An acquisition company under the management of the CART Indycar champion and former Formula 1 driver Michael Andretti is to seek a takeover of Sauber, the Alfa Romeo team.
RaceFans has learned that Andretti has entered into a deal to purchase an 80% stake in Islero Investments for € 350 million (£ 296.86 million), taking control of the Sauber Motorsport and Sauber Engineering divisions.
Andretti formed Andretti Acquisition Corporation in March with the aim of raising at least $ 250 million (£ 183.49 million) through an IPO.
The Andretti operation already includes a successful IndyCar team, which won the Indianapolis 500 three out of four times between 2014 and 2017, and recently former F1 driver Romain Grosjean. They also have a Formula E team that was affiliated with BMW up until this year and entered Extreme E’s first season this year.
Andretti’s interest in Sauber has long been rumored. The F1 team was bought by the Swedish investment firm Longbow Finance in 2016. Under the Alfa Romeo brand, it has doubled its F1 workforce to over 500 in recent seasons and hired Valtteri Bottas from Mercedes next year. The team has yet to announce its second driver for 2022.
Andretti’s teams compete in IndyCar, Formula E and Extreme E. Although Alfa Romeo fell to the ninth out of 10 teams in the championship this year, it has narrowed its gap to the front runners since it was acquired in 2016. After lagging 4.3% on average in 2017, it has cut that deficit to 1.5% this year.
An Andretti spokesman declined to confirm the company was taking a move to purchase Sauber.
“Michael and the team have been interested in Formula 1 for some time,” they told RaceFans. “We have explored and come close to many options over the years, but we have nothing new to report.
“Our passion is racing in all its forms. Should there be a suitable opportunity to bring the Andretti name back into F1, we would take it. But so far this opportunity has not fallen into our lap and we continue to focus on our seven current competitive disciplines. “
A spokesman for the Alfa Romeo F1 team declined to comment when approached.
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