The International Automobile Federation announced last week that among the applicants is the American Andrette, which applied in partnership with Cadillac, a subsidiary of General Motors, and is eligible to enter Formula 1 in 2025 or 2026.
However, this does not mean that Andretti will definitely be on the grid, as the team still has to come to terms with Formula 1, primarily over financial issues, while the current teams are opposed to constantly expanding, mostly due to revenues from in This sport they will get a smaller portion by cutting the cake into several parts.
FIA President Mohammed Bin Sulayem spoke about the strange situation that occurred at the Qatar Grand Prix last weekend.
““It will not be easy to reject a team that has already received the green light from the FIA.” Reported by Reuters. “Formula 1 has to be begging car manufacturers to come. We can’t say no. If you ask me what my dream is, it’s to fill all 12 places with teams, and to have a factory-backed American team as well as an American racer. And maybe the same goes for China ».
Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and FIA President Mohammed bin Sulayem in Qatar (Photo: Getty Images)
Currently active teams – by definition – only want to see a new entrant if one of the existing teams takes over, as Audi is doing with Sauber for 2026. According to the FIA president, this is the wrong direction.
“We cannot force Andretti/GM to buy a team because there will be a seller. I will not mention names, but there were people who pressured me to convince GM about this. But this is not my job, I was not chosen for this purpose, and I will not back down.”
Another argument raised against the XI is the lack of sufficient space in the pit lane at certain circuits, such as Monaco and Zandvoort. Slim has an answer for this too:
“The rules allow 12 teams. Some teams come with the idea that the pit lane will be too crowded. There is still a Hollywood stable there now…” – He sarcastically referred to the Formula 1 movie being produced under the supervision of Lewis Hamilton and Brad Pitt, for which the crew will have a separate garage and cars to film.
“The stadiums have to have enough space for 12 teams. In any case, I think there are a lot of races, not teams. We need more teams, less races. I understand that the teams are worried about their share of the pie, but we have other things to do.” To worry about it.”
“The FIA is not a service provider, we are the holders of the rights to Formula 1. We have leased it, but we are the main tenants, and that must be respected. It is not my aim to push Liberty into a corner or embarrass the management of Formula 1, my job is to protect the spirit of Formula 1.” – summed up the president.
