Andretti Cadillac 'excited' as new team edges closer to joining F1 grid

Andretti Cadillac say they are ‘excited’ and ‘honoured’ as their journey to joining the Formula One grid edges closer.

On Monday, it was announced that the FIA had approved Andretti Formula Racing’s bid to enter F1 in the new few years.

The sport’s governing body launched an ‘expressions of interest’ process at the start of the year for any prospective teams that wanted to compete at the pinnacle of motorsport, though Andretti’s interest can be traced back to the start of 2022.

As expected, the American team were the only one to get approved, with bids from Hitech, New Zealand-based Rodin Carlin, and an Asian outfit LKY SUNZ all rejected.

Andretti Global already have successful teams in many motorsport series, most notably IndyCar and Formula E, and are owned and run by former F1 driver Michael Andretti, whose father Mario won the 1978 world championship.

In order to better their chances of entering F1, they teamed up with US car giant General Motors back in January and they released this joint-statement following the FIA’s announcement:

‘Andretti Cadillac is honoured that the FIA has approved Andretti Formula Racing’s Expression of Interest for the FIA Formula One World Championship.

‘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.

‘We look forward to engaging with all of the stakeholders in Formula One as we continue our planning to join the grid as soon as possible.’

However, many have pointed out that Andretti’s real battle has only just begun, as they now need to get approval from F1 itself and the 10 teams currently racing.

The idea of an 11th team on the grid has been met with – to put it mildly – a lukewarm reception, in part as it means the sport’s prize money would be diluted.

Money is not the only factor at play however, as Haas boss Guenther Steiner told the Metro back in April: ‘What does an 11th team bring to F1? Does it bring more fans? Maybe not. Does it bring more revenue? Maybe not. Do we have to share the revenue between 11 teams not 10? Yes.

‘There aren’t a lot of upsides. Like in any business, why would you give a share of something to somebody who doesn’t bring an upside? That is the general thinking not only mine.

‘If somebody can demonstrate that they bring an upside for everybody not only them I think there is a possibility, but if that is not coming I think it will be very difficult to make a case.’

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