Andretti Hatch Clever Plan in Fight for 11th F1 Team

The Andretti family, despite facing fierce opposition, has remained firm on floating an F1 team of their own. They had originally set out a target to start out in the 2024 season and although there is only a year left, they haven’t budged. Mario Andretti recently revealed the operational part of the process and it looks like they are all set.

Existing F1 teams, including Mercedes, have shown resistance to the idea of having the 11th team in the championship. Team principal Toto Wolff expressed his reservations over the change in profit sharing formula. Toto revealed how the current teams share the pie and having another team in the competition will dilute their share. That has, however, not deterred former F1 champion, Mario, from pursuing his dream.

Speaking with Soymotor, Andretti said, “We’ve been working to potentially buy some existing teams, but at the moment, those possibilities don’t seem so clear, so we’re still trying to be the 11th team.”

“You’ll see we have a good plan. Ultimately, the operational team would be in the UK, but the main hub would be in Indianapolis,” the octogenarian added. “Mainly because most of the equipment to build the chassis and everything would be there.”

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Speaking about the decision to remain firm on the 2024 date, Mario told, “I think 2024 is the target because you try to organize a lot of things before the new regulations of 2026 arrive. The sooner you start, the better.”

Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone had recently trashed the existing teams’ resistance and supported Andretti’s dream.

Andretti Global’s Indianapolis facility to be bigger than Ferrari’s

The Andretti family recently held a ceremony to break the ground for a new facility in Indianapolis. With many local dignitaries present, Mario revealed his vision for the 575,000 sq.ft. premises, which he promised will be “bigger than Ferrari’s”. The facility will have a restaurant that will have the Andretti family’s recipes on the menu. It will also house an amphitheater which will host watch parties for race screenings.

IndyStar quoted Michael Andretti saying, “we’re working every day (to earn clearance for an expansion team). I’m still confident. We’re getting close. We haven’t gotten the ‘OK’ yet, but we’re getting really close.”

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The Andretti family got an offer to take over Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri after founder Dietrich Mateschitz’s death. However, they passed on the offer and remained firm on the 11th team idea. Michael told he was expecting to hear from the FIA sometime around Christmas. However, no update has come to light about that.