While Stefano Domenicali has previously explained that Formula One is not looking to add an 11th team to the grid in the near future, much to the disappointment of Michael Andretti, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s recent comments may come as good news for the American.
Ben Sulayem posted on Twitter that he has ordered his FIA team to look into the possibility of expanding the F1 grid in the future, despite the opposite view of F1 officials.
Michael Andretti had previously aimed to enter Formula 1 as ‘Andretti Global’, however a recent partnership with US car giant General Motors may have given the American a further boost in his bid to join the pinnacle of motorsport.
A joint statement from Andretti Global and General Motors has revealed that it would be luxury car brand Cadillac that would represent GM’s involvement in the team and that they would look to enter F1 “as soon as practical.”
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“Cadillac and F1 both have growing global appeal. Our brand has a motorsports pedigree that’s more than a century in the making, and we would be proud to have the opportunity to bring out distinct American innovation and design to F1,” said Cadillac chairman Mark Reuss.
Formula 1 have now issued a response to Andretti-Cadillac’s intentions to join the grid in the future, claiming that a decision would have to be unanimous from the FIA and F1.
“There is great interest in the F1 project at this time with a number of conversations continuing that are not as visible as others,” read the statement.
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“We all want to ensure the championship remains credible and stable and any new entrant request will be assessed on criteria to meet those objectives by all the relevant stakeholders. Any new entrant request requires the agreement of both F1 and the FIA.”
Billionaire Calvin Lo has also recently expressed his interest in joining the Formula 1 grid in the future, however he admits that forming a new entrant may be impossible, making a team takeover a much more likely option.
It has been rumoured that AlphaTauri could come up for sale following the death of Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz, as the energy drink giants may now wish to focus on a single team, rather than splitting their efforts across Red Bull and AlphaTauri.