Michael Andretti has hit out at Formula One teams for being too greedy to see the benefits of his company’s proposed entry to the sport with General Motors brand Cadillac in 2026.
F1 gave a lukewarm response to the proposed Andretti-Cadillac entry, with a source telling Reuters a “strong majority” among the 10 teams are against expanding the grid and diluting the share of revenues.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said he was surprised by the “adverse reaction” to the bid and Andretti has no doubt what is the reason for the negativity.
“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 revealed McLaren CEO Zak Brown is a strong supporter of his bid.
“Zak wants to do whatever he can to help us get there and so has Alpine as well,” Andretti said. “Zak Brown and Alpine are two very good allies. Zak has been very supportive.”
Reuters also reported the suggested the General Motors involvement was nothing more than a “badging exercise” rather than a fully-fledged entry, although Andretti dismissed this suggestion in his interview with Forbes.
Andretti originally tried to enter F1 by taking over the Sauber-run Alfa Romeo team, but that was unsuccessful.
The American feels he now has everything F1 asked of him when turning him down on that occasion.
“We check all the boxes. The only box we didn’t have checked when we were working on our entry was, we didn’t have an OEM behind us, but now we have GM and Cadillac behind us. They are going to bring a lot to the party to help us get a race car on track. We are very bullish at this moment.
“There is still a long way to go, and we are willing to follow every procedure that needs to be done. We are in a good position for it.”