Following Wednesday’s announcement from Formula 1 that Andretti’s bid to join the sport had been rejected, Andretti Cadillac have responded, claiming they were unaware of an invitation to an in person meeting.
Formula 1 this week announced the rejection of Andretti Cadillacs bid to join the sport from 2025 or 2026 season. The reasoning behind this decision was mostly commercial, as Formula 1 deemed the addition of the 11th team would not be beneficial to the sport, believing the new team would struggle to be competitive.
Formula 1 also called into question Andretti’s understanding of the challenges of the sport, highlighting the difficulty of developing cars for both 2025 and 2026 under separate regulations.
“The fact that the applicant proposes to do so gives us reason to question their understanding of the scope of the challenge involved,” F1 said as part of the announcement.
“The FIA approved our application, with no specific limitation on whether the entry was for 2025 or 2026.”
Following the news, Andretti has hit back, highlighting the team has long been targeting a 2026 entry to the sport, noting that the original mention of 2025 was a result of the length of the application process. The team also responded to Formula 1’s claims that the additional team would not be beneficial, noting they will continue to build on the progress already made in developing both a car and power unit.
“When Andretti Cadillac entered the FIA expression of interest process almost a year ago, the preferred first year of participation was indicated as 2025,” said the Andretti Cadillac statement. “The FIA approved our application, with no specific limitation on whether the entry was for 2025 or 2026.
“Andretti Cadillac has been operating with 2026 as the year of entry for many months now. The technicality of 2025 still being part of the application is a result of the length of this process.”
“Our work continues at pace.”
Defending the team’s pedigree and adding hopes we could see Andretti Cadillac in the future, with Formula 1 open to reevaluating a works entry for 2028, the statement continued to highlight the effort the team has, and will continue to invest in the project.
“Andretti and Cadillac are two successful global motorsports organizations committed to placing a genuine American works team in F1, competing alongside the world’s best,” they said Wednesday. “We are proud of the significant progress we have already made on developing a highly competitive car and power unit with an experienced team behind it, and our work continues at pace.”
“An in-person meeting to discuss commercial matters would be and remains of paramount importance to Andretti Cadillac.”
In addition to this, Formula 1 made mention of an invitation to an in person meeting which had been sent on December 12th to the prospective team, which Formula 1 says had gone un answered. In response to this, Andretti claim the invitation was never received and they have made contact with Formula 1 Management to further confirm their interest.
“We were not aware that the offer of a meeting had been extended and would not decline a meeting with Formula One Management,” Andretti claimed. “An in-person meeting to discuss commercial matters would be and remains of paramount importance to Andretti Cadillac. We welcome the opportunity to meet with Formula One Management and have written to them confirming our interest.”
Further to the elusive meeting saga, AP News have reported the original invitation from Formula 1 management had been found in a junk folder as the email had been sent not by Formula One Group CEO Stefano Domenicali, but by a staff member. This explains the lack of a response from the team.
