Andretti Global CEO Michael Andretti has admitted that the current teams on the Formula 1 grid aren’t looking at “what is best” for Formula 1, with the American accusing the current sides of being greedy.
Andretti Global announced a new partnership with Cadillac (owned by General Motors) as part of a Formula 1 bid, with their proposal having been given support by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
Apart from Alpine and McLaren, though, the paddock hasn’t shared any support for Andretti’s attempt to get on the F1 grid, with Michael believing he knows why.
“It’s all about money,” Andretti told Forbes.
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“First, they think they are going to get diluted one-tenth of their prize money, but they also get very greedy thinking we will take all the American sponsors as well.
“It’s all about greed and looking at themselves and not looking at what is best for the overall growth of the series.”
McLaren have been by far the biggest supporters of Andretti and Cadillac’s bid, with McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown being a close friend of Michael’s.
According to Michael, Brown “has been very supportive” of the all-American outfit, with Andretti having helped McLaren get into IndyCar.
“Zak wants to do whatever he can to help us get there and so has Alpine as well,” Andretti added.
“Zak Brown and Alpine are two very good allies. Zak has been very supportive.
“Zak has been a great friend and ally. He gives me advice and is there to help. We help each other. I’ve been helping him a lot when he came to IndyCar racing. It’s a friendship that works both ways.”
Andretti Global’s partnership with Global Motors was announced last Thursday (January 5), following Ben Sulayem announcing his support of what the Americans were trying to do, with it seemingly just the remaining eight teams to get onboard with their project.
“We’ve been working on this for quite a while, but when the President of the FIA Mohammed Ben Sulayem issued his tweet supporting our effort, that is when we decided to make the announcement,” Andretti continued.
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“Once they make an expression of interest, then we are in competition with other teams, and we are on our way because that means we will do an extra team. We were very, very excited when we saw that. It all came together very nicely.
“We check all the boxes. The only box we didn’t have checked when we were working on our entry was, we didn’t have an OEM behind us, but now we have GM and Cadillac behind us. They are going to bring a lot to the party to help us get a race car on track. We are very bullish at this moment.
“There is still a long way to go, and we are willing to follow every procedure that needs to be done. We are in a good position for it.”