Formula 1 has decided that the doors will remain closed for Andretti, at least for now, since FOM believes it won’t bring more value to the sport.
In the last few days, it seemed that Andretti could enter Formula 1 in 2025 or 2026. The team had also posted a picture of a wind tunnel test, hinting that they were already preparing a car for the upcoming season.
Despite that, its bid to join the grid has been rejected. However, there might still be hope for the 2028 season.
Formula 1’s statement reads as follows: “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.”
Moreover, an 11th team on the grid would mean more costs to promoters and other technical and operational issues for the other outfits.
“The addition of an 11th team would place an operational burden on race promoters, would subject some of them to significant costs, and would reduce the technical, operational, and commercial spaces of the other competitors,” it added.
“We were not able to identify any material expected positive effect on CRH financial results, as a key indicator of the pure commercial value of the Championship.”
Ultimately, Formula 1 stated that they could rethink their decision in 2028.
“We would look differently on an application for the entry of a team into the 2028 Championship with a GM power unit, either as a GM works team or as a GM customer team designing all allowable components in-house,” added F1.
“In this case, there would be additional factors to consider in respect of the value that the Applicant would bring to the Championship, in particular in respect of bringing a prestigious new OEM to the sport as a PU supplier.”