Photo: Screenshot from YouTube video by Guinness World Records
The Andretti name might return to Formula 1 46 years after Mario won his Formula 1 World Championship title as a driver. For those of you who are younger, that happened back in 1978. Now, another Andretti, Michael, who is one of Mario's sons, wants to come to the sport as a team owner.
The news was first announced on Mario Andretti's Twitter feed this Friday, and his son confirmed the intention without adding any comments. Now, the idea is that the Andrettis have just applied to field a new F1 team starting the 2024 season, which means that their request might be denied by the FIA.
Back in 2021, Michael Andretti discussed with Sauber, the company that owns and operates the Alfa Romeo F1 team, in a bid to acquire it. The deal did not move forward, which left the Andretti family with an interest in becoming team owners in the world's most expensive sport, but with no teams available to acquire. At least, that is the impression at this moment.
The current version of the Concorde Agreement, which governs the sport, was made in 2021. If any new teams wanted to enter and become the 11th on the grid, they would have to pay 200 million dollars, which would be split equally among the ten existing teams. The current CEO of F1, Stefano Domenicali, told motorsport.com that he preferred a better sustainability with the teams that are already in the sport.
The move is meant to help ensure the value of existing teams, but it also limits entry possibilities for any teams that are not doing exceptionally well from a financial standpoint.
According to Mario Andretti's tweet, his son's entry, Andretti Global, has the resources and "checks every box." In other words, according to Mario Andretti, there is no reason why the FIA would not accept his son's entry, but it will be up to the international federation's leaders to decide using the existing rules. It will be interesting to see the Andretti family back in F1.
Formula 1 teams must operate with fixed budgets, but that does not mean that the sport is affordable in any way. Instead, those cost caps are meant to keep the big teams in check from going too far development-wise when compared to newer entrants. The youngest team in Formula 1 is Haas, which joined back in 2016.
Back in 2021, Michael Andretti discussed with Sauber, the company that owns and operates the Alfa Romeo F1 team, in a bid to acquire it. The deal did not move forward, which left the Andretti family with an interest in becoming team owners in the world's most expensive sport, but with no teams available to acquire. At least, that is the impression at this moment.
The current version of the Concorde Agreement, which governs the sport, was made in 2021. If any new teams wanted to enter and become the 11th on the grid, they would have to pay 200 million dollars, which would be split equally among the ten existing teams. The current CEO of F1, Stefano Domenicali, told motorsport.com that he preferred a better sustainability with the teams that are already in the sport.
The move is meant to help ensure the value of existing teams, but it also limits entry possibilities for any teams that are not doing exceptionally well from a financial standpoint.
According to Mario Andretti's tweet, his son's entry, Andretti Global, has the resources and "checks every box." In other words, according to Mario Andretti, there is no reason why the FIA would not accept his son's entry, but it will be up to the international federation's leaders to decide using the existing rules. It will be interesting to see the Andretti family back in F1.
Formula 1 teams must operate with fixed budgets, but that does not mean that the sport is affordable in any way. Instead, those cost caps are meant to keep the big teams in check from going too far development-wise when compared to newer entrants. The youngest team in Formula 1 is Haas, which joined back in 2016.
Michael has applied to the FIA to field a new F1 team starting in 2024. His entry, Andretti Global, has the resources and checks every box. He is awaiting the FIA's determination.
— Mario Andretti (@MarioAndretti) February 18, 2022
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