It is no secret, since it is public news, that Michael Andretti would like to enter Formula 1 with his own team. The American has developed and continues to build a long-term plan to convince the highest category of motorsport.
However, it seems that there is some doubt than another among the senior officials of F1 and, on the other hand, also among the leaders and directors of the vast majority of teams, especially at the economic level, since one more team could mean less. income for them.
Otmar Szafnauer , aware of everything that is cooking in the paddock, assessed Andretti’s possible entry into Formula 1: “There are pros and cons when it comes to having an eleventh team on the grid, but obviously I think Andretti is a great name in the world of motorsports and especially in the American one”.
Next season, the top flight has three races planned in the US (Austin, Miami and Las Vegas), a market across the Atlantic that has become the main business since Liberty Media took over.
Bearing this in mind, the director of Alpine does not believe that Andretti ‘s entry into Formula 1 is negative on an economic level for the rest of the teams: “If a team like Andretti is here, the billing cake could be even bigger, for which would benefit everyone.
Andretti has repeatedly claimed to be prepared to pay the $200 million entry fee (just under €190 million), but despite this, he does not seem to get the necessary support from current F1 teams.
Williams principal Jost Capito was more cautious than Otmar Szafnauer on the matter: “We just don’t have enough information at the moment. Andretti is talking to the FOM and the FIA, but we don’t have much information about what they want to do as a team. and neither how its entrance should be”.
“We have to assume that the FIA and the FOM will make the right decisions based on all the data they have. And we will receive the information when the time is right,” concluded the head of those from Grove.