F1's concerns over Andretti make you wonder how an 11th team will ever happen
Wednesday afternoon brought the rather unsurprising news that Formula 1 bosses are not yet prepared to welcome an 11th team to the grid.
The casualty of that stance is Michael Andretti. He had teamed up with General Motors and its Cadillac brand to put together a bid which blew the FIA away - but left F1 chiefs, clearly, wanting more.
"How on earth can we refuse GM," FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem said recently. Well, his F1 counterparts have just emphatically answered that question with a document which not only rejected the proposal, but tore it apart.
And that is significant, because even without GM's involvement, Andretti Global are no novices when it comes to racing. While the team hasn't been super successful in recent teams, the name is a staple of the IndyCar world. Michael is a former F1 racer - his father Mario, also involved in the project, was the 1978 world champion.
But F1 heaped criticism onto the bid. The statement released on Wednesday asserted that the new Andretti team would not be competitive against its rivals and that the company would be getting a lot more out of F1 than it would be putting back in in return.
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To be clear, it was less of a 'no' as it was a 'not now'. Andretti-Cadillac planned to enter in 2025 if possible or perhaps 2026 instead. And plenty of work has already gone into the project, with car parts being designed at a satellite base in Silverstone while work on a mega new facility in Fishers, Indiana, is completed.
Some may look at the timescale as ambitious, but F1 chiefs clearly feel it is reckless. In one of the more scathing passages from the statement, they went as far as to question Andretti's judgement and comprehension of the scale of what he proposes to build.
FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem (right) said yes to Andretti - but F1 chief Stefano Domenicali is more cautious (Getty Images)It read: "We do not believe that there is a basis for any new applicant to be admitted in 2025 given that this would involve a novice entrant building two completely different cars in its first two years of existence. The fact that the applicant proposes to do so gives us reason to question their understanding of the scope of the challenge involved."
The point about 2025 is a fair one - building a car for the team's year only to have to start from scratch for its second feels rather pointless. But F1 does not feel even a 2026 entry is realistic - Mirror Sport understands 2028 is being looked at as a more reasonable timeframe for an 11th grid.
That was also alluded to in the document: "We would look differently on an application for the entry of a team into the 2028 championship with a GM power unit, either as a GM works team or as a GM customer team designing all allowable components in-house.
"In this case there would be additional factors to consider in respect of the value that the applicant would bring to the championship, in particular in respect of bringing a prestigious new OEM to the sport as a PU supplier."
But it's notable that General Motors is mentioned alone in that part of the document, without Andretti. Judging by the language used throughout the lengthy statement, there seems to be real doubts over whether even an established motorsport outfit like Andretti can have a chance of competing in F1.
And if they don't, then who else does? F1's cautious stance on allowing new teams is understandable, even impressive. As also pointed out, most attempts to establish a constructor on the grid in recent decades have failed. But the sport has never been healthier and, together, Andretti and General Motors have the resources to stand a decent chance.
It makes you wonder how an 11th team will ever happen.
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