Andretti are one step closer to joining the F1 grid as their bid with General Motors brand Cadillac has been approved by the FIA; but F1's owners still need to give the final green light before any entry is granted, with their considerations now expected to take a number of months
Tuesday 3 October 2023 21:52, UK
American outfit Andretti have been given the green light to enter Formula 1 as a new 11th team by the FIA, but now await approval from F1's owners.
In January, the FIA, the sport's governing body, launched an application process for new teams to seek to join Formula 1 in 2025, 2026 - when new engine regulations take effect - or 2027.
The FIA and Liberty Media-owned Formula 1, who control the sport's commercial rights, both have a say on the matter.
With the FIA accepting Andretti's application, their candidacy is now referred on to Formula 1 for consideration.
Sky Sports understands that F1's perspective on the matter will be purely commercial.
They are expected to make their assessment on Andretti's bid over a number of months before reaching a final decision on whether or not to grant the entry.
"We note the FIA's conclusions in relation to the first and second phases of their process and will now conduct our own assessment of the merits of the remaining application," said F1 in a statement.
Formula 1 has 10 teams at present and is limited to a maximum of 12 up to and including the 2025 season by the current Concorde Agreement, the document which binds the sport's rules and governance together.
Former American racing driver Michael Andretti, who won the US CART championship and had a brief stint in F1 with McLaren in the 1990s, is fronting the bid from his team, which races in other motor sport disciplines, in collaboration with General Motors brand Cadillac.
Andretti's legendary father Mario, who is also involved with the project, was F1 world champion in 1978.
In a statement welcoming the decision, Andretti said: "We appreciate the FIA's rigorous, transparent and complete evaluation process and are incredibly excited to be given the opportunity to compete in such a historic and prestigious championship.
"The formation of this distinctly American team is an important moment of pride for all our employees and fans. We feel strongly that Andretti Cadillac's deep racing competencies and the technological advancements that come from racing will benefit our customers while heightening enthusiasm for F1, globally."
The FIA confirmed that four would-be teams qualified for the second phase of the application process opened earlier this year and that Andretti were "the only candidate to meet the stringent criteria" set out by them.
The criteria included assessments on "sporting and technical ability, the ability of the team to raise and maintain sufficient funding to allow participation in the championship at a competitive level and the team's experience and human resources".
Sustainability management was also assessed.
"The FIA was very clear in establishing stringent criteria for entry from the outset of the Expressions of Interest procedure," said FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
"Our objective, after rigorous due diligence during the application phase, was to only approve prospective entries which satisfied the set criteria and illustrated that they would add value to the sport.
"The FIA is obliged to approve applications that comply with the Expressions of Interests application requirements and we have adhered to that procedure in deciding that Andretti Formula Racing LLC's application would proceed to the next stage of the application process. In taking that decision, the FIA is acting in accordance with EU directives on motor sport participation and development.
"Andretti Formula Racing LLC was the only entity which fulfils the selection criteria that was set in all material respects. I congratulate Michael Andretti and his team on a thorough submission. I also want to thank all prospective teams for their interest and participation."
Andretti's ambitions to add F1 to their motor sport portfolio have been building for several years.
After talks in 2021 to buy into the Sauber-run Alfa Romeo team did not come to fruition, Andretti turned their attentions to a new entry and in January announced they were teaming up with General Motors to apply for a place on the grid under the name Andretti Cadillac Racing.
Andretti said it would base itself out of Indiana and General Motors would be their engine partner.
But Andretti's push to become an 11th team has received what could be described as a mixed reaction - at best - from most existing F1 teams and the sport itself.
Michael Andretti responded to the opposition in an interview with Forbes in January by claiming negative reaction from some teams was "all about greed and looking at themselves" given that their share of the overall F1 prize pot would be diluted by the arrival of an 11th squad.
Under the terms of the Concorde Agreement, any new entrant to the grid has to pay the others a collective $200m anti-dilution fee. But teams have argued that F1's boom in popularity over recent years means a place on the value of being an F1 team has increased.
In June, Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei said on the matter: "I think in the right set of circumstances we would work to get the 11th team.
"Somebody who could bring a lot of value to the sport, a lot of value to the fans, because of their position in technology, their position as an OEM, their position in marketing - some combination of all that - you could imagine coming to some kind of an agreement.
"But it's not without controversy, certainly among the 10 teams."
F1's president Stefano Domenicali told Sky Sports F1 in February: "First of all, we are very welcoming of everyone that is bringing value to the racing.
"I think we need to respect everyone. There are teams like Mario and Michael Andretti being very vocal about their will to enter Formula 1. But in my view [it is] not smart to say that teams are greedy.
"There are others that are much less vocal that would like to come into Formula 1, so there is a process to respect and we will make sure together with the FIA that the process will be respected."
Having already made clear that any new entrant has to bring wider "value" to the championship, and would be judged on that basis, F1 chiefs will now assess the commercial merits of Andretti's application, a process that is likely to take a number of months to complete.
