American motorsports team owner Michael Andretti says his bid to start a new Formula One team has been accelerated by the sport’s growth in the US, adding that the momentum has helped him land hundreds of millions of dollars in backing from US investors.
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Andretti, son of racing icon Mario Andretti and a former IndyCar and F1 driver himself, has been interested for years in expanding his Andretti Autosport empire to F1. Last year, he bid to acquire a majority stake in the Alfa Romeo Racing team but the deal collapsed at the 11th hour.
Now, Andretti is looking to form Andretti Global as F1’s 11th team starting in 2024, subject to approval by FIA, racing’s global governing body. Andretti is looking to make the American team front to back, from hiring IndyCar driver Colton Herta to having a US ownership group and team principal, plus a presence in Indianapolis, where his IndyCar team is based.
F1 has not had an 11th team since 2016 and some of the current 10 teams are concerned about expanding beyond that number of slots. Mercedes principal Toto Wolff has publicly questioned the bid in recent weeks, specifically whether the Andretti group would add value to existing F1 teams or dilute their shares of the sport’s shared revenue streams.
Andretti would have to pay a $200 million entry fee as a new team, according to F1 rules. He said he was hoping to hear a decision from FIA in the next week. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali told Sports Business Journal last year that the sport would welcome a brand like Andretti, but that was when Michael Andretti was looking at acquiring Alfa Romeo, not starting an 11th outfit.
Andretti said his investors are bullish on F1. He declined to reveal them but said they’re “fully American” and are involved in other sports. Mario Andretti told the Indianapolis Star last month that one person who is involved is Dan Towriss, the president and CEO of Group 1001, which owns Andretti Autosport sponsor Gainbridge.
Michael Andretti said his investors think that “when you look at sports, there’s not a lot of franchises out there in terms of opportunity,” which has made trying to get involved with F1 more attractive.
There is already a team owned by an American in F1 in Gene Haas’ eponymous outfit, but it is embroiled in the Ukraine-Russia situation as Haas had Nikita Mazepin, son of Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, as a driver, with his father’s company as a major sponsor.
Andretti believes that a truly American team could unlock value and sponsor not only for Andretti Global but all F1 teams. Andretti said he has tried to buy the Haas F1 team several times from Gene Haas but has been rebuffed.
Gainbridge and another one of Andretti’s sponsors, AutoNation, have both announced sponsorships in recent weeks with the F1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix event that will be held in May at the Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium.
“We believe we can bring more notoriety to F1 in the States and just feel it opens up opportunities for other teams as well in terms of sponsorship,” Andretti said. “The more famous it gets, the more companies here will be looking at it.”
