Formula 1 Rejects Andretti Global

by Linus O'Howell

For a while now, Andretti Autosport (now Andretti Global) have been trying to get into Formula 1. Things looked to be going well for them when the FIA approved their bid, but it was unfortunately announced yesterday that F1 themselves to do not share the same views. In this article, I’m going to go through some of the key points made by F1 before I will add my thoughts to everything.

The first statement that caught my eye was:“The presence of an 11th team would not, on it’s own, provide value to the championship. The most significant way in which a new entrant would bring value is by being competitive”. For me, this is a pretty floored argument as I’m pretty sure the name Andretti would bring plenty of value to Formula 1 as a Championship. Also, how can you know whether a team’s going to be competitive or not, especially if they were to join from 2026 (which is when the next big regulation change occurs).

Also, it’s not like this is some random team from Norway or ERT from Formula E (no offence guys), this is Andretti, one of the most successful IndyCar teams of all time and home to the reigning Formula E World Champion (Jake Dennis) so I really can’t understand how and why Formula 1 thinks Andretti won’t be any good.

Second of all: "Our research indicates that F1 would bring value to the Andretti brand rather than the other way around” is such a stupid thing to say on so many levels. Of course that’s true, but surely that’s the same for basically every team in the sport (besides Ferrari, McLaren, and maybe Red Bull).

Also, are you telling me that the likes of Haas, Stake F1, and Visa Cash App RB bring more value to Formula 1 than F1 does for them?!

And finally, whilst this wasn’t part of the statement, I think it’s worth mentioning F1 and it’s relationship with the United States. F1 has been doing what ever it can to get big in the US, whether that be through their hit Netflix series “Drive to Survive”, or adding the additions of the Miami and Las Vegas Grand Prix’s alongside the current US GP at COTA.

Also, it very much looks like F1 could be adding even more races in the States down the line with Chicago heavily rumoured to be getting it’s own race in a few years time. So, why would Formula 1 reject an application from a genuine American-based team. To me, that makes absolutely no sense!

Overall, I think I can speak for myself and a lot of people to say how disappointing it is that Andretti won’t be joining the Formula 1 Grid in the next couple of years. What are you views on all of this, let us now down in the comments below!

📸 Image credit: Andretti Global.