Andretti doesn't give up: “He is convinced he can convince the FOM”

Mission Impossible

Apparently the dream of Andretti family Of land in F1 with your own team it is now definitively shipwrecked. Despite the approval received from the FIA ​​to enter the Circus as the 11th team, the American team received the flat “no” of the top of the queen category of motorsport, motivated with the lack of value addition to the 'product' already in the hands of the other ten teams. Added to this is the desire, which has emerged in recent days from the teams, to introduce into the new Concordat Pactwhich must be signed before the 2026 season, one clause that sets the maximum number of teams at 10 who can participate in F1.

The new factory

Yet despite these discouraging signs, the Andretti team has recently inaugurated a new facility in Silverstone which aims to be there European operational base for the team in view of its actual arrival in F1. For the moment, 80 people from Andretti Cadillac UK are also expected to be employed in the factory. But why this effort if the doors on the horizon appear to be all closed? The reason was revealed by the journalist from Sky Sports F1 Craig Slatewho speaking on the podcast of the British satellite platform told a story chat behind the scenes made with some representatives of the Andretti team.

Persuasion campaign

“They want to reach 400 employees – commented Slate – and with the cameras off some interesting discussions with the people involved in the project they made it clear to me that they still believe they can convince the FOM leaders. They have been given the green light by the FIA, but believe they can still overturn arguments that they would not add value to the sport, as F1 has said“. The mission is not easy. The Circus could open in 2028 upon entry of General Motors as an engine engineerbut Andretti's goal would be to enter at least a couple of years earlier to begin to 'settle in'.

“They don't want to debut a new team and a new engine in one go and they are aware that they have become a sort of political element in the frictions between the management of Formula 1 and the governing body of the FIA“, concluded Slate.