(Motorsports news) Despite the fact that it is unclear whether Andretti Cadillac will be allowed to enter the championship as an 11th team, the American powerhouse team has moved on with its plans and built a vehicle to this year’s specifications. Andretti claims the car will be in Toyota’s wind tunnel in Cologne next week as he continues to expand his squad in preparation for the 2025 season.
“At the moment, we’re still aiming for 2025,” Andretti told Sky Sports F1 during the US Grand Prix in Austin. “Our car is actually going into the wind tunnel next week, so we already have a car built up in 2023 spec.” We’re working hard and establishing a team, so at the moment it’s ’25, but it could be ’26, we’ll see.”
The FIA recently authorized Andretti’s application to join the F1 grid, but its fate remains uncertain because F1’s commercial rights holder FOM, which must also approve the entry, is less enthusiastic about Andretti’s ambitions to enter as an 11th expansion team. FOM is looking out for the interests of F1’s current ten teams, the majority of which are vehemently opposed to having to share the championship’s money with a third party.
When asked if he understands the pushback from current squads, who are concerned about their teams’ long-term stability after surviving the COVID-19 epidemic, Andretti answered, “I don’t know, it’s a mystery to me in some ways why they’re pushing back. They say we’re cutting the pie, but I think the point is that we hope to bring in more than we take away, and we truly believe that.” We believe we will add to it rather than detract from it.
“I think there is plenty to go around, and if we can help improve the popularity of the US from where it is now, I think there are a lot of companies that have already contacted us and are interested in it. Once we get the approval then they want to talk to us, so I disagree with that.” Andretti restated his plan to use IndyCar driver Colton Herta in one of his two cars, despite the fact that his lack of an FIA superlicence remains a stumbling hurdle for the time being.
