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F1 itself denied Andretti’s bid to join the grid following an evaluation of the submission and forecasted value the new team contributed.
The decision was that those figures didn’t stack up, and the American operation’s efforts were rejected at the start of February.
However, Michael Andretti has continued with the project regardless and, on Wednesday, opened a new facility in Silverstone.
“I think it shows how strongly we feel and what we’re doing,” the ex-F1 racer told Sky Sports.
“Once everybody understands what we’re really putting together, there will be a point where they can’t say no.”
Having had its place on the grid for 2025 denied, Andretti is now targeting 2026.
One of the criticisms levelled at Andretti’s entry by F1 was that developing a car for 2025, ahead of a significant regulation change for 2026, would have created too big a burden for a new team in terms of car development.
Work on designing a car for the current regulations has been ongoing, with a model running in a wind tunnel.
However, that is somewhat disingenuous given the programme doesn’t have a power unit supplier.
The power unit and gearbox define the shape of the car’s rear, not to mention rear suspension, floor, and diffuser.
Therefore, all of those elements could have only been approximated, making the wind tunnel model little more than a PR stunt.
Another criticism F1 raised in refusing to accept the entry was that Andretti doesn’t have a power unit deal in place.
A contract with Renault had been signed but lapsed, and the new squad is instead looking to lean on provisions within the regulations that mandate one of the existing manufacturers supplies a power unit.
That supply would then be used to bridge the gap to General Motors’ entry as a power unit manufacturer in its own right in 2028.
“They’re currently building an engine,” Andretti asserted.
“They’re already registered to do it. So we will have an engine for ’28.
“Obviously, we need to build to get there. To just all of a sudden show up in ‘28 with a new engine and new team…
“We need to wait two years to build there, to get there [so] that when we do get our own engine, we’re the team’s ready to go and be competitive.
“We’re not naive in any way in that way.”
The other challenge Andretti faces relates to the commercial side of the sport, and reticence from the current teams to share the prize money pot.
All 10 of the current teams share in the prize money paid out by F1 and are unwilling to have that figure split out across 11 teams – despite there being provision within the Concorde Agreements to do so.
Discussions are ongoing in the paddock ahead of the ninth iteration of the agreement coming into play for the 2026 F1 season.
The consensus is that Andretti is welcome to come and compete in F1, though by purchasing one of the existing teams.
It had initially pursued that route with Sauber, but the deal fell apart in the latter stages and the Swiss squad has since inked a deal with Audi.
Alpine is another possibility. Last year, it sold off a 24 percent stake with current estimates valuing the operation at just over AUD $1.3 billion.
It has also categorically denied reports that it is for sale following reports the team is on the market.
