(Motorsports news) Rival teams are also opposed to the addition of Andretti because they are concerned about the commercial impact of having to share prize money with an extra outfit. And, as Steiner points out, while F1 is currently in a golden phase, so a tiny loss of prize money would have little impact, he believes lessons should be learned from what happened when COVID struck.

After receiving FIA approval to join the series, the American Andretti team hopes to reach a commercial agreement with FOM to enter F1 as early as 2025. However, there is no assurance that FOM would approve Andretti’s bid, as the organization doubts if there is a real benefit to grand prix racing in adding another team to the grid.

Gunther Steiner believes that the quickness with which F1 swung from being comfortable to the prospect of losing nearly half the grid as the epidemic spread underlines the caution that must be exercised in modifying the finances of the current teams. “In the current situation, we are stable, but it is not like we are making hundreds of millions of profits,” Steiner remarked.

“We’re still trying to get our budgets together so we can work on the budget cap and everything. I’d like to go back to 2020, when I was sitting in these video meetings and four teams were [questioning], ‘Are we here next year or not?’ We were all striving to stay alive. And a lot of people and team owners poured their money into it in order for it to survive and become what it is today. “I believe there is value in that as well.”

“I think most of the teams are wondering why we would dilute what we have just to get somebody else, when Formula One is booming,” Steiner continued. “Because who knows what will happen in three or four years?” And, if I go back, it was only in 2020 that we were trying to keep Formula 1 alive, because if four teams drop out, there are just six left. And why would you weaken it now?

“If something comes up again, we need to be as strong as we can be, the 10 teams which are here, which got through the hard times.” Steiner maintains his long-held belief that Andretti’s participation should be authorized only if there is solid evidence that its arrival will benefit the entire grid.

Also read: According to the FIA, Andretti will not be without F1 engine supplies