“All about greed” - Andretti blasts opposition to F1 entry bid
Last week Andretti announced they had joined forces with US car giant General Motors with the intention of joining the F1 grid in 2026 alongside Cadillac.
But the plan has been met with a lukewarm response from F1 amid resistance from most of the 10 teams, who want the $200m entry fee to be increased up to $700m.
Andretti has slammed F1 teams for what he called a "greedy” attitude.
“It’s all about money,” Andretti told Forbes. “First, they think they are going to get diluted one-tenth of their prize money, but they also get very greedy thinking we will take all the American sponsors as well.
“It’s all about greed and looking at themselves and not looking at what is best for the overall growth of the series.”
Andretti praised the support he has received from FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who has put out a series of statements on social media backing Andretti’s bid and hitting back at “adverse reaction” to the plan.
“I’m not surprised,” Andretti said. “In F1, the owners look out for themselves; not what is best for the series.
“That is the difference between President Mohammad’s position and the team owner’s position. President Mohammad is looking out for the future of the sport.
“Mohammad gets it. He’s a racer and he understand the series needs to have one or two more teams. It is an FIA championship, and it holds most of the cards to get the expression of interest going.”
Andretti claims F1 CEO and president Stefano Domenicali is “very happy” about GM and Cadillac’s involvement, saying it will be “huge for F1 as well”.
He also dismissed criticism the entry would just be a “badging exercise” amid suggestions from rivals that the plan is for Cadillac to simply rebadge Renault engines.
Andretti described the “rumour” as “not true”, insisting: “Cadillac will be very much involved in the manufacturing of the car.
“If we get in, in 2025, there won’t be a new engine yet, so we would have to go with a formula that is used now, but in 2026 there are various things we can do with another engine manufacturer,” he continued.
“It would not be a badged engine, because there would be intellectual property from Cadillac in that engine, so that is not a badged engine.”
Andretti said the skepticism surrounding the project only fuels his motivation to make it a success.
“You have to stay focused on your job and not listen to the naysayers,” he added. “I actually use the naysayers as motivation.
“It’s always fun to shut them up.
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