Andretti F1 Bid Under Threat As Potential New American Team Emerges

Former Alpine F1 team principal Otmar Szafnauer is staging a return to the racing scene with plans to establish a new Formula 1 team backed by American financial resources. This ambition marks the potential entry of an eleventh team, directly challenging the earlier bid by Andretti Cadillac.

Szafnauer’s move follows his departure from the French F1 team last year and a brief hiatus during which he ventured into the tech world with ‘EventR’, a management app for motorsports. However, his love for the race track remains undiminished, as he revealed in a discussion on the ‘James Allen on F1’ podcast. Szafnauer outlined his vision for returning to F1, commenting:

“I’m a competitor and the one thing that I like more than anything is the competition.

“So, to come back in a role where I can’t influence how well the team is competing, I don’t think I’d be interested.

Michael Andretti of Avalanche Andretti Racing is interviewed during the 2023 ePrix at Portland International Raceway on June 23, 2023 in Portland, Oregon. Andretti’s F1 bid could be under threat as new hopeful American…
Michael Andretti of Avalanche Andretti Racing is interviewed during the 2023 ePrix at Portland International Raceway on June 23, 2023 in Portland, Oregon. Andretti’s F1 bid could be under threat as new hopeful American team emerges.
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“If it was a role where I could help develop, build, attract the right people to improve a team’s competitiveness, I’d be interested.

“But you know, there’s only 10 teams. A lot of them have people in those roles already. So, I don’t know how many opportunities there are out there, but there’s also the 11th and 12th team possibility. So that might be something that would be interesting for me.

“I’ve been working with some organisations in North America that have the funding to start an 11th team.”

Andretti Cadillac, despite their approved entry by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), faced rejection from Formula One Management (FOM) earlier this year, which doubted the new team’s potential to contribute value to the sport. The recommendation was for Andretti to either buy an existing team or forge a partnership—options complicated by the current market where no teams are available for sale. Undeterred, Andretti Cadillac is pushing forward, preparing meticulously for a 2026 or if not 2028 championship participation, including establishing a new infrastructure at Silverstone.

Szafnauer’s perspective, however, injects an intriguing new development. He continued:

“It’s not Andretti. Now we’re just putting some of those building blocks in place to make sure that we have everything that’s required in order to be successful to both start a team, but also get an entry. So, you know, that’s interesting too.”

As Szafnauer prepares to potentially introduce a new challenger on the grid, the motorsport community watches keenly. F1 fans are also waiting for another update from Andretti Cadillac on their ongoing ambitions to join the grid.

Uncommon Knowledge

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.