The FIA has given the green light for the US-based Andretti team to enter Formula 1 with the Cadillac name from General Motors.
The FIA only gave the green light to Andretti Formula Racing out of the four teams that made it to the second part of the new teams process.
All of the others were thrown out because they didn’t meet the requirements.
Formula 1 will now look at Andretti-Cadillac’s plan from a business point of view.
F1 will only let Andretti join if they think it will be good for the whole competition.
There is no set time for this evaluation, but it is likely to take a few months. Most people think that F1 will turn down Andretti’s bid.
In a statement, the FIA said that each entry was looked at based on sport, technology, and money.
President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said, “The FIA made it clear from the start of the expressions of interest process that there were strict rules for entry.”
“Our goal, after doing a lot of research during the application process, was to only accept potential entries that met the set standards and showed that they would be good for the sport.
“The FIA is required to approve applications that meet the requirements for expressions of interest. We followed this procedure when we decided that Andretti Formula Racing LLC’s application would move on to the next step of the application process.
“Andretti Formula Racing LLC was the only organization that met all of the important criteria for selection.”
The FIA didn’t say who the other teams were that were evaluated in the second part of the process, but everyone in the sport knows who they are.
Andretti, a combination between New Zealand’s Ronin Cars and the Carlin racing team, Hitech, a junior race team, and Lucky Suns, an Asian partnership, were the last four teams standing.
Two other teams, Formula Eagle, which was run by former BAR team boss Craig Pollock, and Pantera Team Asia, were eliminated earlier.
Formula 1 said in a statement, “We note the FIA’s conclusions about the first and second phases of their process, and we will now do our own evaluation of the rest of the application.”
Andretti-Cadillac also said, “We appreciate the FIA’s thorough, open, and thorough evaluation process, and we’re thrilled to be able to compete in such a prestigious and historic championship.”
“We’re looking forward to talking to everyone involved in Formula 1 as we plan to join the grid as soon as possible.”
Will people like Andretti?
Since Ben Sulayem said he would start looking for new teams in 2022, F1’s bosses haven’t been too excited about the idea of a new team.
Greg Maffei, the CEO of Liberty Media, which owns F1, said in June, “We would work to get the 11th team if the conditions were right.” Someone who could add a lot of value to the game and to the fans.”
F1 head Stefano Domenicali said earlier this year, “There are many things to think about, and we don’t have to overreact just because someone is pushing the system.”
This was a subtle reference to Andretti, whose founder Michael Andretti is seen by many in F1 as having tried too hard to join the sport.
The current 10 teams have made it clear that they don’t want any new teams to join.
The rules for F1, which are often called the Concorde Agreement, say that up to 12 teams can compete.
And they say that the current teams have to pay a $200 million (£165 million) anti-dilution fee to make up for the fact that their share of F1’s money will now be split 11 ways instead of 10.
Several teams have said that $200 million is too low, since the value of the teams seems to have gone up as the sport has become more popular in recent years.
Experts think that top teams are worth close to $1bn (£830m).
Alpine, which is owned by Renault and is currently sixth in the world championship with six races left, was valued at £706m in June by a group that included Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny. The group put their money into the team.
