic conditions.
Motorsport director Eric Warren of General Motors had already assured NBC that “this team would be a great added value for Formula 1.” With its Cadillac brand, GM is a partner in Andretti’s Formula 1 project. The construction of the Andretti Cadillac racing team for the 2025 season is already well underway, “because we are running out of time,” Warren also explained.
It would be the second US team after Haas. Andretti had repeatedly emphasized that he could offer Formula 1 added value, especially through its status as the “only” American team – the United States is currently the racing series’ largest growth market. The Haas racing team already exists, whose owner Gene Haas is successful in US racing. The team has an additional headquarters in Banbury, UK, and has worked closely with Ferrari since it was founded in 2016.
Mercedes boss Wolff fears “dilution”
The problem for Andretti is that increasing the starting field to eleven racing teams would mean that the income would have to be shared with one more team. 200 million US dollars are required for entry. But because the racing series is booming and new markets and cities are being opened up, such as Las Vegas, those who are against an eleventh team consider this sum to be too low. According to Forbes magazine, Scuderia Ferrari alone, the largest and still most illustrious name in the field, is worth around 3.5 billion euros, and even backbencher Haas is also valued at 700 million.
Mercedes Motorsport Director Toto Wolff warned that no major sports league would open the door so easily to newcomers and let them share in the prize money. “Something like that just dilutes the entire league.” Formula 1 then merely “acknowledged” the FIA’s announcement and said it would now carry out “its own assessment of the remaining applicant” and “whether the remaining application is justified,” it said quite matter-of-factly. “Interest in Formula 1 is already great. I don’t think the arrival of new teams would increase interest,” Formula 1 managing director Stefano Domenicali said weeks ago.
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem also emphasized in the association’s announcement that the world association was acting in accordance with an EU directive. A European Union directive from 2000 prohibits applicants from being refused participation without reasonable reasons. The FIA had recently examined the applications of four remaining interested parties in detail, only Andretti survived this second phase. Among other things, the financial, technical and sporting possibilities of the applicants were examined.