The prospect of Andretti joining the grid is welcomed by the FIA however, the same cannot be said for the teams as Christian Horner labels his reasons.
Ever since FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem welcomed new teams with his “expression of interest” statement, the prospect of Andretti joining the grid seems more possible than ever.
The American team has been eyeing an entry into the sport for quite a while now. Regardless, this time it seems more possible than ever for the team to finally join the pinnacle of motorsports.
However, this move is not welcomed by the teams on the grid. Reports indicate except for two teams that are McLaren and Alpine, no team is interested in the move.
The main question was to find a manufacturer for Andretti. The American side has seemed to solve that problem after partnering with General Motors.
Horner clarifies his stand
The existing teams have highlighted the financial matter as the biggest reason for not allowing a new team. Teams fear a financial disaster if a new team joins. Further, FIA making big announcements without consulting F1 as a whole is also concerning the paddock.
Christian Horner reasoned recent statements from FIA to support new team entry:
“This view would be common to any team — it’s irrelevant,”
Horner told RACER.
“As I said, to have the Andretti brand and name and Cadillac in Formula 1 would be fantastic, and hopefully a solution can be found.”
“You can understand the FIA. They’ve got no financial consequence of this because they don’t participate in the prize fund. And they’d receive further entry fees for more teams coming in.”
“So you can understand the FIA potentially wanting more teams on the grid. But I think they need to find alignment with the commercial rights holder, and the 2026 Concorde Agreement would seem the right place to deal with that.”
“It just needs all parties to have a sensible conversation and agree something that is practical and workable.”
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