The topic of Formula 1’s dismissal of Andretti reared its head once again during pre-season testing in Bahrain and Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner inferred the door is still open to the American organisation to buy its way in via an existing team.
From the very outset, the 10 teams in F1 were opposed to welcoming an 11th entry and concerned with sharing the financial spot they’d worked so hard to help grow off the back of the covid pandemic.
In the end, ‘value’ was one of the key determining factors in Formula One Management’s (FOM) statement rejecting Andretti with the proposed bid determined not to add enough value to the series compared to the value F1 would bring to Andretti.
During Thursday’s Team Representative press conference during Bahrain testing, Horner gave his thoughts in response to FOM’s statement.
“Formula One made their position clear,” Horner told media including Motorsport Week.
“It doesn’t mean that Andretti can’t come. It just means that they can’t come as a new or 11th team.
“So the opportunity still exists for them to take over an existing franchise or team if they could reach commercial terms.”
Andretti’s eponymous owner Michael Andretti has tried this method before, engaging in negotiations with Sauber owner Finn Rausing in late 2021 about a possible takeover of the Hinwil-based squad.
Those negotiations stalled and instead, Andretti set a path down an original 11th entry, that has also stalled.
Should it return to the prior method of buying an existing ‘franchise’ – a term widely used in American professional sports and a profitable model Liberty Media has fashioned into the commercial running of F1’s teams – Andretti’s options are limited.
Conjecture points toward Haas, a team that appears to have limited prospects in terms of performance and one that looks on paper to be receiving more financial reward from running around the back of the grid than it is willing to put back in.
Alas, for now at least owner Gene Haas is reluctant to part company with his asset and believes his recent change of Team Principal is enough to make good of Ferrari’s hand-me-down mechanical parts.
Still, had Andretti’s entry been accepted, it is widely understood it would initially run via an Alpine customer engine deal until its Cadillac power unit was up and running.
Alpine Team Principal Bruno Famin has been asked about this topic on multiple occasions, but he continues to see the matter as closed following FOM’s decision.
“I think the decision belongs to Formula One to evaluate the situation, to assess the situation, to evaluate if an 11th team is able to bring sufficient value to the championship,” Famin said in Thursday’s press conference.
“This is their responsibility, this is their championship, and we just take note of their decision.”
McLaren competes against Andretti in both IndyCar and Extreme E and CEO Zak Brown backed up Famin’s remarks and stated the focus now is not on expanding the F1 grid but focussing on the season ahead.
“I think just what Bruno [Famin] said, the decision has been made,” Brown added.
“Formula One laid out what their criteria was and they’ve made their decision.
“And now speaking for myself and I’m sure my colleagues [we’re] focused on our own racing teams and getting on with the season.”
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