F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has been very clear on his stance on expanding the F1 grid in recent seasons, suggesting that it would be unwise to destabilise the current grid.
The Andretti Global project has been rejected by the Italian but since the American team partnered with General Motors to form Andretti-Cadillac, the project has become a lot more appealing.
Having such a giant brand in F1 would bring nothing but positives according to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who is reportedly pushing to add the team to the grid, despite F1’s defiance.
The question that multiple team principals have been asking surrounds the financial aspect of the grid expansion, with teams concerned that splitting the prize pot another way would see each team receive less money.
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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has also expressed his doubts about the grid expansion, claiming that he would like to know who would pay for Andretti-Cadillac’s introduction and receive assurances that team’s budgets would not go down.
He has however admitted that he would like to see Andretti-Cadillac in F1, suggesting that they could being more money to the sport than some of the other teams.
“I would like to see the Andretti brand in Formula 1,” he said.
“They may bring in more than some of the existing franchises. But I come back to the basic question: Do the teams finance it? Does it finance Formula 1?
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“Because who does not pay is the FIA because they will only get more entry fees. So I think it’s a bigger discussion that needs to be had collectively between everyone involved.”
Formula 1 will have to reach an agreement with the FIA if the grid is to be expanded, as the FIA alone do not have the power to add Andretti-Cadillac to the paddock.
The relationship between F1 and the FIA is currently very tense, meaning that the process of discussing the future of Formula 1 is a delicate and complex subject at the moment.