31 January 2024 , 18:07
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Mario Andretti has declared himself "devastated" after Formula 1 rejected the Andretti-Cadillac bid to join the grid.
Andretti Global, led by Mario's son Michael Andretti, had teamed up with General Motors to submit the proposal for the sport's 11th team. However, on Wednesday, F1 chiefs announced that it had been rejected.
The Andretti family has plenty of association with F1 - Mario is a former world champion, having won the 1978 title. And his son Michael raced himself in the sport in the 1990s.
Mario was the first to react publicly to the news in a brief but emotional social media statement. "I'm devastated. I won't say anything else because I can't find any other words besides devastated," he wrote.
In its statement announcing the rejection of the Andretti bid, F1 spoke of doubts over the new outfit's ability to be competitive at its proposed joining date of 2025 or 2026. It also asserted the Andretti brand would be taking more from the sport than it would be giving back in return.
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And it made clear there is no evidence to suggest that the new team's presence would bring a commercial benefit to F1. It concluded: "The applicant's application to participate in the championship should not be successful."
However, the door is not completely closed to the idea of an 11th team. In particular, chiefs are keen on the idea of General Motors joining the sport, either as a power unit supplier or by creating a full works team. Mirror Sport understands F1 is currently looking at 2028 as a realistic date for proper consideration of an 11th team.
Martin Brundle thinks the decision has put F1 on a collision course with the FIA (Sky Sports)Andretti-Cadillac later released its own statement in which it vowed to continue working on its F1 project despite the rejection. "Andretti-Cadillac has reviewed the information Formula One Management Limited has shared and strongly disagrees with its contents," it read.
Andretti and Cadillac are two successful global motorsports organisations committed to placing a genuine American works team in F1, competing alongside the world's best. We are proud of the significant progress we have already made on developing a highly-competitive car and power unit with an experienced team behind it, and our work continues at pace.
"Andretti-Cadillac would also like to acknowledge and thank the fans who have expressed their support."
F1's rejection also comes after the sport's governing body, the FIA, gave approval to the Andretti-Cadillac bid. Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle feels the difference of opinion on the matter puts the sport's two heads of state on a collision course.
He said: "This does put the FIA absolutely head-to-head with Formula One Management and Liberty Media, the financial rights holders, because the FIA said yes, Formula 1 have said no to what they often refer to in that document, it's just come out as an 11th team, rather than necessarily Andretti.
"Andretti will no doubt say, 'Well, give us a chance. We're a mighty organisation with a lot of funding, we'll show you what we can do and look at some of the other teams on the grid'. So this is going to run for a good while. Also, a really punchy line in there says that, 'This would do more for the Andretti brand than it would for Formula 1'."