F1 | Andretti: Renault engine only if the team had registration

The contours of the Andretti team's story are becoming clearer as the days pass. As will be remembered, the FIA ​​had given its approval to the American team's candidacy to enter F1 as the eleventh team, while the FOM had rejected the candidacy last week with a document that motivates the refusal from a sporting, political and commercial point of view

Now a very important new element emerges: Renault is not willing to give a power unit to Andretti to supply a customer engine until the American team gains entry into Formula 1. The scenario is very different from what it was: the The French manufacturer had originally signed a pre-contract with Andretti to power Michael's nascent team, but the agreement expired last year and there is no longer anything valid.

Andretti, therefore, currently finds himself without the availability of a power unit. Bruno Famin took care of clarifying the situation at the presentation of the Alpine A524: the head of the French group's sporting programs admitted his willingness to supply the engine only when Andretti enters F1.

The feeling, therefore, is that the dog is biting its tail: Renault is ready to provide the power unit to allow Andretti to have a customer engine to enter the F1 world championship in 2026 with the new regulation, waiting for it to eventually arrive the Cadillac with an official supply from 2028.

“We had a pre-contract but nothing happened afterwards – admitted Famin -. The agreement would have been valid only if Andretti had been entered into the F1 world championship. None of this has happened so far. I read what the FOM said about 2028: we will see how the issue evolves. After the Andretti promoter's pronouncement we no longer spoke with the FIA.”

According to Famin, the position of the Andretti team has not changed much even after the negative pronouncement of the FOM: “We would be very happy to have an eleventh team in F1, if it brought real added value to the championship. The promoter has evaluated the project and at the moment he rejected it, but it's not a final position. If one day F1 wants an eleventh team we would be very happy.”