Michael Andretti called the talks with Alfa Romeo a “joke” after the team changed terms of the potential takeover at the last moment.
It is no secret that the former American racing driver Michael Andretti wants to enter the Formula with his own team “Andretti Global.” He was almost about to reach his goal with Alfa Romeo/Sauber team when it failed.
According to Andretti’s terms and conditions, he was to take up the majority share of the Alfa Romeo/Sauber team. Before reaching out to the Swiss team, Andretti had contacted Gene Haas millions of times.
🚨 | Michael Andretti claims to have made “millions” of attempts to buy Haas F1 team in the past.
He is open to further discussion but does not believe Gene Haas is “interested in selling”.
— FormulaRacers (@formularacers_) February 26, 2022
His purpose was to buy out the American team and get Andretti Global on the Formula 1 grid.
Even though a lot of time has passed since the failure of the Alfa Romeo takeover, the former McLaren driver is still not over it.
Michael Andretti wants to bring in the eleventh team to the grid
Andretti wants to enter Formula 1 with a new team. He submitted an entry request to the FIA. His team would race under the name of Andretti Global and would be the eleventh team on the grid from 2024 onwards.
There have been mixed reactions from the existing teams in the paddock. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said that the team would have to bring added “value” to Formula 1 if they are not to dilute the prize money already on offer to teams.
Andretti has proposed that his team will bring added value to the sport. He pointed out that his team bring added interest into the American market.
In his plan, he has also named IndyCar’s Colton Herta as the potential driver if the FIA accepts the offer.
Furthermore, about the failed deal with Alfa Romeo, he said it was a joke. “We were there. It was done. We had a date set for the signing, and literally two days before, they changed the terms.”
Andretti explained that basically, the team wanted to keep control which was unacceptable for him. He said, “They wanted veto rights over everything all of a sudden.”
“It was horrible. We lost so much time. If it hadn’t happened like that, we would have been so much further ahead on everything else.”