Bobby Rahal, what do you think about Michael Andretti’s attempt to found a U.S.-based Formula 1 team to begin racing in 2024?
“I think, good luck,” said Rahal, the IndyCar team owner, Indianapolis 500 winner and, in 1978, Formula 1 driver. “It won’t be easy, but the Andretti name should help. Like I said, I wish him luck.”
According to Andretti, he doesn’t just need luck, he needs the FIA to make a decision on whether or not they’ll allow an 11th team to join the Gang of 10, and the resulting 20-car field. On top of that, it will take a unanimous vote of the current 10 teams, and not all of them are on keen on splitting the end-of-the-season series prize money by 11 teams instead of 10.
The current 2021 F1 Concorde Agreement allows for 12 two-car teams, but not everyone thinks the more the better. Still, it’s impossible to deny that a team with American drivers wouldn’t bolster the overall popularity of F1.
“The plan for the future,” Andretti told Autoweek, “is to have an American team, with an American-built car, and American drivers. The immediate plan is to get approval and start working toward getting on the track for the 2024 season. An even more immediate plan would be to buy an existing team, “but none are available. Nobody is interested in selling.”
Acquiring an existing team wouldn’t require an FIA decision to expand, and could get Andretti Global – that’s the working name of the effort – onto the track as early as 2023. Andretti told media in St. Petersburg on Friday that he made an offer to purchase the Haas F1 team from fellow American businessman Gene Haas as recently as October.
Haas said no thanks. Andretti says the deal is still on the table.
“If he wants to sell, tell him to call me,” Andretti told NBC Sports on Friday. “That makes it a lot easier for us.”
Andretti IndyCar driver Colton Herta is the designated hitter for the F1 team. As far as the second driver, “We haven’t gone there yet, we’ll wait and see what happens There’s plenty of time to think about that.” As far as an engine supplier, Andretti wouldn’t confirm the rumor making the rounds in Europe that he’s planning to use Renault power.
While Andretti wants to build the car itself in the U.S., it’s highly unlikely that would happen in the next few years. Europe is the technology base, and that’s almost certainly where the chassis would come from. Same with an engine supplier – it could be an American effort in the future, but not in the near term.
Estimates range as high as a billion dollars for a complete, lasting team, including a $200 million entry fee. No problem, Andretti said.
“The money is in place. We’re good there,” he said. His backers are not a group of investors, but “a couple of guys” known “a little bit” to the racing community. He said he didn’t know when he’d reveal their names. Guesses range from the Steinbrenner family to Bill Sandbrook, former CEO of U.S. Concrete.
Why now?
“For one thing it’s a great program. We’re always looking at all types of racing but this is the pinnacle. It would be huge for us and it’s been an aspiration of mine for four or five years. We’re so close, we just hope we can get the approval and get it done. We’re not getting any younger. It’s just going to raise the level on everything we’re doing.” And “everything” includes IndyCar, Formula E, Extreme E, Australian Supercars, Indy Lights, Super Copa and IMSA.
One of the last franchises Andretti hasn’t been able to penetrate is NASCAR, but it isn’t for a lack of trying. After Dodge told Penske it wouldn’t be back with the team for 2013, Andretti thought he had a deal for him to field a Dodge team for Kurt Busch, but it all fell apart after Andretti had made the initial investment. He’d still interested in NASCAR , “If the right opportunity was available, we’d still look at it. Right now, my focus is on F1 but I never say never. It’s not going to take away from anything, it’s only going to add. The whole key is to have the right people in the right places and that’s what we have.
“Will I still be at every IndyCar race? No. But nothing is going to suffer.” Right now, “The clock is ticking. We don’t have a whole lot of time to waste here. We need to know something, hopefully within a month.”
