The International Automobile Federation (FIA) had nevertheless paved the way for Andretti’s arrival in the paddock by giving him the green light last October. But this decision remained subject to the conclusion of a commercial agreement with Liberty Media, holder of the F1 rights, which immediately announced that it would carry out its “own assessment of the solidity of this candidacy”.
And the conclusions reached by F1 decision-makers are clear! For them, the American team, which had announced a partnership with General Motors to supply Cadillac engines to the team, would not bring any added value to the championship because it would not be able to quickly be competitive.
“Our evaluation process established that the presence of an 11th team would not, in itself, add value to the championship. The best way for a new team to provide value would be to be competitive. We do not believe that this candidate would be a competitive participant,” write the organizers of the Formula 1 world championship.
“Although the Andretti name is known to F1 fans, our research indicates that F1 would bring value to the Andretti brand rather than the other way around,” they point out. “The addition of an eleventh team would place an operational burden on race promoters, would impose significant costs on some of them and would reduce the technical, operational and commercial space of other competitors,” argues F1.
However, the door remains open for Andretti to arrive in the paddock at a slightly later date, when it will have an engine manufacturer. “We would consider differently an application to enter the championship in 2028 with an engine supplied by General Motors (…) In this case, there would be other factors to consider in relation to the value that the candidate would bring to the championship , in particular with the arrival of a new prestigious manufacturer as an engine manufacturer in the discipline,” concludes F1
Most existing teams opposed Andretti’s arrival despite the new season’s calendar featuring a record 24 Grands Prix. The teams, who viewed this candidacy negatively because of its consequences on the sharing of revenues and prizes, consider the 200 million dollars in entry fees demanded from the candidate insufficient.
“I think that if the operating system (of F1) is not exhausted, we do not need to remodel it. I am convinced that it works very well with ten teams and I think it should stay that way,” Lawrence Stroll, the owner of Aston Martin, told Sky Sports in October. The Andretti team’s candidacy is led by Michael Andretti, former F1 driver and son of Mario Andretti, F1 world champion in 1978.