Lawrence Stroll has a dim view of Andretti’s F1 bid

Yup, wealthy man against becoming less wealthy shocker. Still, it’s interesting to hear Lawrence Stroll make the argument against Andretti’s F1 bid in his own words.

Earlier this week Andretti Global emerged as the only bidder to receive the FIA’s backing to form a new F1 team, while Rodin Cars was among those to have its nose put out of joint with an application rejected.

Andretti now needs to seek a commercial agreement with Formula One Management (FOM), however the sport as a whole is pretty lukewarm on the idea of an 11th team joining the grid.

Predictably, the reason for this is money: as Lewis Hamilton said a few years ago, “cash is king".

Andretti would need to pay a $200 million ‘anti-dilution fee’ to compensate the rest of the grid for the increased competition over prize money: many argue this is nowhere near enough given that the value of F1 teams has skyrocketed recently. Value that might also be chipped away at if a new team joins the grid.

There are also fears that a failing US-based F1 team could hurt the sport’s interests in that part of the world, where it now enjoys three grands prix (COTA, Miami and as of November, Las Vegas) with long-term deals to be on the calendar.

Why would Andretti fail? It hasn’t got an engine deal, for one - only a vague commitment from Cadillac - and its plan to base its team entirely in America (most F1 teams operate from the UK) is seen by some as bonkers.

Even Haas - the only US team on the grid currently - has facilities in the UK and Italy to back up its HQ in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Formula 1 as a sport, as a business, is on fire,” said Stroll Snr, speaking at the launch of Aston Martin’s 2025 Le Mans programme. “Formula 1 teams have appreciated in value significantly over the last few years due to the popularity of the sport, due to cost caps…

“[Michael] Andretti’s been given the green light by the FIA. He also needs to have permission from FOM. So he’s far from having a total green light.

“I think 10 teams is the right amount on the grid.”

No need to read between the lines there. Looks like Andretti will need some good lawyers on the payroll over the coming months…