FIA president wants more teams and fewer races
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has insisted the sport should have fewer races and more teams amid reports of the potential inclusion of Andretti on the grid from 2025.
The US outfit passed initial tests but must now get the approval of a multitude of other stakeholders, including teams, if it is to take its place alongside the current 10 teams.
“Saying no to a team which has been approved by the FIA – it’s very hard,” Ben Sulayem told Reuters.
“The FIA should be asking, begging, OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] to come in. We should not just say no to them.
“If you say: ‘What is my dream?’ It is to fill up the 12 [team slots] and to have one US team from an OEM and a [power unit] and a driver from there. And then go to China and ask for the same thing and do it.”
Andretti’s bid would see the IndyCar outfit partner with General Motors and Cadillac, which would provide the grid with another original manufacturer.
Any new entrant to the grid – which has a maximum capacity of 12 teams of two – is required to pay over £160m in anti-dilution fees to compensate for the loss in prize money for other teams.
Haas were the last team to enter Formula 1 without buying an outfit in 2016.
Lawrence Stroll last week told City A.M. that 10 teams was a good number and that he was unsure of whether Andretti would join his Aston Martin team on the grid.
Ben Sulayem said: “You cannot force Andretti/GM to buy another team just because [the current owners may] want to sell.
“I won’t mention names, but they were after me to go on and convince GM to do that. It’s not my job. I was not elected to do that. I am not a broker.”