With the potential entry of Andretti looming over F1, Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has come forth to issue a cautionary tale to the FIA around the logistics of the Concorde Agreement. The current pact, signed by the ten teams of F1, runs out after the 2025 season, and preparations are underway for the new pact.
| EXCLUSIVE: An unexpected ally could emerge for Andretti in F1… Ferrari.
Fred Vasseur is working to boost the team’s political clout, and an alliance with Andretti could assist in this process.
Details below:https://t.co/XnWhSdl0UT
— formularacers (@formularacers_) October 13, 2023
With negotiations scheduled to happen in 2026 before the season gets underway, all the current teams are against the idea of adding an eleventh team to the grid, especially considering the monetary angle. While most of the current teams fear that they will suffer a cut in their prize money to accommodate a new side, Andretti does not agree.
Instead, the American outfit believes that their entry could help the overall prize money increase, and the same will help all existing teams receive fair compensation. However, SoyMotor quotes Vasseur as being against Andretti’s claims while also issuing a warning to the FIA.
Vasseur added that when a business is in a positive phase, everyone stays optimistic about heavy returns but claimed he knows it will not last forever. With so much at stake, the 55-year-old said the authorities are forgetting their past and making changes too often.
“It is also not easy to run a business and make forecasts when you have these types of changes so often and honestly we are not learning from the past and this is a big problem,” explained the Ferrari team principal.
For now, the authorities have introduced concepts such as an increment in CapEx. Furthermore, there are talks about diluting the income, but Vasseur believes it would be a bad step for the business.
While Ferrari opposes, Brown feels most teams don’t have all the information available
With most teams opposing the idea of an eleventh team entering the grid, McLaren CEO Zak Brown feels teams are “uninformed” of the American team’s proposal. Most of the rest of the teams’ only reason for the opposition remains the monetary element, and Brown believes they all lack the details about Andretti’s proposal and that they should wait to have the complete information before forming opinions.
⚠️ | Zak Brown on Andretti:
“The teams that may not support another team are being short-sighted. Are we not trying to grow the sport?
You have to assume Andretti will help us grow in North America, which will compensate for any dilution”.
— formularacers (@formularacers_) February 27, 2022
Brown then also shed light on the pros and cons of Andretti’s entry. The 52-year-old believes that the “pie” could see massive growth with the entry of a new team.
The pie could mean anything ranging from the fans to the TV revenue and even the sponsors. On the other hand, a lack of growth in the pie could see the teams living their worst nightmares and dividing the dilution fees into smaller pieces.
Furthermore, the topic of Andretti’s potential entry has also caused a civil war-like situation between the FIA and F1, with the former being in favor of the entry. Thus, the standoff has added another layer of controversy between the two authorities.
