F1 | Andretti rejected: GM's lack weighed too much

Formula 1 is destined to remain a world championship with ten teams for many years. The confirmation comes from the rejection of the application to enter Formula 1 presented by the Andretti team, a precedent destined to become jurisprudence. The doubts about the technical structure of the US team are justified, in the paddock there has long been a suspicion that Andretti underestimated the technical challenge he would have faced. On this front, the decision taken by Liberty Media is based on real beliefs which are not too surprising. Another thing, however, are the reasons written in the press release, which reports evaluations and admission criteria that today would make it impossible for anyone to enter Formula 1, requests that are not satisfied even by several teams that are already in Formula 1.

Last October 2, the FIA ​​concluded its evaluation process regarding the four applications received by the International Federation from as many teams interested in entering Formula 1, promoting only the project presented by the Andretti Formula Racing team. The FIA's next step was to pass the ball to the commercial rights holder, given that for admission to the Formula 1 world championship the candidate team must be eligible for both entities.

After an initial phase of study and request for information, representatives of the Andretti team were invited by Liberty Media to a meeting scheduled for December 12th in London, but the team did not accept the offer. The evaluation phase continued until the final decision, i.e. the rejection made official today with an official note. Liberty Media stated that during the process it had no consultation with the current teams present in Formula 1, limiting itself to evaluating the impact that the entry of an eleventh team into the championship would have.

“Our evaluation process determined that the presence of an eleventh team would not, in itself, provide value to the Championship.” The official note starts with the final decision and then goes into details. “The most significant way a new entrant would bring value is to remain competitive, particularly by fighting for podiums and Grand Prix victories.” This will be a point that will trigger discussions (which have actually already started) since it could be argued that among the ten teams present in Formula 1 today only the first half of the grid can satisfy this request.

Andretti was criticized for wanting to debut in Formula 1 with a 'customer' power unit, as General Motors' involvement would not have been operational in the first few seasons. “A supply of General Motors PU attached to the application from the beginning of the program would have strengthened its credibility.” Another point highlighted concerns the need to create two single-seaters (one for 2025 and the second for the following season) based on two different regulation specifications. “This commitment means that a novice competitor will have to design and build two completely different cars in its first two years of existence,” Liberty Media points out. “The fact that the applicant proposes to do so gives us reason to doubt its understanding of the scale of the challenge.” ”.

It was highlighted that the Andretti team has never previously faced a technical test of this magnitude, and the proposal to contest the first seasons with a supply of 'customer' engines has led to the belief that it will not be able to be competitive. This point will also raise discussions, given that other teams (for example McLaren and Aston Martin) went on the podium several times last year despite using a customer power unit, in this case Mercedes. And obviously there was no shortage of jokes, namely that perhaps Liberty doesn't think it's possible to do it with Renault engines…

The weight of the name 'Andretti' was recognised, but this assessment was immediately followed by a rebuke: “Our research indicates that F1 would increase the value of the Andretti brand rather than the other way around.” Finally, there are considerations linked to the management of a new team on the track: “The addition of an eleventh team would also entail an operational burden for the race organisers, would subject some of them to significant costs and would reduce the technical, operational and commercial spaces of the other competitors”.

The only opening glimmer emerged in the last of the 20 points: “We would evaluate differently the request for entry of a team into the 2028 Championship with a GM engine, both as an official GM team and as a GM customer team, capable of designing in a independently all the components permitted by the regulation. In this case there would be further factors to consider in relation to the value that the team would bring to the Championship, in particular in relation to the introduction of a new official company in the sport as a PU supplier.”

An all-round official house would be something else, and this confirms an already known trend. Liberty Media sees Formula 1 of the future as a championship between totally independent manufacturers. One of the topics on the agenda that will be discussed in the next 'Concorde Agreement' concerns the prohibition on the part of an ownership to own more than one team and the total abolition of the sharing of technical components between the teams: all the teams will have to be independent entities . Andretti probably also paid for this design, which is currently sitting in Liberty's drawers but which could become operational in the not too distant future.