Andretti Cadillac has responded to Formula 1’s decision to turn down its bid to join the grid as an 11th team within the next three years, saying that it rejects the assessment from Formula One Management (FOM) that a new team would not be viable within that timeframe.
Andretti Formula Racing LLC had received approval as a potential entrant from the FIA late last year, which left the team waiting on FOM to give the final green light. FOM had been against expanding beyond the current 10 teams on commercial grounds, but when it issued its formal rejection of Andretti’s bid on Wednesday, it said that the decision was borne from concerns that the team could not be competitive enough to bring value to the championship by 2025, and did not have a firm engine deal in place for 2026 or ’27. Andretti had planned to use source engines from elsewhere until GM entered as a factory partner with its Cadillac brand for 2028.