The desire of Andretti-Cadillac to join the F1 grid as an 11th team has been well documented in recent months, with both Mario and Michael Andretti being very vocal about their plans.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has repeatedly shut down the Andretti-Cadillac project, suggesting that it would be unwise to expand the grid despite FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s clear support for the project.
Domenicali has also claimed that Andretti-Cadillac’s vocal approach to proceedings will not help their cause, as there are multiple other teams who have expressed a serious interest in joining F1 in a quieter and more respectful manner.
One of these teams which has reportedly launched an effort to join F1 is Formula 2 and Formula 3 team Hitech.
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The team were originally linked with a move to take over AlphaTauri, following rumours that Red Bull would be willing to sell their sister team following the passing of team owner Dietrich Mateschitz.
GPFans have now reported that Hitech have officially begun the process of joining Formula 1 by formally registering their interest
Hitech experienced a very difficult 2022, meaning that a move to join F1 could be the positive spark that the team need to banish the negativity.
The team were funded by Russian fertiliser company Uralkali last year but similar to Haas, were forced to ditch their main sponsor following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the beginning of 2022.
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Hitech then came under fire for defending their driver Juri Vips, despite the Estonian being dropped from Red Bull’s junior programme after he was caught using a derogatory racial slur during a Call of Duty livestream.
Stefano Domenicali has been very clear on his stance with regards to expanding the grid, suggesting that and 11th team is not in his plans at all as it could destabilise the current grid.
Hitech will now begin discussions with the FIA about a potential F1 entry, before entering negotiations with Formula 1 to try to convince them that they could join the grid and enhance the sport rather than hinder it.