Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has called on the FIA, Formula 1 bosses and the teams to sit down and have a “sensible conversation”, with tensions continuing to build between the pinnacle of motorsport and its governing body.
The FIA haven’t been in Formula 1’s good books as of late, with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem having used social media to express his support of Andretti-Cadillac’s bid to enter a new Formula 1 team.
According to several reports, McLaren and Alpine are the only teams open to Andretti joining the grid, whilst the other eight teams are firmly against the move.
It is looking more likely than not that the prospective American side will join the grid in 2026, with Andretti Global having done everything that the governing body asked of them.
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Whilst money was never an issue, it was imperative for Andretti to find a manufacturer, something they’ve done after partnering with American giant General Motors.
The duo have partnered in a joint effort to join the F1 grid, through one of General Motors divisions, Cadillac.
A concern amongst some of the teams, though, is that General Motors will use Formula 1 as a “badging exercise”, with the belief being that they’ll partner with the likes of Renault, with a Cadillac sticker to be put over it.
It would be similar to the relationship that Red Bull had with Honda, before the Austrians opened their very own powertrain department.
The biggest issue, though, is that the FIA have been seemingly making announcements about F1 without its permission, with Ben Sulayem having opened up an ‘expressions of interest’ process, for new outfits to join the grid.
Another concern shared by some of the teams is whether they’d suffer financially from a new team joining the grid, giving the impression that the sides are against Andretti joining the grid.
Horner, though, has suggested that the issue isn’t actually with Andretti or Cadillac but is instead with the Concorde Agreement, with the Red Bull boss believing that an open discussion amongst “all parties” would be the best way of solving any current issues.
“This view would be common to any team — it’s irrelevant,” Horner told RACER.
“As I said, to have the Andretti brand and name and Cadillac in Formula 1 would be fantastic, and hopefully a solution can be found.
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“You can understand the FIA, they’ve got no financial consequence of this because they don’t participate in the prize fund, and they’d receive further entry fees for more teams coming in.
“So you can understand the FIA potentially wanting more teams on the grid. But I think they need to find alignment with the commercial rights holder, and the 2026 Concorde Agreement would seem the right place to deal with that.
“It just needs all parties to have a sensible conversation and agree something that is practical and workable.”