Andretti-Cadillac’s F1 bid takes major financial hit as $600mn payout required

Andretti-Cadillac have formally begun the process of joining the F1 grid with the FIA.

The Andretti-Cadillac project continues to divide opinion in Formula 1, with the FIA continuing to disagree with Formula 1 and many of the existing teams.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has argued that companies as large as General Motors alongside Andretti can only be a good thing for the sport, making expanding the grid a no-brainer.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has long been against the expansion of the F1 grid, telling Andretti-Cadillac numerous times that it would be unwise to destabilise the current grid by expanding it, no matter how appealing the project it.

Multiple team principals in F1 have expressed their concerns about the financial implications of adding an 11th team to the grid, explaining that any income and prize money will be split a further way, decreasing each team’s income.

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To counter this issue, any new additions to the F1 grid will be forced to pay an anti-dilution entry fee as a part of the current Concorde Agreement, a figure which currently stands at $200m.

This means that each of the 10 existing teams will receive $20m to cover the prize pot being split a further way and ensuring they do not lose money.

The current Concorde Agreement expires in 2025 and with Andretti-Cadillac highlighting 2026 as the perfect year to join F1, they will be subject to a new agreement which may see a much higher anti-dilution entry fee.

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With F1 growing significantly in recent years and the amount money involved in the sport increasing phenomenally, it is rumoured that the entry fee could be set to triple in the next Concorde Agreement.

This means that Andretti-Cadillac will have to fork out an eye watering $600m if they wish to join the F1 grid, granting every team $60m to ease their financial concerns.

While this amount of money will certainly please the existing team bosses which are concerned about the project, it remains to be seen whether Andretti-Cadillac would be willing to pay $600m to fulfil their F1 dream.