F1 reject Andretti bid due commercial grounds for 2026
31st January 2024Formula One has officially turned down Andretti’s bid to enter the championship on commercial grounds, the sport revealed.
On Wednesday, it was announced that Andretti’s road to F1 has been halted with the handbrake firmly applied as the sport rejected the American company’s application to join the grid in 2025 and 2026.
Following the FIA’s announcement to increase the size of the grid, which the current concord agreement allows, the governing body invited teams to apply to join the grid. Four teams applied with Andretti amongst the contenders.
Andretti passed the FIA’s assessment but were faced with an uphill challenge with the sport and its respective 10 teams. Following this, F1 has released a statement advising Andretti should not be considered.
In the lengthy statement, detailing their process to allow Andretti as an entrant for the championship, F1 said:
“Our assessment process has established that the presence of an 11th team would not, on its own, provide value to the Championship.
“The most significant way in which a new entrant would bring value is by being competitive. We do not believe that the Applicant would be a competitive participant.
“On the basis of the application, as it stands, We do not believe that the Applicant has shown that it would add value to the Championship” F1 continued. “We conclude that the Applicant’s application to participate in the Championship should not be successful.
In the report, it was found that General Motors would accompany Andretti in their endeavour to join F1 as a team. F1 found that General Motors was set to provide a power unit but not straight away.
To the sport, they concluded it would be ‘damaging to the prestige’ of the championship. However, they have stated they would ‘look differently on the application’ if General Motors provided a power unit, as a works team or a customer team – building all allowable components in-house.
The championship also believed that the additional team on the grid would place an ‘operational burden on race promoters,’ which could result in ‘signification costs’ for some.
That’s all for the article; F1 reject Andretti bid due commercial grounds for 2026!
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
