Andretti Autosport: Andretti’s F1 challenge far from over despite green light from FIA

The FIA, the governing body of Formula 1, has given the green light to Andretti Autosport’s bid to enter the sport as an 11th team on the grid from 2026 onwards. However, that’s not all for the squad to secure a place on the grid. Andretti Autosport is an American racing team with a long and successful history in motorsport. The team has won six IndyCar 500 championships and has also competed in Formula E.
Andretti Autosport, in fact, was the only team among the four teams to have progressed to the third and final phase of the process. Up next, the Formula One Management (FOM), the commercial rights holders of F1 will make the final call on whether to allow a place to the new entrants on the grid. For that to happen, Andretti needs to strike a satisfactory commercial deal with the FOM, which is known to be under pressure from the existing teams, who are not in favour of expanding the field beyond 10 teams.

The argument against the new addition to the grid is that it will further dilute the shares from the sport’s profit such as prize money. Andretti Autosport will now need to convince FOM that it can bring something new and valuable to the sport before its entry can be confirmed. Last year, the team announced a partnership with General Motors’ Cadillac brand.
On the approval of Andretti’s entry into F1, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said: “The FIA was very clear in establishing stringent criteria for entry from the outset of the Expressions of Interest procedure. Our objective, after rigorous due diligence during the application phase, was to only approve prospective entries which satisfied the set criteria and illustrated that they would add value to the sport.
It remains to be seen whether Andretti Autosport will be able to reach a commercial agreement with FOM. However, the FIA’s decision to approve the team’s entry will also mean that the grid will now have more competition.