Image: Mario Andretti’s 1979 Lotus 80 at Brands Hatch in 2018. No heritage or value in that, eh, FOM?

Surprise, surprise! Formula One Management have slammed the door shut in Michael Andretti’s face, denying the American and his legendary team a place F1. While it’s no shock, it still leaves an exceptionally bitter taste in the mouths of most fans, journalists and professionals.

What really irks me about today’s statement is the desperate attempt by FOM and Liberty Media to find any reason possible to justify their decision, other than the one which is obviously the primary motivator: greed.

So, let’s unpick each of the alleged reasons why Andretti apparently can’t be a part of Formula 1 and expose them as the flimsy disguise that they are.

Lack of competitiveness

F1 feels as if Andretti won’t be competitive, at least initially. But it has no idea whether this will be the case. Images have emerged recently of the work already being undertaken by the Andretti team to prepare their entry, with wind tunnel modelling underway and a significant number of hires already made, including experienced technical leader Nick Chester. To say a team isn’t allowed in because they *might* not be competitive is pathetic.

Yes, F1 has (relatively) recent history of new teams being hopelessly uncompetitive, but it’s been 14 years since the new teams of 2010 stumbled into the sport. And they were mis-sold on the championship’s regulations and were massively handicapped against the existing field as a result. The only other new team since then have been Haas, who squeaked in just before Liberty Media could slam the door shut on new entries and introduce a $200 million entry fee. While Haas have tended to circulate at the lower end of the field for most of their existence, that’s more down to Gene Haas having a firm grip on the purse strings than anything else. Ask Guenther Steiner!

So to suggest that a new team, the one new team for almost ten years, and one that is undertaking significant preparation, and has extensive racing pedigree and expertise will be uncompetitive, is just pure speculation. It isn’t worth the paper it is written on.

Needing a customer engine

This one is even better! Shall we count how many teams currently have a customer engine in F1? McLaren, Aston Martin, Sauber, Haas, Williams and AlphaTauri/RB. Yes, that’s more than half the grid. So why is it Andretti, who already had an agreement with Alpine for a customer engine, are told no?

Apparently, customer engine deals are “damaging to the prestige and standing of the championship”. Ok, great, let’s go and tell Zak Brown and Lawrence Stroll their lack of commitment is dragging the championship down. And what about Visa Cash App RB? Or whatever Sauber will be called this year. Those dog’s dinners of team names have done more damage in a week than Andretti could manage in a decade. Stunts like that devalue F1 and undermine the credibility and history of the teams. You cannot have one rule for the existing teams, and another for anyone new coming in. Absolute madness.

Lack of commercial value

Finally, and probably the biggest reason, as far as F1 is concerned, is the “value” argument. But again, as with the competitiveness, it’s all speculation and guesswork. FOM believes Andretti won’t bring value to F1, despite it being one of the most famous racing dynasties in the world. It has an F1 world champion among its name! The real risk here is the alienation of the US fanbase that Liberty has been so desperate to cater for. The messaging in F1’s statement is a heavy-handed insult to decades of racing excellence and history. Long-standing American fans who have grown up with the Andretti’s won’t take kindly to that.

And then there’s the “operational burden” of an 11th team on the grid. This is despite Brad Pitt’s fictional team following the circus round for numerous races this year without issue. Let’s not forget also, that twelve teams were being carted around the globe ten years ago. So when Toyota or another OEM comes knocking on the door with an oven-ready F1 entry, remember these statements about burden, and complexity and cost from FOM, and see how quickly they all melt away. It just doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

The bottom line is, F1 seems to think that Andretti will not bring any material positive effect to the championship. So it seems that at this point, we’re at wilful ignorance, aren’t we? There appears to be a lot of anger off the back of this decision, and I include myself in that. I would love to see an extra team on the grid, especially with the clout of a name like Andretti. It’s an open goal for FOM and one they are seemingly determined to ignore. I think they may come to regret it.

So, what’s next for Andretti?

For Michael Andretti and his team, I suspect the next steps will be to explore legal proceedings. They have the FIA approval, and only these laughable reasons stand in their way. A strong legal challenge could well overturn them. All the claims made by F1 will need to be based in fact, and most amount to mere speculation. Will EU law for example tolerate FOM operating such a closed shop when all other requirements of the entrant have been met? One thing is for certain, this matter is far from over and will no doubt provide an interesting backstory while the 2024 F1 season progresses.