“But I don’t give up” – Michael Andretti is motivated to own a team in F1 after talks broke with Sauber-Alfa Romeo.
Formula 1 is looking to make it big in the United States, a land renowned for its love for racing. It already has a team (Haas), two race tracks (Miami and Austin), and there were/are talks of one more team.
The prospective owners are of course the legendary Andretti family, spearheaded by former IndyCar champ Michael Andretti. His Andretti Autosport already has a strong presence in IndyCar, Formula E, and Extreme E.
His natural target then was the pinnacle of motorsports, Formula 1. For those unaware, Andretti put in a bid for a controlling stake in Sauber, but talks broke down due to issues over control.
But Andretti Jr. is not giving up enough and is eager to own a team in the future. He also revealed Liberty Media did not push explicitly for the deal to happen, otherwise, the story could have been different.
“I think [Liberty Media, F1 owners] would like it, obviously, because they are really pushing the American market, but they weren’t doing anything to help us. I think it would have been a huge story. It’s a shame it didn’t work out. But I don’t give up.
“Our eyes will always stay open. We will always look for [an] opportunity there…not just there but in other formulas as well, other types of racing. That’s what we do. We are in the racing business and we are always looking for opportunities to expand.
“But when we do expand, we have to make sure it’s a proper deal that we know we can be competitive because that’s very important for our brand – to be competitive in anything we do.”
