For now, F1 denies Andretti entrance, but it remains open until 2028.
With the announcement on Wednesday that the commercial rights holder for grand prix racing has rejected the American squad’s application for 2025, Andretti’s prospects of obtaining a Formula 1 entry have been temporarily shattered.
But it was made clear that there was potential for it to take the 11th position starting in 2028 in a lengthy statement explaining why FOM did not think Andretti warranted a spot on the grid for the following several years.
Following an expression of interest request from potential entrants, the FIA stated back in October that it was confident Andretti’s technical skills were good enough to support an entry. But in order for Andretti to be permitted to race, it had to finalize a business arrangement with Liberty Media, the owner of Formula One, as per the guidelines for new teams outlined in the Concorde Agreement.
It would never be simple to get such a deal through because Formula One had made it plain that it was not in favor of grid expansion unless it could be demonstrated that a new entrant would provide a demonstrable advantage. After months of consideration and talks with important parties, Formula One has decided that it does not think that allowing Andretti to use the grid is the right decision.
According to the statement: “Our assessment process has determined that an eleventh team would not add value to the championship on its own. Being competitive is the main way that a new entry would provide value. We don’t think the candidate would participate in a competitive event. It went on to say that it believed the current race promoters would be unnecessarily burdened financially by having an additional team on the grid.
“The addition of an 11th team would place an operational burden on race promoters, would subject some of them to significant costs, and would reduce the technical, operational and commercial spaces of the other competitors,” it stated. “We were not able to identify any material expected positive effect on CRH financial results, as a key indicator of the pure commercial value of the Championship.”
The Andretti engine issue, which requires the squad to accept customer power units from 2025 or 2026—a agreement that may be forced on current manufacturers—is another important factor underpinning F1’s stance. F1 believed that this would not be helpful for the championship’s future, but once Andretti’s ambitions for a partnership with Cadillac are underway, perhaps as early as 2028, its opinions may alter.
“We would consider an application for a team entering the 2028 Championship with a GM power unit differently, either as a GM customer team designing all permitted components in-house, or as a GM works team,” F1 continued.
“In this instance, there would be more considerations to take into account regarding the value that the applicant would contribute to the Championship, specifically regarding the introduction of a prominent new OEM as a PU supplier to the sport.”
Last summer, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali discussed the decision-making process, saying: “We always need to make sure that the decision is right for the business.” And I believe that this is the responsibility that needs to be assumed by the FIA and the two of us.