Access denied: F1 bosses have rejected Andretti’s bid to enter the sport

Formula 1 bosses have rejected Andretti’s application to become the 11th team in the championship. Yep, just days after pictures surfaced online of the team’s wind tunnel model in testing, CEO Stefano Domenicali and the rest of F1 management have slammed the door shut.

“Our assessment process has established that the presence of an 11th team would not, on its own, provide value to the Championship,” reads a statement from the F1 organisation.

“The most significant way in which a new entrant would bring value is by being competitive. We do not believe that the Applicant [that’s Andretti, by the way] would be a competitive participant.”

Ouch. And the fairly brutal assessment doesn’t actually end there. 

“The Applicant proposes, as a novice constructor, to design and build a car under the 2025 regulations, and then in the very next year to design and build a completely different car under the 2026 regulations.

“We do not believe that there is a basis for any new applicant to be admitted in 2025 given that this would involve a novice entrant building two completely different cars in its first two years of existence.

“The fact that the Applicant proposes to do so gives us reason to question their understanding of the scope of the challenge involved.”

Clearly the FIA thought otherwise when it approved Andretti's bid in October last year, but the final call always came down to F1 itself. 

There might still be a small glimmer of hope for Andretti though. It won’t be able to join the grid in 2025 - when it would've needed to buy an engine from a rival - but it does sound as though F1 bosses could be willing to accept an entry in 2028, which is when Cadillac/General Motors' power unit was due to be ready.

“We would look differently on an application for the entry of a team into the 2028 Championship with a GM power unit, either as a GM works team or as a GM customer team designing all allowable components in-house,” reads the statement. 

“In this case there would be additional factors to consider in respect of the value that the Applicant would bring to the Championship, in particular in respect of bringing a prestigious new OEM to the sport as a PU supplier.”

What do we think folks, should Andretti have been granted access to the club from next year?