Andretti Autosport is again trying to find a place in Formula 1 after a surprise announcement made this Friday (Feb 18). Following a tweet made by Mario Andretti, it appears that Michael Andretti is attempting to start a new race team that would make its way to the grid in 2024.
Mario Andretti first tweeted out that son Michael is planning on starting his own Formula 1 team.
Michael has applied to the FIA to field a new F1 team starting in 2024. His entry, Andretti Global, has the resources and checks every box. He is awaiting the FIA's determination.
— Mario Andretti (@MarioAndretti) February 18, 2022
Andretti Autosport later confirmed with the Associated Press’ Jenna Fryer that they had filed paperwork with the FIA.
Andretti Autosport now confirms the report by Mario Andretti that Michael Andretti has filed paperwork with the FIA to field a new #F1 team under Andretti Global in 2024.
Andretti Autosport says it has no further comment. https://t.co/GOhTpDoKfR
— Jenna Fryer (@JennaFryer) February 18, 2022
This is not the first time in the last year that Michael Andretti has flirted with the idea of entering the F1 1 ranks. It was a prevalent rumor late in the 2021 season that Andretti was in discussions to purchase Sauber, who operate the Alfa Romeo F1 team. No deal was reached after Andretti reportedly met with ownership at the U.S. Grand Prix at COTA last year. Andretti would later clarify that the problem was “control issues” with the team.
It’s unclear where Andretti would be located, who the drivers would be, and who would work in upper management, except that Andretti would likely act as team principal or CEO. If the Alfa Romeo purchase had gone through, it was discussed that current IndyCar star Colton Herta could jump from the Andretti IndyCar team to drive one of the Andretti F1 cars.
It’s also unknown if any third parties would serve as financial partners with the team. Starting an F1 team from scratch requires a huge cash influx; a $200 million payment to the rival teams in a “dilution fund” (essentially paying for how much money they would lose by a new team entering the grid and drawing prize money) that is required and non-refundable.
About the author
Michael has watched NASCAR for 20 years and regularly covered the sport from 2013-2021, and also formerly covered the SRX series from 2021-2023. He now covers the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and road course events in the NASCAR Cup Series.
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