In this file photo taken on August 23, 2020, Mario Andretti and his son Michael stand on the grid prior to the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. America’s Andretti Global is revving up its bid to join Formula One, announcing a partnership on January 5, 2022, with General Motors to provide Cadillac engines for the proposed team.
Andretti Global’s ambition to enter Formula One has been boosted by a partnership with General Motors. It will attempt to join the series under its Cadillac banner and support Michael Andretti’s bid to form a two-car American team.
Andretti has lobbied the FIA, the governing body for F1, to expand the 20-car grid and join the series for some time now. However, his efforts have been met by strong opposition from existing F1 teams who have claimed that an 11th team would ruin their revenues.
The team will centre around driver Colton Herta. In Thursday’s announcement, four months in the making, Michael Andretti stated that General Motors provides the additional value that rival teams claim new ones must bring. General Motors, one of the largest automakers in the world, will provide Cadillac engines to Andretti Global’s F1 team.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem tweeted on Monday that he has asked his team to “look at launching an Expressions of Interest process for prospective new teams for the FIA F1 World Championship.”
F1 responded to the Andretti-GM deal in the same line it has taken since Andretti began pushing — by stating that several parties are interested in joining the category and Andretti is simply the most visible. F1 also said that no new teams could be added to the grid prior to the 2026 season and that any new entrant request requires the approval of both F1 and the FIA.
Andretti had previously been linked to an engine partnership with Alpine, a French manufacturer. The Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi, who was one of two F1 team principals who signed an informal petition seeking support for his team at the Miami Grand Prix in May, had expressed interest in teaming up with Andretti.
F1 teams will be paying close attention to Andretti Global’s progress as it attempts to become the first American team to enter F1 since 1986.