Green Light for F1 Team "Really Close" - Michael Andretti

[3798j]

Here's a well thought comment that followed a recent Ben Sulayem statement where he reiterated that if the rules say 12 teams are allowed, there's no reason to not approve a legitimate application.

"Bravo Mohammed Ben Sulayem. F1 (Liberty) need to be careful. If they reject Andretti & GM after the FIA approve their application then the EU Commissioner of Competition would have good reason to investigate F1 for anti-competitive behaviour and abusing their authority. Refusing to accept another qualified team because of a desire to not share the income is against competition. Liberty don’t own the sport. They lease the commercial rights. The teams do not own a franchise. They are participants who have a license to compete. That license is a term agreement. It has a commencement date and an expiry date. They don’t own a spot in F1. They have no say or foundation to block another team."

It's counterproductive that it can be profitable by being a perennial backmarker...and ridiculous that a uncompetitive team's market value continues to increase.

[3798j]

Even bad teams have every reason ($$$) not to sell...

"Williams increased 4 times their value in 3 years."

"Formula One is in a boom era and Sportico recently published a list of the most to least valuable teams currently on the grid."

"Ferrari (which can never in reality be sold) were top with a value of $3.13bn and lowly Williams owned by Venture Capitalist firm Doriton were worth $795m. Even Haas who were valued the least came in at an estimated $710m."

"Just three years ago when the Williams family sold their historic racing team in August 2020 it was valued at $179.5m. The current owners of teams believe the valuation of their operations has not yet hit the peak where they would be enticed to sell to another party."

"This explains why Andretti is unable to buy another team as suggested by Toto Wolff."

https://thejudge13.com/2023/08/02/re...pole-position/

[3798j]

There's now a new candidate for..."the most ridiculous statement made by a CEO to shareholders"...

Speaking during an investor call on Friday, Liberty Media’s President and CEO Greg Maffei explained that...“We have 10 great teams, we’re very excited about what they’re doing."

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/form...n-coming-soon/

[3798j]

"FIA may have already let Andretti know that his Formula 1 franchise is a go for as early as 2025."

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/form...etti-f1-entry/

[3798j]

"Rodin Cars names Andretti as the successful F1 applicant after their own bid failed." The FIA has yet to formally make the announcement.
Interestingly, Roden said their failed bid included a guaranteed seat for a female driver.

https://racer.com/2023/09/28/rodin-n...wn-failed-bid/

[jsf721]

I just hope that the GM caddy involvement trickles down to a better quality USA made cars and hopefully the birth of several new sports cars.

[bagekko]

FIA approve, but still need FOM/Liberty to approve.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/andret...proval-f1-grid

[3798j]

"FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem insists there will be 'no rift' over American team Andretti joining the F1 grid as new 11th team - and claims the opposition from existing 10 outfits is 'about money'.
"We asked the right questions to Cadillac and to Andretti and when they came back to us, there is no way we can resist them because the team ticked all the boxes. It is good for the sport."
''I am actually confident that they will go through.''

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-F1-money.html

[3798j]

"They can say whatever they want. At the end of the day, I was elected to take care of the sport."
"Nothing goes into my pocket. We don’t have shareholders, we don’t have a board of directors to share the money, so my mission is different than theirs. That’s very clear.” - - - Mohammed Ben Sulayem

[3798j]

"GM have now made it clear that if F1 turns down Andretti, they will not enter the series with another team."

“GM is committed to partnering with Andretti to race in F1,” GM president Mark Reuss told the Associated Press. “The collaboration between Andretti [and] Cadillac brings together two unique entities built for racing, both with long pedigrees of success in motorsport globally.”

https://www.racefans.net/2023/11/09/...hout-andretti/

[dfox]

Originally Posted by 3798j

"GM have now made it clear that if F1 turns down Andretti, they will not enter the series with another team."

“GM is committed to partnering with Andretti to race in F1,” GM president Mark Reuss told the Associated Press. “The collaboration between Andretti [and] Cadillac brings together two unique entities built for racing, both with long pedigrees of success in motorsport globally.”

https://www.racefans.net/2023/11/09/...hout-andretti/

It's the recognizable US racing name Andretti that GM wants to be tied to. They've been trying to turn around the Cadillac name in the US from being a grandma's car to being a sporty car for a while and it's not taken off - getting their name on an F1 team would help their case a lot. Pair that with another familiar name in US racing - Andretti, and there's instant brand recognition. Everyone's heard the Andretti name. Haas, while recognizable if you're into Nascar (or F1 obviously), isn't known as well to the general public.

[3798j]

If Domenicali and Liberty are stupid enough to turn down Andretti Global/General Motors while embracing thoroughly uncompetitive teams (like Haas) and allowing one entity to own two teams (RedBull), it'll offer proof positive they don't give a rats ass about fielding a competitive product. They truly will show they run a "circus".

[R BMW]

Just think how much fun it will be to watch the pre and post shows if Andretti has a team. Remember the drama and whining from Indy racing they would cause.
"So and so cut me off, that wasn't a fair start" maybe Micheal won't be on the pit wall.

[dfox]

Originally Posted by 3798j

If Domenicali and Liberty are stupid enough to turn down Andretti Global/General Motors while embracing thoroughly uncompetitive teams (like Haas) and allowing one entity to own two teams (RedBull), it'll offer proof positive they don't give a rats ass about fielding a competitive product. They truly will show they run a "circus".

For sure. I can't imagine they'd snub Andretti/GM. Liberty recognizes that the US is a largely untapped market. It's a great opportunity to get a name that's recognizable in the US into F1 and paired up with a domestic manufacturer. Hard as a US citizen to get excited about Haas and Sargent

[3798j]

"General Motors plans to send a small group of executives to next week’s Las Vegas Grand Prix in hopes of jump-starting conversations with F1 and series owner Liberty Media about the Andretti application. Andretti told AP at last month’s U.S. Grand Prix that F1 President Stefano Domenicali was not returning his calls or texts."

https://apnews.com/article/f1-andret...051f95e7c70ef4

[3798j]

General Motors said today it has registered with Formula One’s governing body to become an engine supplier starting in 2028.

"We are thrilled that our new Andretti Cadillac F1 entry will be powered by a GM power unit,” GM President Mark Reuss said. “With our deep engineering and racing expertise, we’re confident we’ll develop a successful power unit for the series, and position Andretti Cadillac as a true works team."

https://apnews.com/article/f1-genera...60ea26ca7e2ada