Andretti Formula one rejected entry
What have I learned from this article?During the beginning of 2024, Andretti Motorsport and GMC Cadillac joined forces and put a bid to enter formula one. Andretti motorsport was founded by Mario Andretti (1978 Formula One World Champion) and with his son Michael Andretti ( Raced for McLaren in 1993 and more famous for his Champ Car Career).
The primary reason Andretti got rejected from formula One was due to the rival teams arguing that Andretti's arrival would dilute the prize given to each team from Formula Ones revenue. Even when considering the £200 Million anti-dilution entry fee that Andretti would pay on entry to the sport, teams complained saying the £200 Million was not enough to compensate the loss from each team. The issues of prize-fund dilution and the anti-dilution fee were not mentioned in the official formula one rejection as rejecting Andretti. We are more likely to see the dilution fund be set higher in 2028, the next official chance Andretti may get at entering Formula One.
One of the official statements by Formula One concerning Andretti entering Formula One they said " We do not believe that there is a basis for any new applicant to be admitted in 2025 given that this would involve novice entrant building two completely different cars in its first two years of existence".
"While a 2026 entry would not face this specific issue, it is nevertheless the case that Formula One, as the pinnacle of world motorsport, represents a unique technical challenge to constructors of a nature that the applicant has not faced in any other formula or discipline in which it has previously competed, and it proposes to do so with a dependency on a compulsory (power unit (PU)) supply in the initial years of its participation."
"On this basis, we do not believe that the applicant would be a competitive participant."
This is a very harsh statement. Six of the existing Formula One teams currently rely on having a engine supply deal from a third party of another team. All ten teams in the future will have to adapt to formula One's new regulations in 2026 and a lot of these teams are very unlikely to achieve anything close to guarantee podiums or wins.
Andretti has tested a 60% scale of their car in Toyotas Wind tunnel in Germany to comply with the current regulations and insists the car and the team will be ready to test and compete as early as 2025 if accepted. If the application were delayed by a year to 2026, that would mean Andretti wouldn't have to build a car to the current regulations and would have the same amount of time as the other teams and would learn from that point onwards.
On the 25th November, formula One reached a agreements with General Motors to join formula One in the 2026 Championship. This was a big shock since Andretti, backed by GM bid failed and they did not succeed. This has shown that Formula One was more focused on allowing a team that Mohammed Ben Sulayem described as 'is a huge global brand and powerhouse in the OEM world and is working with impressive partners'. This shows that the requirements are not always the money or the qualification phase but also the status of the company and the partners joining the grid.
https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/13260650/general-motors-and-f1-announce-agreement-in-principle-for-cadillac-to-join-grid-as-11th-team-in-2026
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/statement-on-general-motors-application-to-join-fia-formula-one-world.69uoRF1uwHwXkr4efkpnhc
The president and CEO of Liberty Media said this:
“With Formula 1’s continued growth plans in the US, we have always believed that welcoming an impressive US brand like GM/Cadillac to the grid and GM as a future power unit supplier could bring additional value and interest to the sport. ”
“We credit the leadership of General Motors and their partners with significant progress in their readiness to enter Formula 1. We are excited to move forward with the application process for the GM/Cadillac team to enter the Championship in 2026.”
How to enter formula 1 today
https://f1i.com/news/464997-new-f1-teams-the-fias-strict-requirements-to-join-the-grid.html
To enter formula One today, there is a very strict requirement list to follow.
How likely is it for another Team like Williams to occur again?
When considering formula one and the teams there is a lot of money involved. Williams is a very prestigious team in the motor racing world. A very successful team that has won many championships. Currently Formula One ahs 10 teams and 20 drivers, Williams being one of the midfield teams after the 2012 regulation change.
Williams was a team that started out of a carpet factory, they had a rocky start to the sport in the first couple of years and then after the 1980s they were contending for the championship. During the 1980 season, Williams had the Australian Driver, Alan Jones, behind the wheel. Having a amazing season Jones brought it home to give Williams there first taste of victory, having secured both the Constructors and Drivers Championship by a comfortable margin. Williams beating the likes of Ligier, Brabham and Renault, Leading the constructors championship by over 50 points.
When looking at the current teams today, its all based on money. Drivers have to have high paying sponsors to secure them a seat at a team. Now days the sponsors are one of the key aspects in what attracts a driver to a team. When comparing drivers from the 1980s and now, Williams would have struggled if they had todays driver market when starting up since a new team will struggle to attract drivers with sponsors.
Recently Cadillac has been accepted into formula one, this team already has the facilities to join formula one. Cadillac has already established partnerships with Ferrari to supply the team with the Ferrari power train and gearbox starting in 2026. Ferrari agreed the deal late 2024 with General Motors and TWG Global. When comparing this to Williams, when Sir Frank Williams bought a Formula One car off Jack Brabham and modified it. The sport being a lot more complex and the teams needing to spend around a year developing each car to try and be competitive. A team trying to start up like Williams did, they will struggle due to the competitive and safety rules implemented into the sport now.
How will I use this in my final project?
This will be used to compare how Williams started up and how Cadillac are starting up. When comparing the two teams this information will be useful since now in 2025, there are very strict rules on joining the sport.
Will be used to help analyse my decision to compare the chances of a modern day Williams starting team.
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