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FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem does not believe F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali will reject the 11th team bid from Michael Andretti and General Motors.
At the start of October, exactly eight months after calling for expressions of interest from potential entrants looking to participate in F1, motorsport’s world governing body announced Andretti Formula Racing was the only candidate to meet its stringent criteria and would progress to the next phase of the process.
That is now in the hands of Domenicali and Formula One Management (FOM), with the organisation assessing the financial viability of Andretti’s bid.
Over the past few months, however, Domenicali has heard the constant grumblings from a number of team principals as to why they do not want an 11th team on the grid, predominantly as they believe they will each receive a smaller piece of the financial rewards they have worked hard for in playing their part in building F1 to its current level.
Andretti, who will be supported by GM via its Cadillac brand – although there is a suggestion the American automotive giant may yet add more to the partnership via an OEM role – is adamant the combined weight of their bid will only add value to F1, in turn, increasing the future spoils for all concerned.
In attending the United States Grand Prix at the weekend, Andretti went so far as to suggest half of the current team principals held a personal grudge, denied by those who were asked.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has conceded he would be at a loss to understand why F1 would turn away Andretti/GM.
Speaking to Speedcafe in a select media briefing, Ben Sulayem said: “Let’s ask ourselves a question – why do Michael Andretti and GM need the teams’ support? I don’t understand. Do they (the teams) have any say in the admission (of an 11th team)?”
Suggested to Ben Sulayem the teams were “irrelevant”, he replied: “To this, yes.
“In the sport, they are an element, and everybody has the right to express their feeling toward it, but how can you refuse GM? I don’t understand. Just why?
“The FIA has the right on the sporting side; FOM has the money side, but will FOM refuse? We are talking about the biggest manufacturer in the United States working with one of the biggest companies, Liberty Media, and if they don’t see it…
“If we’re talking about business, this is good for business.”
As to where the sport goes should F1 say no, particularly as there is the provision in the current Concorde Agreement to allow up to 12 teams to compete, Ben Sualyem added: “What I’ve heard from the legal side is that they (FOM) can say no to the financial (element).
“But the licence (to compete in F1) belongs to the FIA, so they (Andretti) would be running, but without getting any money, and I don’t think that would happen.
“For me, I am optimistic they (FOM) will not say no, but anything can happen. I just hope they don’t say no because it is so good for business, so good to sustain motorsport.”
