Michael Andretti says he has approached Gene Haas about selling his Formula 1 team “five or six” times, but the American is refusing to sell up.
Andretti is keen to enter Formula 1 and even came to an agreement to buy the Alfa Romeo Sauber team last year, but the deal fell apart at the very last minute after Sauber’s owners wanted to retain some control.
Andretti revealed he had agreed terms and was due to sign the deal before the terms were amended, which he described as a “joke”.
“That was a joke,” Andretti told Autosport. “We were there. It was done. We had a day set up to sign it, and literally two days before they changed the terms.
“They basically still wanted to keep control. I was like, ‘No, they can’t keep control.’ They wanted veto rights on everything all of a sudden. It was horrible.”
Andretti, who has now lodged a request with the FIA to start a new team, admitted the Sauber deal had delayed things and they would have been even further ahead with their F1 plans.
“We wasted so much time. If we didn’t do that, we’d have been so much further ahead on everything else,” he said.
Andretti recently confirmed he has signed a deal to run Renault engines for his team and would open a UK-based hub for his team, as well as basing some of its operations in the US, similar to what the Haas team have done.
Asked if had approached Haas, given its recent difficulties with sponsors amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Andretti said he had, but his offers had been rebuffed.
“Gene Haas wouldn’t sell. I’ve asked five or six times,” he added.
