SUMMARY
- F1 claims Andretti is not valuable enough to enter the sport.
- F1 owner have one more move to prevent new team entries.
It is no secret that Liberty Media did not want Andretti to join the sport in the coming seasons. Now that they have officially rejected the bid, there is a chance Andretti could apply again for the 2028 season. However, there is still one move F1 could pull to block their bid permanently.
F1 is not very keen on adding an 11th team to the sport due to the excess cost for the sport and the other teams. In F1, a percentage of the revenue is shared by the 10 teams on the track. With another team on the grid, the share for the rest of the teams would go down. This is why F1 keeps a high entry fee for a new team.
Will Liberty Media looking to block Andretti by increasing fees?
The high entry fee that is paid by the new team is not distributed to the sport. The entry fee will only be given to the existing teams as compensation since their share of the revenue will go down. This is why Formula 1 does not accept a bid unless the value of the team can increase the revenue for the sport. This was the reason Andretti’s F1 bid for the 2025 and 2026 season was rejected.
“You can’t just join our club now when everything’s going well” 🏆
Martin Brundle reacts to Andretti being rejected from joining the F1 grid 💭 pic.twitter.com/A3LafUPEJs
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) January 31, 2024
Although F1 did manage to block an 11th team this time, Andretti could still apply for the 2028 season. Liberty Media could prevent this by increasing the entry fee for new teams.
The current entry fee for a new team stands at $200 million. There were reports suggesting that the fee could increase to $600 million to prevent an 11th team from joining the grid. Although F1 has not done it yet, they could do it to prevent Andretti from applying again.
Why was Andretti Global’s bid rejected by Liberty Media?
In the past few years, Liberty Media has increased the number of races in the United States. It is no secret that they are trying to increase popularity among the fans in the US. This was the reason why the fans thought Andretti’s bid would be accepted. After all the team is one of the best racing teams in the US.
However, F1 rejected their bid. They claimed that Andretti alone does not carry enough value to increase the popularity of the sport. Unless an 11th team can increase the popularity of the sport, Liberty Media will not accept a bid.
Statement from Andretti Cadillac: 👇
It states that both organisations “strongly disagree” with the contents of the FOM statement released earlier today ❌
More to follow…#F1 pic.twitter.com/D8Ll0Ag9jv
— Autosport (@autosport) January 31, 2024
F1 encouraged Andretti to apply for the 2028 season as they will be partnered with GM from that year. Liberty Media claims that Andretti along with GM will carry more weight on the application to enter the sport.
This justification was not met well with the fans in the US. Andretti is one of the most successful racing teams in the US. They have their cars racing in IndyCar, Formula E, and Extreme E. So there is no doubt that the team would have been popular in the US. It is speculated that the real reason Andretti was not accepted was because of the additional costs for F1 and the other teams.
Let’s wait and see if Andretti applies to enter the sport in 2028. If they do, do you think F1 will accept their bid this time around? Post your answers in the comments section below.