Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner believes that a battle between Ford and General Motors would boost Formula 1’s popularity in the United States even further.
Last year Ford announced it would be returning to F1 via a “long-term strategic technical partnership” with Red Bull Powertrains which will see the parties collaborate on the 2026 engine regulations.
The automotive company has been absent from F1 since 2004, but a revival of its involvement comes amid the sport’s exponential growth in the United States since Liberty Media acquired the series in 2016, culminating in races in Miami and Las Vegas being added alongside the Austin Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, the opportunity to have a second American constructor on the F1 grid is currently on the table after the FIA accepted the terms of Andretti’s entry late last year.
Andretti’s long-standing strive to enter the sport was bolstered by the news that its admission would yield a brand-new engine manufacturer in the form of General Motors.
However, Michael Andretti’s eponymous team has been met with stern opposition from the incumbent teams, who have raised repeated concerns about a diluted prize pot.
But while Horner would welcome the rivalry between the two American automotive brands, he reiterated that he would prefer General Motors to supply a current F1 squad.
“If GM chose to get involved, ideally, it would be through an existing team,” Horner said via Speedcafe.
“I’m sure a Ford-GM battle…those brands have huge patriotism in the US, huge, huge followings. The Ford brand alone… You’re either a Ford person or a GM person, and the competition that could generate could be exciting as well.”
GM president Mark Reuss, though, outlined that following through on its interest in building an engine, which would be branded as a Cadillac, was dependent on Andretti.
Horner admits that General Motors needs to provide more clarity on its plans to become a power unit supplier from 2028 in order to earn the acceptance of the relevant parties.
“You have to look at what is the business model behind what GM is looking to do,” Horner explained.
“Is it their project? Is it Andretti’s project? If it’s a genuine GM project and their only option to come into F1 is through an existing franchise, in the same way Audi is doing [with Sauber], you would hope they would do the same.
“Not many years ago, there were a few insolvent teams, and it’s only in recent times that the robustness of the teams is there.
“So you can understand why the teams are reticent to expand and dilute as opposed to saying, you need to join one of the current incumbents, and that’s the nervousness of obviously, I guess, the commercial rights holder.”
Logan Sargeant became the first full-time American F1 racer since 2007 last term, but he struggled with Williams and only scored a singular point across his rookie campaign.
Horner concurred with Vasseur’s argument and thinks it’s a “matter of time” before a driver from the States storms through and becomes an established name within F1.
“If you look at the penetration, you have to recognise that a large percentage of that has come off the Netflix series,” Horner added.
“It has opened up that market, that we now have three races, which would have been unheard of; Ford has come back into Formula 1 which, four years ago, would have been unimaginable, and we have five Fortune 500 companies represented on our car now.
“The fan base is growing, the venues are growing, but I think what Formula 1 needs, for its long-term penetration into the US, is competitive American drivers, and a driver racing for victories.”
Pressed on the possibility of that materialising, Horner replied: “There are more and more drivers coming through the junior formulas, so it’s just a matter of time.”
IMHO it is ridiculous that the Piranha Club doesn’t want to admit new teams on the grid for financial reasons… following this line of thought , the prize pot division would be even more attractive with eight teams only. In fact, looking back at 2023, why do we need any other team besides Red Bull anyhow?