According to recent developments, the FIA waved the green signal for Michael Andretti to have his team, Andretti Global, be the 11th team on the grid. As the American motorsport boss has got the nod, preparation to be on the grid is in full swing. However, months before the team got the permission, they had already spent over $100,000,000, as per Business F1, on its setup to boost its chances and have the F1 berth.
As the FIA agreed to have Andretti Global as the 11th team in the grid, the decision is still not the final one. The team still needs to have a commercial rights discussion with Formula 1 management, and then they will have the final say.
With the total disapproval from the commercial side so far and immense resistance from the existing teams, such as Red Bull and Mercedes, Andretti needed to get everything right to have the entry, even if they had an enormous amount of money to spend.
Andretti spent over $100 million even before its F1 berth
According to the report, Andretti and Hitech GP, two of the four applicants to be the 11th team on the grid, set up their shop to prepare themselves for the insane world of F1. In doing so, they have already invested over $100 million. On this, Business F1 stated-
“The Andretti-Cadillac and Hitech GP teams have both spent over $100 million getting ready to enter and were firm favorites to be granted an entry.“
Nevertheless, Andretti is still far away from seeing his team make it to the grid, as other teams are not happy despite having a $200 million anti-dilution fee. Christian Horner and Toto Wolff especially opposed the new entry since they have already spent a significant amount on the sport and now don’t want a new team.
The anti-dilution and David Croft’s solution to Andretti’s entry
As having the 11th team on the grid would reduce the profit percentage for every F1 team, an anti-dilution fee of $200 million was thought to make up for it. As things stand, the teams might not be happy with such an amount, given how Netflix’s Drive to Survive increases the value of the teams and the sport.
Therefore, experts believe that the existing teams would want more in terms of anti-dilution fees. Even after that Michael Andretti does not get the much-coveted entry to the sport, David Croft has a suggestion for him.
Per Sky Sports, Croft said that they need to work more on the American side of things, such as bringing the faith of having an American team with everything based out of the same country. He also said that fans can play a big part, just like Super League in Soccer, and have the 11th team on the grid.
